Irish-type Bar Turns Up a Decent Meal

Miller and other cheap American beers flowed freely at the Clarendon Ballroom on a recent Thursday, during happy hour, amid the Washington area's infamous humidity. This spot, with a spacious interior and popular roof deck, in Orange line-adjacent Arlington, is located near multiple bars and restaurants. But a question always lurks for visitors to these Metro stop 'hoods: which of these cookie cutter locales can provide a decent meal that doesn't have the patron regretting the whole ride home. Unlike the morning walk of shame, the memories of which will fade, those wasted calories, spent on a post-happy hour meal are going to stay with you for a while. So, it was with low expectations that I wandered into the nearby Ri Ra "Irish pub."

The area is rife with self-stylized Irish bars. Going west from Rosslyn, a partial list of such pubs includes Courthouse's Four Courts (with some spectacularly packed trivia nights) and Kitty O'Shea's, Clarendon's O'Sullivan's, and Sine's further south in Pentagon City. Just a step from the Metro at Clarendon, Ri Ra has a typical bar menu, with atypically few high definition televisions. This would normally draw praise at a D.C. restaurant, but should I have to squint to see the score of the ballgame in a traditional bar? After waiting about 15 minutes for a waiter - and then having to go request the privilege of being brought water and drinks - the rest of the meal was satisfactory, if uneventful. Orders were taken without error, service was moderately attentive, and the array of sandwiches - chicken bistro, spicy chicken, and some burgers - delivered as promised. A dining room that started the early evening relatively empty soon filled up with post-happy hour patrons, but the high ceilings and distances between tables help avoid a claustrophobic feeling, even if they did nothing to diminish the din. Guinness is readily served, but the availability of a dry and serviceable California Riesling was a nice surprise too.

Rating: 4/10
In Short: Adequate menu and mediocre service make this a serviceable stop for local workers.
Website: http://www.rira.com/
Location: 2915 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201