beer

Pizza Autentica Opens in Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Rapidly-expanding DC pizza chain Pizza Autentica opened in Ballston last week.

The store features a decent selection of pizza by the slice, sandwiches, salad and gelato.

Pizza Autentica also serves beer and wine. Prices are about what you’d expect for a cafeteria-style pizza joint — not too expensive but not too cheap — with the exception of pitchers of beer, which are an impressively low $8.99.

Budweiser, Yuengling, Miller Lite and Old Dominion Hop Mountain Pale Ale are all on tap.

The store also serves coffee and breakfast sandwiches.

First Look: Rustico Hours Away From Opening

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 7:20 p.m.) With just hours to go until the long-anticipated opening of Rustico restaurant in Ballston, the staff is breaking out the Red Bull and the Mountain Dew, preparing for a long night of putting on the finishing touches and getting ready for the first customers to walk through the door at 11:30 tomorrow morning.

With about 200 indoor seats and 100 outdoor seats (which will stay in storage until next year), Rustico is trying to become the premiere lunch, dinner, happy hour and sophisticated night spot in Ballston.

It will certainly have the largest beer selection in Ballston, if not in all of Northern Virginia: 400 bottles, 40 drafts and 3 cask ales (the casks will be installed next week). By comparison, the original Rustico, in Alexandria, has 300 bottles, 30 drafts and 2 cask ales.

The bottles are displayed prominently behind the bar in two bright display cases. The taps, however, form the bar’s centerpiece — two dense horizontal arrays of colorful tap handles in a cut-out nook between the display cases.

Unlike the Alexandria location, the Ballston Rustico will feature a bar area separated from the dining area. There will also be a semi-private dining areas for groups and parties.

The bar area features five flat screen TV’s (tuned primarily to sports), two long tables, a dozen booths and at least a dozen seats at the bar itself. The bar stools are modern, padded and comfortable, with a foot rest and arm rests.

The dining area is elegant and modern. The seats are molded wood — no padding, but surprisingly comfortable. Booths run along either side of the room.

The lighting fixtures are particularly fascinating. Elaborate, artistic chandeliers adorn the bar and the private dining area. Long, antique Edison bulbs light the general dining area.

Management tells us that more interior touches will be put into place in the two weeks after opening. A bare wall near the bar will be decorated, a raw wooden wall in the dining area will be illuminated with LED lighting and more mirror accents will be installed.

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Buffalo Wild Wings May Open in December

By ARLnow.com

The new Buffalo Wild Wings in Crystal City may open as soon as December, a source tells ARLnow.com.

The restaurant, which specializes in “wings, beer and sports,” is being built in an empty ground-level space near the corner of 23rd Street and Crystal Drive, across from Jaleo.

It will be the sixth “BW3” in the area, one of two that are near a Metro station (in addition to the Rockville location), and the closest to D.C. proper.

Should the restaurant not be able to open in December, we’re told the company will likely push the opening back to February.

Artisphere Now Open After Raucous Opening Party

By ARLnow.com

On the eve of its VIP ribbon-cutting ceremony, hundreds of twenty-somethings packed into Artisphere, the county’s new $6.7 million cultural center, to drink, dance, party and enjoy some art.

Sponsored by the web site Brightest Young Things and Pink Line Project, an arts advocacy organization, Burst @ Artisphere was billed as the hipper, cheaper counterpart to Friday’s $250 per ticket opening gala. True to the billing, the evening attracted a hipster-heavy crowd that looked a bit out of place in stodgy, corporate Rosslyn. Organizers helped lure party-goers from their safe, comfortable DC environs with regular shuttle bus service from Dupont Circle and with the promise of free beer and wine (after the $20 cover).

Once inside, Artisphere’s two-floor Wi-Fi Cafe was filled to the brim with beautiful and/or interesting people, all conversing loudly. Pabst Blue Ribbon and Beringer flowed freely.

The artist Katie Laibstain (a.k.a. Katie Balloons) held court near the stairs on the second level, wearing an elaborate balloon costume that allowed her to occasionally pose as an inanimate object, only to pop up and scare unsuspecting hipsters. Ms. Balloons would later make her way to the ballroom, where a crowd energized by the beats of DJ Chris Burns proceeded to rip apart her costume, wearing Laibstain’s former balloon arms and balloon headgear as a primitive hunter might wear a slain animal’s pelt. The sounds of popping balloons were ever-present for the rest of the night, as parts of the costume were passed from person to person.

Aside from Lord of the Flies-esque balloon destruction, the ballroom was also the scene of at least one breakdancing competition, as well as numerous make-out sessions.

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Rustico Ballston Update

By ARLnow.com

Update on 10/20 — Rustico will open for lunch and dinner starting on Oct. 26, according to spokesperson Amber Pfau.

A tentative opening date for Rustico’s new Ballston location has been set.

Assuming all the necessary permits go through, Rustico is expected to open its doors on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 25, according to a Rustico employee we spoke to at Saturday’s Oktobeerfest in Alexandria.

Ticket Contest for Saturday’s Artisphere Opening Bash

By ARLnow.com

Do you like viewing art and drinking PBR? Are you high on creativity but low on cash? Well ARLnow.com and our friends at Brightest Young Things want to hook one lucky reader up with a pair of free tickets to the Burst! @ Artisphere pre-opening event Saturday night.

Held at the not-yet-open-to-the-public Artisphere, Burst will feature DJs, elaborate balloon sculptures, a camera crew from TLC following around the creator of the aforementioned balloon sculptures, and UNLIMITED FREE BEER AND WINE (until the bartender cuts you off).

Since we only have one set of tickets (normally $20 apiece) to give away, we’ll do this contest-style.

Here’s the challenge: find an example of “unintentional art” somewhere in Arlington. Photograph it. Email it to arlnowcontest[at]gmail.com by Thursday night. Include your real name, how you want to be identified on the site, the neighborhood you live in, and a Twitter-sized description of the “art” and where you found it.

We’ll show some of the entries and arbitrarily pick a winner on Friday. Good luck!

Shirlington Oktoberfest Among Slew of Events This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

What are you doing tonight? Nothing? Good. That will give you plenty of time to rest up for a Saturday and Sunday chock full of events around Arlington.

From noon to 6:00 on Saturday, thousands of beer drinkers will jam Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village for the 10th annual Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest. Wear your best lederhosen and bring extra cash for bratwurst. Oh, and bring a non-drinking friend who can help you get home safely AND provide a few extra sample tickets to your group (for $25, each attendee gets 10 tickets good for one 4 oz. beer sample each).

Dog lovers skipping the Oktoberfest may want to check out Dogtober Day and Barker’s Bash, a dog show and festival full of fun and games. It’s taking place at Lacey Woods Park (1200 N. George Mason Dr.)  from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

On Sunday, Arlington will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Thomas Jefferson Theater (125 S. Old Glebe Rd.). Community members of all ages and backgrounds are invited to enjoy Latin music, food and dancing from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

In addition to those events, there’s also a pair of fundraisers going on, which we wrote about earlier. See our events calendar for even more options.

‘Beer Wars’ at Arlington Drafthouse

By ARLnow.com

If you like beer and crave a deeper understanding about how it’s made and how the American beer industry works, then Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike) is the place to be tomorrow night.

The Drafthouse will be screening Beer Wars, a documentary that “goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries” and “reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer.”

The film starts at 7:30 p.m., but an optional beer tasting will be held beforehand, beginning at 6:15. The tasting will feature local and national craft beers, including Dogfish, Flying Dog, Stone, Sam Adams, Star Hill, Heavy Seas, and more.

Dates, Details Set for Fall Beer and Wine Festivals

By Scott Brodbeck

Together with the start of football season, Crystal City’s Vintage Crystal wine festival and Shirlington’s Oktoberfest are two of the only reasons I can think about the end of summer without getting inconsolably depressed. Luckily, both will be back this year.

Vintage Crystal is back with the same Latin flavor as last year. The fourth annual festival will feature wine and tequila tastings, all-you-can-eat tapas from more than 20 local restaurants, Latin American music and salsa dancing.

Tickets are $20 and come with a complimentary wine glass.

The festival will take place from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 19.

The Shirlington Oktoberfest — also known as “the greatest thing to ever happen in Shirlington” — will return on Saturday, October 2, 2010. From 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., more than 30 different breweries will be pouring their best suds (in 4 oz. increments) for a fun-loving crowd that usually numbers in the thousands. There will also be food from local vendors and an authentic German band.

The event, sponsored by Capital City Brewing Co., is now in its tenth year. Tickets cost $25.

Cornhole League Coming to Clarendon Grill

By ARLnow.com

If you’re a fan of the beanbag-tossing game of cornhole, Clarendon Grill (1101 North Highland Street) is the place to be tonight. The bar will be hosting pick-up cornhole games starting around 7:00 p.m. There will also be free passes to the new movie Despicable Me, courtesy of the Arlington Athletic and Social League.

For the serious cornhole competitor, AASL still has a few spots open for its summer cornhole league at Clarendon Grill. Now in its second year, the 10 team league plays six regular season games on Tuesday nights. The season starts next week on June 8.

Registration costs $20 and includes a free t-shirt. Plus there’s cheap beer for league members.

Photo courtesy AASL/CHASE Sports Group. Disclosure: ARLnow.com has worked together with AASL on a marketing initiative.

To Do Tonight

By ARLnow.com

There are several very good options for people who want to get out of their house or apartment and do something tonight:

  • The new Siena Park luxury apartment building (2301 Columbia Pike) its celebrating its grand opening with an “Art of Living Well” event from 7:00 to 9:00, featuring food and FREE beer and wine tastings from a number of local restaurants, including: Twisted Vines, Rocklands Barbeque, Caribbean Breeze Restaurant, Extra Virgin, Rock Bottom,Tthe Melting Pot and others. There will also be live music, an appearance by artist J.D. Miller, and — of course — tours of the apartments.
  • Put on your best “O” face and go to the Bi-Annual TPS Report Managers Meeting at Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike). The “meeting” is actually an Office Space movie festival with trivia, impersonation and costume contests. The festivities start at 7:00 with theme music. The movie starts at 8:30.
  • Finally, for the civic-minded, Arlington County will hold an informal public forum on the snow removal ordinance at 7:00 p.m. The forum will take place at 3033 Wilson Blvd, rooms 7E-7F. Staffers will explain the proposed ordinance and answer questions.

As always, see our events calendar for lots more to do this weekend.