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Morning Notes

by ARLnow.com | August 28, 2012 at 9:30 am | 2,594 views | 48 Comments

Number of Households Growing — The number of households in Arlington grew by one percent over the past year — from 105,667 to 106,717 — a rate twice that of the 0.5 percent household growth in the Commonwealth of Virginia, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. [Sun Gazette]

New Ballston Bars Reviewed — Ballston’s bar scene has “received a shot in the arm over the last two weeks” with the openings of World of Beer and A-Town Bar and Grill, according to a review by Fritz Hahn. [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Ddimick

billj

Link to said review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-gurus/post/world-of-beer-and-a-town-liven-up-the-ballston-bar-scene/2012/08/22/59eb2a02-ec91-11e1-aca7-272630dfd152_blog.html
YTK

What a beautiful picture– that CAN’T be Arlington!! Well,…..Maybe a local park????
- Quoth the Raven
  
  That group of people seems to be attacking what looks like a bear on the right.
  - jackson
    
    “Marymount runners beat a bear to death in the morning mist at Arlington VA Bluemont Park.”
    - MC 703
      
      LMFAO
- ClarendonDweller
  
  It is a beautiful picture! I clicked through and saw that the photographer had provided this description: “Marymount runners practice in morning mist at Arlington VA Bluemont Park.”
- drax
  
  Of course it’s Arlington. It’s full of scenes like this. You should get out more.
- JimPB
  
  Yes, stunningly beautiful picture. Location?
  - SteveP
    
    If you’re on the 4 Mile Run trail between the tennis courts on Wilson Blvd and the parking lot near the picnic areas and disc golf course there is an open field used for various sports. I think the picture was taken from the hill on the opposite side of the open field.
craig

World of Beer – what is the deal with their “kitchen issues” that is mentioned in that article? It says only soft pretzels are made in their kitchen, why is this?
- shellshock868
  
  If you look back at old articles http://www.arlnow.com/2012/01/03/world-of-beer-coming-to-ballston/ , World of Beer is a franchise that at all other locations sells only drinks. They do not have food. But due to VA’s great ABC Laws, they had to offer some kind of food to get their licensing for Ballston. Check out wobusa.com look at menus of other locations. No food. So that’s why the minimalist menu here.
  - craig
    
    oh, interesting. Didn’t know that. Thanks for the info and the link.
- Josh
  
  It’s the only World of Beer location that has food and it’s only because it’s required by VA law, so they had to abide by it and they offer a small selection of food for customers. There’s pretzels, along with some dips, and sausages. The big thing about these locations is partnering with local restaurants and having them deliver their food to your seat. I did this in the Clematis, FL World of Beer and it worked really well.
  - craig
    
    i might give it a try, i bet the burger would be better anyway from a burger place rather than at a bar. Thanks
  - Mary-Austin
    
    I did that when I went and PF Changs brought food right over to our table.
    - JamesE
      
      Might be faster to walk over and order it.
      - Josh
        
        yea, you can bring in your own food too.
      - JamesE
        
        Arby’s + Pumpkin Beer
      - Allen
        
        That’s interesting. I’ve been told by people in the restaurant/bar business around here that any food consumed on their premises has to be prepared in their kitchen, subject to health department guidelines.
        
        It seems logical from a health department control aspect that they would want it done that way, in case an outbreak of food-bourne illness occurs, it is easier to trace. It also gives them a good excuse to kick out somebody that brings in a McDonalds bag to their restaurant and takes up a table by the bar.
        
        I wonder if that is BS, or if some sort of waiver was obtained by WOB.
      - yea, but
        
        Some places will still allow it, but they can still lose their license over it. Many places with special OK allow you to bring in a cake for a birthday, let’s say, but that same place will not allow someone to bring in a five guys burger, etc. Say someone brings in five guys fries to a place that advertises no peanut oil on site and someone gets sick? They can lose their license for letting that guy in and getting someone else sick, but not actually for having the other food there just for the effect of the food itself. Having it come from their kitchen determines that anything consumed in their store is “safe” by their standards and can’t be questioned by anyone with the health department. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but it really has become an issue because of past incidents all over the country.
- huh?
  
  More importantly, where is this mysterious “neighboring BGR” that they speak of?
MC 703

A-Town doesn’t sound half bad. Decent HH specials too.
- Sherriff Gonna Getcha
  
  I went to A-town and ehhhh. The fries are really good but the lobster roll is not.
  
  Cocktails are decent, but a bit too sweet. The service on the patio this past weekend was decent, a bit slow on drinks though.
  
  The crowd was..interesting. I cant tell what this place wants to be. They have Hukkah, filet mignon, seafood, sandwiches, burgers, sushi, flat bread pizza, cornhole and club music.
  
  The kitchen/staff cant possibly be awesome at all of them. And they are not.
  
  Safe place for a beer and an appetizer to watch people who dress up like they are going to a vegas club.
  - JamesE
    
    Should I wear my suit if I go?
Ricky Rose

A-Town is actually a great place and has been packed ever since opening. I live across the street, so I have stopped in twice so far.
- wow
  
  Everyone was bashing this place on here before it even opened, after giving it a try it seems like a hit. Typical arlnow commenters, trying to bury a business before it has opened its doors.
  - FrenchyB
    
    I haven’t been yet, but am willing to give it a try. I work in the same building, and Caribbean Breeze didn’t have any happy hour appeal. I do hate the name, though.
  - JohnB
    
    Just bashing the name sir.
    - Not Me
      
      And the indulgent use of signage.
B22201

You know what this place really needs? It needs a family friendly sports bar themed restaurant with menus with pictures on them. Maybe with an Irish sounding name. . . but not too Irish. Maybe call it something like “Chicken O’Tooles” and serve wings. Man, I bet that place would do really well in Ballston.

Or, put an English themed bar in Ballston Mall (Parkington for you old-timers). But, we won’t actually show soccer games on the tv’s. . . and even if there is NOBODY in the place, will say “This is Arlington, we just show American football on tv”. That would probably be a really good idea too.
- CrystalMikey
  
  I see what you did there.
- Clarendon Shank
  
  clearly, you haven’t been to “Fulle O’Tooles” in Clarendon
  - http://purple.com/purple.html Captain Pup McPuppo
    
    nice
Duh……

“Number of Households Growing ”

Probably due to all of the cupcakes……….
- http://myahoo.yahoo.com Marissa
  
  Will you marry me!
Ted

Present suburbs will be urbanized. New suburbs for the 60 million expected U.S. population growth and 2 million expected Virginia population growth over the next 20 years will come from developing farmland and forests. Middle Class and Working Class will drive in from 50 miles out to work in increasingly expensive urban enclaves. What a mess.
- JohnB
  
  What’s your suggestion? Forced sterilization?
  - Quoth the Raven
    
    Don’t feed him – he’s made similar posts in other threads.
    - JohnB
      
      Thanks for the heads up.
  - drax
    
    Suburban sprawl is not caused primarily by population growth. It’s a development and economic problem, not a growth problem. It’s dumb growth – hence the term “smart growth” for the alternative.
- drax
  
  Urbanization prevents suburban destruction of farmland and forest.
  - http://purple.com/purple.html Captain Pup McPuppo
    
    +1
SteamboatWillie

I tried our World of Beer and really wanted to love it. It’s just a really sterile environment and the bartenders need more seasoning to get a handle on the vast beer menu.
JimPB

Growth in households — What was the growth in number of homes (including apartment homes and rented room homes)?
JNCJJ

We tried World of Beers the other day, and the food issue is a problem. There are SO many other places in No. Va. with a large beer list and that serve food so what makes WOB stand out? I’m not a beer drinker (my husband is), so I felt pretty left out accompanying him one day for lunch. The wait staff told us that most of the delivery places won’t deliver until 3:00 and you have to give them a bunch of information…your zone, what you’re wearing, the name of your waitress. Overall – a big hassle.

This is a good place I feel if you are a guy, want to watch a game, drink a beer and have an o.k. sausage. There’s probably some market for that but enough to succeeded in an over-populated sports bar market?
- jackson
  
  Respectfully, if you are not a beer drinker, you may not be the target audience for a place called World of Beer.
  - Ballstonian2012
    
    +1
Smart Growth=Gentrification

Agree with Ted. Future of ‘New Urbanism’? What future? A future dedicated to massively bulldozing farms and forests to house and build infrastructure for a suburban working class that serves the wealthy urbanist creative class 50 miles away?

Anyone else read where a nanny non-profit just received a million-dollar grant from the Federal Transit Administration to provide used cars to low-wage workers?

BREAKING NEWS — Police Investigate Possible Meth Lab in Va. Square Tropical Smoothie Cafe Opens in Virginia Square

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