Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dr. Dremo's closing on Jan. 27


Dr. Dremo's, a storied Arlington hang-out joint on Clarendon Boulevard, is closing on January 27, 2008. The property, along with that of the Taco Bell next door, will become a 141-unit apartment complex with ground-level retail shops.

Dr. Dremo's is a grungy, warehouse-style brew pub located in a building that formerly housed a car showroom and dealership. In the summer, you could find some highly competitive blow pong on the patio bar. Some pool tables are inside. A separate room from the inside bar has a stage. This is a good arrangement, because then if the band is crap, everyone there isn't forced to listen to it. But they have had some excellent bands, and I remember some good Halloween parties. Every Wednesday night, Dr. Dremo's hosts open mic comedy. In short, Dr. Dremo's has been a pillar of the Arlington community. Quite sad to see it close.

Bardo Rodeo preceded Dr. Dremo's at this location. Bardo Rodeo operated at a bigger scale and drew larger, more up-market crowds. The ground-floor level showroom displayed the brewing equipment and steel vats, had fantastic graffiti on the walls, and a huge television showing free movies in the main downstairs seating area. When I took a video production class at Fairfax Public Access, I shot a Kafka-inspired short video there. Alas, that was in the primitive past before Youtube, and the video has been lost.

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