Tuesday Afternoon Barhop

When your nearly 10-month old child starts her nap at about 1030am, you realize that she will likely wake up in time for you to have a nice afternoon out rather than at home while she is sleeping. As a result: afternoon barhop in Virginia. In this case, two bars/restaurants in VA: Rustico in Alexandria, VA and Jay's Saloon and Grill, Arlington, VA.

First, Rustico, Alexandria, VA. I'll give you some skinny then a map. Rustico seemed like a great place and it definitely was. I was with a very good friend who had been before and who also knew that I like good beers. What a great beer selection. The big kickers for me:
Leffe Blonde and Gulden Draak. (NOTE: I gave you wikipedia entries because I know that 1) Leffe's website is slow, 2) Gulden Draak's site is in Belgium and 3) I am often annoyed by beer snob reviews...I am NOT a beer snob.)

Leffe in bottle and Gulden Draak on tap. Both great beers. My brother had touted both, and he did not disappoint. Leffe was a great Belgian blonde with a modest alcohol content while GD was a darker ale with a higher (7.5%) alcohol content. I thoroughly enjoyed both and am very glad that I went to Rustico.

Also good at Rustico: fries. They were quite good, though probably not as good as some real tradition frites elsewhere. Also, I had another very strong, tart and fruity beer of 15.5% alcohol...but I forgot what it was.

Here is the location, and parking is free nearby:
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On to Jay's, which is apparently the location of a coming happy hour for friends of mine (including me!). Jay's reminds me of Fitzwilly's, the Chicken, etc., from my old college days. Don't misunderstand, it's not a perfect match, but good enough for northern VA.

Jay's smells like smoke, grease, and beer, and it looks like smoke, grease, and beer has been slathered everywhere. I love it. They have cheap beer (today was $2.50 longnecks of Bud and Bud Light) and bar food including jalapeno poppers...as every bar should have. You don't need more than that for a good happy hour bar in my opinion. If it smells like beer, tastes like beer, and (maybe) looks like beer - it must be beer!

Jay's - hot stuff but a little tough on the eyes:

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