All American Steakhouse & Sports Theater
Expansive, loud and family-friendly, the All American Steakhouse seeks to provide large parties and sports watchers with a casual and fun atmosphere. Customers at the Woodbridge and Ashburn locations searching for additional fun can play the Golden Tee golf game or practice hunting animals at the Big Buck Safari game by the bar. Diners can partake in happy hour specials like half-priced domestic drafts and mixed drinks. Food options include juicy steaks and standard pub fare like spinach and artichoke dip. / 4179 Merchant Plaza, Woodbridge; 43150 Broadlands Center Plaza, Ashburn
Carpool
Carpool is all about fun. After a bouncer IDs customers, they can play a myriad of games including pool or oversized Jenga. A massive vintage Esso sign makes for some colorful decor. Guests can chill on the patio or sit at the bar and enjoy beer on tap. Patrons are as likely to spot sweaty teams of adult kickball leagues relaxing after a game as they are afterwork professionals shooting pool in suits and skirts to unwind. / 208 Elden St., Herndon
King Pinz
King Pinz provides customers with a bowling alley, skee ball and other classic games and a bar at the front of the establishment. Parents can watch as their kids play or just rest while they wait to bowl again. Those who prefer a more adult, quieter (albeit smoky) atmosphere can head next door to the High Roller Lounge. Patrons can talk politics at the bar as they sip on their choice of martinis or cocktails and enjoy cigars in plush lounge chairs. / 1602 Village Market Blvd. SE, Leesburg
Bungalow Lakehouse
Customers can enjoy a lively atmosphere where they can watch the game on one of this spot’s many oversized TVs. Guests who prefer not to stare at a screen the entire time can play pool or shoot darts. In between turns, patrons can slide up to the bar and order off a menu that’s dominated by national and local beer. Hello, Port City’s Optimal Wit. Hungry guests can consider ordering the haunt’s noteworthy chicken wings. / 46116 Lake Center Plaza, Sterling
Lucky’s Sports Theatre
Located in a strip mall, Lucky’s patrons can walk through the double doors to the left of the lobby to find themselves in a happening dual game and bar area. Lucky’s is laid-back and fun. Patrons can find classic games like skee ball alongside modern offerings like first-person shooter games. The U-shaped bar is the centerpiece of the space. Bartenders wearing black T-shirts sling a variety of beverages on this menu that’s dominated by specialty cocktails. / 7027 Manchester Blvd., Alexandria
Bartenders Tell Us What Makes a Good Bar?
Andrew Shapiro @ Green Pig Bistro
“I want to feel welcomed, more than anything else. I’m not saying I want you to talk my ear off—I actually don’t want you to talk my ear off. I’m a very lowmaintenance customer. I only drink one thing. If I’m drinking, I like to be left alone. Make me feel like I want to be here … Every great bar has to have a niche. So whatever your niche is—you’re a sports bar, or your niche is that you’re a speakeasy style bar, or a country and western bar—have a niche. Do your thing, and don’t feel like you have to do everything. I think the problem I have with a lot of places is every place has a cocktail menu, but they seem a lot of times contrived. You have a place that has 12 cocktails on the menu. Do you really need that many? I think people need to understand their clientele. And most important they need to have a vision for what they’re doing and keep that vision. Be who you are. If you’re a shitty little dive bar, people really appreciate that. Stick to your concept. Execute your concept. Don’t worry about being what you’re not and trying to compete with all these other bars. Be what your concept is and execute it. And if you execute your concept, there will be people who like that and they will come.”
Devin Ochs @ Tuskie’s
“Good service for starters. Certainly atmosphere. Good product. I like all the places I can get good beer. I like a bartender who knows when to talk to you and who knows when you want to be left alone. Sometimes after a long day at work, I just want to have my beer and be left to my thoughts.”
(October 2015)