Dr. Dremo's Counts Down to Closing

Sometime on Sunday morning around 1:30am, it'll be last call for the last time at Dr. Dremo's. It'll be demolished to make way for a high-rise condo building.

Owners hope to reopen at a new location in the not-too-distant future, but fans of Dr. Dremo's know it'll never be quite the same. OK, so maybe if your standards are tasteful decor, comfortable seating, and clean air, the new location could be significantly better.

But dive bars are a dying breed. The Green Miles and his roommate once almost picked an apartment in Courthouse over our current Ballston digs only because of its proximity to Dremo's.

A friend told me Dremo's has been packed lately with people trying to get in one last pitcher, so if you're planning to go over the next few days, go early. Because after this weekend, never again will you get the chance to drink on the open-air beach downstairs with a view of the Washington Monument. And you won't get to sit inside their silo booths. From Night Out in Arlington:

Monday, Jan. 28th
It's Sad, But You Could Get a Totem Pole
We all knew it was coming -- Dr. Dremo's is in its last days. Starting at 7 pm, they'll be auctioning off tons of the restaurant's odds and ends (pool tables, poker chips, the totem pole, beer tanks, and so on). If you stop by beforehand and speak to the manager, you can submit a pre-auction bid.

There's still hope that Dremo's will rise from the ashes at a new location:

Some blogs have reported that Dremo's owners are throwing in the towel and closing the business for good, which Stewart denies. "[Looking for a new building] is not that bad," Stewart says. "You have to throw a lot of lines out to get something to bite. We put in a bid to buy a building, but we haven't heard back." The Dr. Dremo's team continues to visit real estate agents, trying to find a way to stay in their neighborhood. "I'd love to be in Clarendon and Court House," Stewart says.

Few dive bars remain in Arlington, and they're practically extinct in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. There's Jay's in Clarendon and the Royal Lee at Pershing Drive and Route 50. Any other favorite dive bars in Arlington?