| Pub |
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| Reviewed by Brian and Matt on 12-27-02. | |
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| Where |
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| I couldn't find the address, but the Greenberry next
door is at 8100 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA 22102. Get on Old Dominion near where is crosses 123. Head South. When you see a shopping center with a Greenberry, park because it is two shops over. |
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| Summary | |
| A basic English style pub. | |
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| Specialties | |
| Darts, and lot of 'em. |
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| One day Matt and I are eating at the
Amphora, and he starts telling me about this place he’s found in
McLean called “The Pub”. We love pubs. Pubs are better than clubs and
generally better than bars… I know it’s an arbitrary designation but
the kind of focus that the word “pub” promises is few and far between
in these parts. So after our meal I went myself; had no time to drink,
but it was important to size the place up, do some driving time trials
[which you lost], you know.
The Pub has this cool neon serving as its sign, but it’s only noticeable once you’re nearly at the doorway. After conception and installation, this neon swizzle stick (one of the few stirring up the Fairfax air) ended up being blocked by a concrete overhang; chocked by mini-mall architecture. Before drinking there I was crying against this outrage, afterwards it seems strangely appropriate. But I’ll concentrate on the good points, at least to start. The place has an older clientele… that’s good, too many of my peers and my skin starts to crawl. The decorum has nothing objectionable, it’s all oak and classy. That’s what comes to mind, the Pub is a real class act. But you know what they say, any club that would have me as a member… The dart board is nice, well situated in the bar, and not impossibly mobbed by players, though your mileage may vary. Beer comes in pitchers, and the liquor selection looks pretty good. On the other hand, nothing really grabbed me here. Nothing going on, I think, besides a champion dart team or two coming home to roost. No fights, no dropped glasses; granted its not like I crave the excitement or some shit, but the Pub seems too well behaved for its own good. Pub avoids all the pitfalls of a club or a pickup joint, it’s true, but also most of the charm of a dive. This is just personal preference, mind you, but the kind of places I keep being grabbed by look like they started as a men's room and added on, living symbols of urban renewal (to quote the bard). Our beer pitcher was served with little 10 oz glasses, I don’t like that. I’m sure they had pint glasses, but we’re all used to the 16 ounce glasses, all of a sudden I had to calculate how much beer I was drinking to make everything turn out okay. There were no streamers of beer pendants from the Miller corporation; half of me is sick of seeing those things, half of me enjoys their comforting warmth. The Pub is a nice calm place to have a beer. If I lived closer by, I’d probably regard it higher. You know, if I was bringing a date to a bar, and I walked into a classy place like the Pub, and I got the warm reception of a regular, I’d be scoring points like it was going out of style. But in real life, that’s not a concern… No thanks, Pub, I’ll crawl back into my dive. |
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If you like darts,
this is the pub for you. If not . . . well . . . it is a very nice pub
I suppose.
Right off I'll state that there is nothing *wrong* with The Pub. It's location in the middle of McLean is highly suspicious and I did go in expecting people to be swilling their ale with their pinky fingers deftly held up in defiant snobbery. The Pub is very Dart-centric. It is littered with dart team trophies, dart related pictures and two dart boards. If you like darts, go to this bar. The rest of the decor is dark wood (which is good) covered with the kind of knick-knacks you expect to find in your grandfather's den. I'd say that The Pub is comfortable and clean without being too pretentious. Again, consider the location - this place is probably a dive bar for the wealthy. Now for drinking, The Pub is a little off the right path so to speak. When I sat down they said they had pitchers and they came in two sizes. At this news, I got very excited and ordered two "large" pitchers. Well, when they came they weren't so large - more like regular size. Makes me wonder what the smalls are - perhaps that's their name for pint glasses. Still $10 a pitcher isn't bad, so I can't complain too loudly. Of course my favorite part is the dry-erase board over the urinals. I suppose that was someone's idea to reduce graffiti (not a bad idea) but I see it as an opportunity for abuse. Sure, I'd never deface or vandalize a public place, but if they are going to give me a chalkboard, I will fill it with numbers of people I don' t like, dirty limericks and such. If my Legions of Enemies start getting prank phone calls from drunk yuppies in a bathroom, you know who set you up. I don't think I've ever had that much fun at a urinal. Anyway, The Pub is a good bar, but not so good that I'd make a special trip to come here. With all the good and varied restaurants in the area, this might be a good after-date spot, but since everything in McLean closes early (even the coffee shops for Christ's sake!) I'm not too sure about that either.
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