2421 Columbia Pike
Arlington, VA 22204 
703/486-3467
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Cowboy is by the intersection of Glebe and Rt 29. 

Matt loves the Cowboy Café, for him it’s a family affair, but as soon as he brought it up one night, he cautioned, “We’ll have to get there early, if we want to get a parking space.”  Yes, yes indeed, parking here is dismal.  I mean, it’s a small place, granted, but I’m pretty sure they have three times as many tables as parking spaces.  I wouldn’t blame you for thinking, as I originally did, that this place actively doesn’t want you to be there… but it’s not so bad.  Our latest visit was in the prime hours of late dinner/early drinking, and the paved-over postage stamp parking lot was indeed full, but we persevered.  Cowboy Café is in Arlington, in a section that straddles suburban planning with urban density, so it’s always possible to park in the nearby residential areas and walk a block or two.  Still, these trappings of exclusivity leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth, you know?

I’ve spilled a good deal of electric ink about the subtle distinction between a restaurant and a bar, and I’d have to say that Cowboy Café falls on the restaurant side.  Yes, it has a bar, and yes, it’s open all night like a real bar.  Huh, their website sez their hours extend until midnight, but the bartender I asked said they’d be open until 2:00 AM… regardless, they sell themselves as a Texas hamburger joint.  I dig the menu… very simplistic, designed around a showcase of said burgers.  Other stuff is available, mind you, even breakfast fair for weekend brunches, but the burgers are front and center, seven varieties all at a standardized $6.50 price.  I can never get enough guacamole on my hamburger, but they didn’t skimp on the portions when I ordered.  I wonder how much guac would be too much… a 1:1 ratio of burger to condiment would be ridiculous, and yet I can see myself eating it… I should run this experiment at home.  But I’d have to make an investment in burger staples… see, whenever I go out, lunch with old workmates or whatever at a T.G.I. McScratchies, I usually get a burger or some kind of sandwich because to me it’s novel… at home I eat mostly soup and I long ago decided that corn tortillas are much more economical than bread.  So, yeah, the burgers here are good.

Beer isn’t available in the pitcher, and you’ll end up just below or just above the $4 for your drafts.  The drafts themselves are decent, Bass, an IPA, some domestics…  I have nothing negative to say about the bartenders/servers, I got nothing but positive vibes from them.  And granted, I have had an experience here that, by the book, would constitute poor service… forgetting to take our order for a while, forgetting where our table is once the food is ready… but they were apologetic, smoothing things over somehow.  I don’t know, I wouldn’t typify myself as one of those “a smile goes a long way” types, but here I am, not hating the Cowboy Café staff.

I’m reaching here… I think, upon reflection, that I’ve never really sat down and drank and the Cowboy Café.  Had a meal there, I’ve consumed two or three beers, but I’ve never had a long haul of consumption.  I’ll be back, until then, I won’t force it.  Cowboy Café is good enough to necessitate a return, that’s positive press, right?

But I'm not bitter.

There is an intrinsic something about this bar/restaurant that I like.  It could be the story behind it's humble beginnings.  Apparently, the person who would eventually start this establishment used to work as a bus boy or some such at a fancy place in Aspen.  There was some mix-up in the kitchen about when sorbet' was to be served and he took the shaft over it.  The Maitre Dee said if he ever ran a place, it would be some sort of "Cowboy Cafe'", and hence the place got its name.  Yeah, it reeks of "damn the man" and that's my kind of stink. 

Cowboy is the sort of place that can appeal to everyone.  You'll see yuppies, urban cowboys, regulars, irregulars, drifters, locals - the works.  Americana means two things to me - diners and cowboys and this certainly feeds the latter.  Pictures of the Duke, Eastwood, Oakley and other cowboys of the Old West and Hollywood adorn the walls.  There are animal antlers and horns and even a real-live Jackelope skin behind the bar. 

Now, as I write this, my friend Zach is watching "Insomniac" and the host, Dave Attel just happens to be with a real cowboy as he uses a great shiny gushing speculum to inseminate a cow with bull semen.  I guess that is one of the less glamorous sides to being a cowboy.  You never see Eastwood cleaning out a heffer's nether regions so he can cram a load of bull spunk in there.  I guess you learn that between roping and slingin' iron. 

But I'm off topic again.

Pint's are $4.15, but they always have something on draft that is cheaper (like $2ish).  The last time I went it was Bass Ale, but I've seen Harps and maybe even Guinness on sale.  The first time Brian and I went there together they had Old Dominion Stout (which I love), but I haven't seen it since.  They don't have pitchers, but we weren't going to order one anyway. 

Top that off with a good burger at a good price and you've got yourself a deal.   Thumbs up to you parder - you earned it.