LA Bar and Grill

Look out, I think I may have a new fav karaoke spot! This place was awesome and we had so much fun.

It's a small, dive-y spot in a strip mall-ish location off of Columbia Pike. Amble free parking so long as you arrive early enough.

We arrived shortly after 7:30pm and the place was practically empty. Which means were were easily able to snag a booth. It's a seat yourself kind of place.

Karaoke didn't just start on time, it started a few minutes early. And that like never happens in the karaoke world. But at 7:57pm, the host kicked off the night. And at this point, the place was still practically empty. So James O. was easily able to get his name on the list and sing several songs right off the bat.

As the night went on, it got crazy packed. But it was never so packed that is was obnoxious or unbearable. It was just a fun, great crowd. It seemed to hit its prime around 10:00pm/11:00pm. We stayed until just after Midnight, and while the crowd was still going strong, it was starting to dwindle a bit.

The beer list was quite meh. But they had Angry Orchard Cider and Sam Adams Seasonal, which while boring-ish, are nice drinkable beers that plied me with more than enough alcohol for the night.

The menu was decent. Lots of a variety of offerings. Everything from crab cakes to chili dogs to hot wings. They even have wings so hot that you have to sign a waiver! I did not attempt those. All the food was reasonably priced and tasty enough.

There's not exactly servers here. It was more like one guy running around like mad trying to take care of everyone. But we never had to wait long for anything we wanted and he always offered more drinks, etc. whenever he ran by. So for dive-y bar with quite a crowd, the service was pretty good.

The $10 cover thing was confusing. To me, cover means you pay at the door. Instead, think of it as a 2 drink minimum. You've got to eat or drink at least $10 worth. If you don't, at the end of the night, you'll get a $10 bill you have to pay. This was no problem at all for us. Our table of 3, spent about $50 on food and drinks.

So more on the karaoke... The host was great. The song list was extensive. The set-up worked well. It moved at a fast pace. Everyone rotated fairly. And there were boring breaks. Definitely one of the best karaoke nights I've done in the DC area. We will be back!

Good typical local bar. Easy to get to know people, friendly crowd and the bartenders will treat you well. After a few visits you'll feel right at home.

LA is a great little dive bar.  It's a neighborhood establishment that always draws a regular crowd and is always popping on Friday/Saturday nights.  The food is pretty darn good and Chef Dave does a really good job of putting everything together.  If you're looking for a yuppie-style Arlington place, this isn't the joint.