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Exactly what makes a dive bar is a matter of great debate. Whether there’s graffiti in the bathroom stalls or a jukebox in a dimly lit corner, one universal quality is that a dive bar’s character comes from age.
So it might raise some eyebrows that a “pop-up dive bar” is coming to Alexandria in March, and running through the summer. Del Ray Dive will be the latest from Del Ray’s Pop Up Bar, an ever-changing venue that’s previously been devoted to Taylor Swift, tiki, and ski lodge themes. “How can you have a dive bar that’s been there for generations, but it’s really only been there for, like, three weeks?,” says owner Bill Blackburn. “That’s a good question. That’s a fair question. I guess it’ll be a fair critique. But we’ll do our best.” Blackburn says his original idea was to create a throwback to the old Del Ray, when it was a more blue collar neighborhood full of “drown your sorrows with a shot and a beer-type bars.” “But that’s not very fun, right? Nobody wants to go to a dive bar that’s depressing,” Blackburn says. Instead, he wants to channel college dive bars or the kind of places you might go to in your 20s, “because everybody has fond memories of that time in their life, whether you went to college or you didn’t.” Exactly what will end up in the imitation dive is still being worked out, but Blackburn says he plans to have an old jukebox, darts, and maybe a popcorn machine. The walls will be decked in sports and college memorabilia and neon signs. Dollar bills will be stapled to the ceiling. One area of the pop-up venue is always devoted to a micro-theme—like a hall of ex-boyfriends in the Taylor Swift pop-up, where people could scrawl the names of past flames. This time, Blackburn envisions a museum paying homage to real dive bars of Alexandria, such as Mac’s Place, the Snuggery, and the Cole Bin. Comfort bar foods will include basics like wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks, and burgers. The bar will also serve shooters that were popular in the ’90s and early 2000s, plus pitchers and buckets of beer. They may even host a beer pong tournament. “Everything’s on the cheaper side, which is kind of a change in formula from what we’ve done in the past with this pop-up,” says Blackburn, who hopes to keep drinks under $10 and offer happy hour deals. “We can’t have a dive bar and then sell old fashioneds for $18.” Blackburn also bought a soda machine he plans to rebrand as the “beer-o-matic” and stock with PBRs, Natty Lights, and other cheap cans. “For four bucks, the bartender just presses a button and you get whatever comes out,” Blackburn says. There will be one thing, however, that will be decidedly not dive-y. The bar shares its restrooms with adjoining Pork Barrel BBQ, so they’re hoping to avoid the questionable plumbing, sticky floors, and finicky door latches. Instead, the stalls, Blackburn says, will be “cleaner than a dive bar should have.”in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.Bar Japonais Rebrands as Katsumi With More Sushi and Lounge Vibes
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