CRM's Monthly Meetup Tonight

Come join CRM for the December meetup tonight at 7 pm at The Clarendon Grill, which recently went smoke free! Look for CRM-ers in green shirts and wear yours if you have one.

Lisa Acker Dorsey will be speaking about the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and she will be giving more details about a benefit that she will be holding on Thursday, December 4th.

Happy Hour specials go until 8 p.m. and include:
$1 off appetizers
$1.75 Budweiser/Bud Light, Coors Light & Miller Light bottles
$2.50 Yuengling
$3.50 Corono/Corona Light

We will also be highlighting the upcoming activities which still have sign ups open:

Committee of 100 Meeting - December 10th

Holiday Decorating at Cherrydale Health and Rehab - December 13th

OAR Project Xmas Angel Wrapping Party - December 18th

Holiday Elves at Ballston Mall - December 20th

Sign Up Online!

Has Arlington Reached a Smoke-Free Tipping Point?

When Clarendon Grill decided to go smoke-free, they didn't mess around. Not only is there a ginormous "NO SMOKING" sign right on the front door, there are those white fliers plastered all over the windows:

Just this year, we've seen three types of places go smoke-free that cynics claimed never would never flip voluntarily:

• A sports bar (Thirsty Bernie's)
• A brew pub (Cap City)
• And a music venue (Clarendon Grill)

Now that in Clarendon alone, Clarendon Grill, Eleventh, Clarendon Ballroom, Liberty Tavern and others are all smoke-free, do you think we'll see more of a chain reaction in that area? Who would you like to see go smoke-free next? (My vote: Whitlow's.)

For more smoke-free establishments, check out Arlington County's Smoke Free Restaurants guide.

UPDATE: Thanks to commenter JohnAlex, I called Whitlow's, who informed me that they're now mostly smoke-free. There's a small smoking section in the back (if you've been there, it's near the beach mural). OK, so I have to change my vote, I guess ... I know it's a stretch, but I'll go with Jay's. How great would it be to have a smoke-free dive bar? Close second would be for Tallula's EatBar to go 100% smoke-free, it'd be nice to hang out in that back lounge without smelling like an ashtray afterwards.

Where Do Kids Love to Eat? Bars.

Recently I was at Whitlow's early in the evening waiting for a friend to arrive when I noticed that of the scattered groups seated for dinner, most were families. They stuck out a bit more because it was too early for the young professionals to be out for dinner and drinks, but it's a pattern I've noticed at other places as well. Go to Clarendon Grill for brunch on a weekend and there's almost always at least one family there. The kids love dancing on the stage where a band had been playing a few hours before.

My theory is that the same characteristics that make bars inviting to the drinking crowd make bars more attractive to young couples with kids. One of my best friends has a 6-month-old and an 18-month-old and says when they're going out to dinner, they have a choice to make:

* Go someplace nice and hope the kids are good but be ready to bail
* Go to a family-style place like Red Robin where the food sucks but at least you can let the kids be kids

Bars are already loud, so they don't care if the kids make a little noise. They have cement floors, so it's not a big deal if the kids spill. The dishes are made to be broken. And the parents not only get to eat much better food than they would at Applebee's, they can revisit some of their favorite places from their single days.

It's not ideal for parents to be taking kids to places where smoking is allowed, but it's not like they're showing up at 11pm when the smokiness is at its peak. You can get a list of smoke-free bars and restaurants at the Arlington Civic Federation website.