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January 26, 2007

Caliente!

'Cause Pabst Blue Ribbon is the beer that keeps on givin'... For such a modest price, you get a beer that you taste twice...

Whenever you move to a new city, you immediately begin identifying your new spots. Where do I get groceries? Where's the nearest bookstore/library? Target? Gas Station?

But there's the second most important question - Where is the nearest bar? Immediately following is the most important question - Ok, that place kind of sucked. Where is the nearest good bar. Caliente, a bar about half a block from my apartment, is officially my new watering hole.

There are different types of bars in any city - the frat bar, the yuppie bar, the old bar, ye olde Irish bar, the college bar, the political bar, the depressingly lit haven alcoholic bar, etc. Caliente is what I would refer to as a "Server Bar" - it's where the waitstaff from the other bars go after work to blow off steam. I think over half of the regulars there, all on a first name basis with the Futurama-quoting bartender Callie, work in restaurants around the area. Caliente has a phenomenal beer selection for a local watering hole - varieties of Bells & Fullers on tap. Good beer? Check. Sassy/Friendly Staff? Check. Stumbling Distance to My Apartment? Check. Waterhole review successful - approved!

Now I do feel a bit out of place at times because my line of work is so widely disparate from everyone else at the bar. But that's assuaged by the complete lack of pretense - though I didn't go to the bars on Capitol Hill that often while in DC, whenever I did I would always know in the back of my head that someone who I may have to deal with professionally at some point in the very near future may be sitting in the booth next to me. Not that I can ever truly let my guard down, but I don't have to at Caliente because the atmosphere is fairly apolitical - a welcome break.

This is not to disparage other bars in the area - I am already quite fond of the Capital Ale House. It's something of a cross between the Brickskeller and the Hawk & Dove. It's also apparently the preferred bar of the writers of West of Shockoe, whom I met last night through some other friends of mine. And there are a couple of other fine establishments a stone's throw from my apartment, many of which I am sure I will patronize at some point in the near future.

And thus, the adjustments continue.

Posted by MikeSager at January 26, 2007 3:00 PM

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Posted by: Kristi at March 17, 2007 3:49 PM

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