Which Party Are You (..going to..)?

So we know that young people in Arlington generally love politics and love an excuse for a party... so tomorrow night should be huge!

Here's a small sampling of how some people will be partying:
The Arlington Young Dems, Arlington County Democratic Party, and the Joint Campaign are teaming up for one big shindig at Baileys in Ballston. Party starts at 7 pm.

The Arlington GOP will be watching the results come in at Mister Days in Clarendon.

NOVA & DC Urban League Young Professionals are at Bistro Bistro in Shirlington starting at 6 pm.

And then from the Going Out Gurus blog...
Busboys and Poets is hosting an election night party which will be heavy on the Democrat side.
They will apparently have "14 political cocktails on the menu, including the "Delaware Dude" for Joe Biden and the "Todd-Todd Palin" for the first dude of Alaska."

Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse will be showing election returns on the big screen. 20 beers on tap and who knows who will show up!


Let us know if you hear of other Election Night Parties in Arlington.

A Happy Hour Debate

I have cut and pasted the Arlington relevant information from Washington Post City Guide's Going Out Gurus Blog. See entire post here.

Here is a guide to Debate watching events in Arlington

"Parties That Lean Right
Bailey's Pub and Grille (Crystal City)
Bailey's Pub and Grille seems to be the fault line of Arlington politics. The local branch of the Young Republicans will be gathered in the back room of the Crystal City sports bar, while the Democrats will be at its sister bar in Ballston. (More on that below.) An RSVP is requested to join the Republican event; admission is free and doors open at 7:30.

Parties That Lean Left
Bailey's Pub and Grille (Ballston)

The official gathering place for Arlington Democrats will play the debate on multiple TVs and feature games like buzzword bingo. Admission is free for members and $10 for everyone else, and that price includes one drink.

Busboys and Poets
All three locations of Busboys and Poets (14th Street, Shirlington and the new City Vista at 5th and K) are hosting watch parties with full sound. Ask about the special drinks created specifically for the occasion, like the "Obama" and the "Biden." U Street and Shirlington will have the debate on 10-foot projection screens, while City Vista will have it on all five TVs.

Nonpartisan Events
Cap City Brewing Company
All three Capitol City Brewing Company locations will be showing the debates, and it's no coincidence that the brewery just unveiled its new Election Ale, a light, crisp beer with a touch of hops. (On Nov. 5, Election Ale will be reformulated as InaugurAle with one additional ingredient: honey from the winning candidate's home state.) Expect the Cap City at Postal Square to be the most popular, as it's within spitting distance of the Capitol."

Let us know if you hear of any others!

Wednesdays: Organic Beer Happy Hour in Shirlington

My immediate reaction to reading about Busboys & Poets' organic beer happy hour was, "How have I not heard about this yet???":

If you want to sample organic ale without the high price tag, Busboys and Poets in Shirlington hosts its Organic Beer Happy Hour every Wednesday. You can try Wolaver's Organic, Peak Organic, Stone Mill Pale Ale and (for those concerned with drinking locally) Baltimore's Clipper City ales.

The happy hour got started last December when Silver Spring-based author Christopher Mark O'Brien arrived for a talk about his book, "Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World." The talk was followed by a signing and organic beer tasting, which garnered such a positive response that Busboys has been running the weekly happy hour ever since -- and they don't sell these beers otherwise, so the only time you can get them is at the happy hour. Unfortunately for city mice, there are no plans for the event to migrate to the D.C. location.

$4 beers (bottles). Wednesdays, 4-7 p.m. Busboys and Poets, 4251 S. Campbell Ave., Arlington. 703-379-9756.

I'd recommend all of those beers except Stone Mill, which I'm neutral on. It's organic but is brewed by Anheuser-Busch and shipped in from California. Read more about sustainable beer options here.

Cross-posted from The Green Miles

Cool Spot Gets Cooler: Eleventh Going Smoke-Free

UPDATE 5/20/08: This great new Arlington website listing smoke-free establisments just went live.

In light of the Virginia General Assembly's ongoing refusal to do anything to protect Virginia consumers from the health risks of secondhand smoke, last year I emailed eight Arlington bars to see if they'd be willing to go smoke-free voluntarily. Got this semi-cryptic response from Eleventh in Clarendon:

The basement is smoke free and chances are the main floor will go that route soon.

Then today, stumbled upon this on their website:

Eleventh is going NON-SMOKING, effective June 1!! Look for our ashtrays to appear on Ebay!

Eleventh will become one of the few nightspots in Arlington to go completely smoke-free. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants that are completely smoke-free, but anywhere that you'd go for just a drink? Tallula's EatBar, Four Courts, Summers, and Crystal City Sports Pub all have separate smoke-free bars, but that's about it.

Ooh, almost forgot the new Busboys & Poets in Shirlington! OK, so Busboys & Poets and soon-to-be Eleventh. Any other entirely-smoke-free nightspots in Arlington I'm missing?

True Cost of Food - Dinner and Discussion

With all the food cost issues in the news today, this seems especially interesting (and of course, it's at one of my favorite places)

Title: True Cost of Food - Dinner and Discussion

Date/Time: May 15 (Thurs.) 6:30 p.m.

Location: Busboys and Poets Book Discussion & Dinner4251 S. Campbell Ave, Arlington VA703-379-9756
Located in the Village at Shirlington, garage parking is free.

The menu features over a dozen vegan dishes including vegan calzones and soy cheese pizza. After dinner, the manager will discuss the latest in his collection of books about food and organic gardening which you can browse and purchase.

Please RSVP to Diana Artemis at: artemdi@yahoo.com

Banished at Busboys

Just got this email from Busboys and Poets in Shirlington and sounded pretty cool, so thought I would share ...

Busboys will be showing the film BANISHED this Sunday from 4pm-6pm, in partnership with ITVS and PBS.

About Banished:From the 1860s to the 1920s, dozens of towns and counties across America violently expelled entire African American communities, forcing thousands of black families to flee their homes. A century later, these towns remain all white. BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn shocking histories.This event is free and open to the public. Discussion to follow. For more info, click here: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/index.html

Busboys and Poets Coming to Arlington

The Green Miles beat me to the punch on announcing the coming of Cakelove, but what he didn't mention was that Busboys and Poets is also coming to Shirlington!

If you've ever been to the one in D.C. you know it's a very cool mesh of bookstore, restaurant, bar, and of course, poetry readings, and special events... and very packed on a weekend night.

The fact that one is coming to Shirlington makes me want to celebrate like, I don't know, I just won the World Cup or something.