The bouncer gave me a hard time about my passport, which was annoying but ok, I get it. Then the "supervisor" came over and told me I had no right to have an attitude. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't use a fake ID on this place even if I had one, much less my freakin passport. The guy was a total d-bag, and frankly should be worried less about my legal passport, and more about his illegal use of steroids.
Review Source:Fun! And huge. There are dart boards, basketball hoops, billiard tables... all sorts of fun activities. You know, if booze and friends aren't enough for you, which sometimes they aren't. Â The mixed drinks are relatively large and fairly strong, so that was a happy discovery for $7. I would definitely hang out here again.
Review Source:I came here a couple times on my short trip down to DC before my friend headed back to Afghanistan. We had a blast both nights.
First night was more of a pregame. The music is consistently good here, but no one dances. Obviously, being from Jersey, my girls & I were dancing. The second night we were a big group and started a huge dance party up on the level behind the DJ booth. It was awesome. They have tables up there any everything. I didn't get a chance to play pool, but it's pretty sweet that it's there.
My only complaints are for the occasional whiffs of nasty bar smell (they need to do a good cleaning) and the bartenders (I actually left the bar a few times because I had been waiting for so long to get a drink and there weren't even any people around me, it just wasn't worth it after a while).
All in all, I had a very good time here and will be back if I am in the area again, which I hope will be soon because it is a very nice, charming area... however, it is full of preppy people. My friends and I found 1 dude passed out on the curb next to the fire hydrant with his arm outstretched, holding his iPhone. If that was North Jersey that thing would have been swiped so fast. We helped him to meet his friends at a diner. It was an awesome night!
If you ask me when I knew SK's was THE Clarendon spot for me, I'll tell you. It was the time I went with my husband and a large group of friends, and someone ordered round after round of double jager bombs. Since then, I always end up here if I'm spending the evening in Clarendon. It's a fun, low-key yet crowded spot where you can have actual conversations, meet new people, play shuffleboard, darts, pool and just have fun. Yes, you can find pretentious lame ass people here, but they are everywhere and easy enough to filter out. The bar tenders are great at their job; the bouncers are polite. Drink prices are typical; shots are expensive. Great spot to start off or spend the entire evening.
Review Source:I've been coming to Spider's for about three years now, and I can confidently say that it's one of the premier bar and nighttime spots in the whole of Arlington. A pool hall by name, Spider Kelly's offers so much more. Other games, yes, but more than anything, one of the best meet markets in the northern VA area.
If you come on a Friday or Saturday anytime past 9, you should expect to wait in line outside to get in- the place really is as popular as you've no doubt heard. And for good reason: the bartenders are talented, the prices are fair, there's pool, shuffleboard, darts, and other games to play, and it always has good DJs on the weekends. There are also plenty of TVs throughout the entire space, which makes it easy to keep an eye on the game while shooting some pool or hitting on the hottie at the end of the bar (don't come here solely to watch a game, though, it's far too noisy and crowded).
There's not much else to say, really. It can get a bit too crowded at times, but even during times like those it's still a ball to be there. Come with friends, come with a date, come with anybody: no matter what, you'll have a great time.
This place is definitely good for Happy Hour... or if you're looking for a meat market. Â But hey! Sometimes you are! So head out with the girls, and get ready for a good time. Â Great music for dancing, and close to other bars too if you're looking for a change.
This place gets really crowded on the weekends, as do other bars nearby.
*Follow-up note - I emailed the owner/GM about the below experience, he was responsive, kind and helpful. I bumped up my star rating from one to three because of his genuine concern and care for customer service. A twitchy-palmed bouncer should not reflect his restaurant as a whole. I might try SK again..during the day when the bouncers are off the clock;)
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Went here over the weekend for the first time since moving back to Arlington. Made it through the door, turned on my heel and left. I don't appreciate the racist bouncer that was working the door Saturday night around 11:00PM.  I went with my good friend from the UAE and my fiancé.  After they had walked in the bouncer told me he didn't appreciate my friend "touching" him. Apparently a friendly pat on the shoulder and a "thanks buddy" is offensive. The bouncer really put the nail in the coffin when he said "he's in my country now and you don't touch people like that."  I told the guys what happened and we immediately decided to leave.  Oh yeah and "said" bouncer yelled at us on our way out.  Excuse me, who's the customer here?!  Needless to say we went next door to Liberty Tavern and ended our night on a much higher note.
Stay Classy Clarendon - just don't go to SK.
Great bar crowd. Â Ages vary but mostly 24-27 range. Â They offer pool and shuffle board. Â There are also a few other arcade games available. Â There are tables available to sit at but are usually taken early. Â Drinks are standard prices for the arlington area. Â On weekends it gets very crowded so sometimes the line is pretty long. Â ESP on holidays lines are long and early so if you plan on coming here come early. Â Parking is not bad there are a bunch of garages that are open till 2-3 a few blocks away. Â Have fun!
Review Source:While I've found myself at SKs plenty of times over the last few years, I've never actually been able to attend an actual, legit 'happy hour' there. Â Spider Kelly's puts on a different happy hour special every day of the week. Â Hubby and I arrived at about 6 PM on a Friday afternoon and were able to find a tabletop for 2 in the bar area. Â Tabletop means waiter service, so our waiter came to take our order. Â The Friday special was $8 specialty cocktails until 8 PM and $5 selected appetizers until 7 PM. Â I think this is a great deal.
Hubby and I had a couple of rounds and mixed some arcade basketball (and lost bets) in the middle. Â We definitely worked up an appetite with all that basketball-in, so we decided to order the loaded tater tots from the happy hour menu. Â I 'tot' they were amazing. Â Topped with cheese, bacon, chives, and served with a side of ranch, they were so good. Â Hubby and I quickly ate the bowl and were so pleased with that order!
As a HH place, Spider Kelly's is great. Â In addition to the arcade basketball, they have darts, shuffleboard, and pool. Â We are definitely going back to try out some more of their culinary and drink creations.
Oh, I've also heard the chicken and waffles are really good, but I didn't have a chance to try. Â Will update with a review on THAT, later.
So...here all the time on the weekends when it's uber crowded. You should go during the week and make friends with a bartender for happy hour so when you are trying to squeeze your way to the bar they recognize your face and get you taken care of. Now if you are tipping right, you can forget it!
Review Source:Hello Friends-
This place is usually the busiest/packed place in Arlington that isn't dark as hell and have music so loud that you can't talk.
While it has less douchebags than many places across the street, it isn't a relaxing place to hangout- this is where you go if you want to be in a crowd of people. Â Most people seem slightly intoxicated and friendly, plus you can always play the bar games that litter the establishment. Â
Not a bad place, fills the need, and if you are bored on a saturday night, could be a good time (3.5 stars)
Alright, after several revisits I'm turning the corner....kind of. Â The pool tables mitigate the obsenities of the main bar area, but it becomes rather unplayable after 11. Â The game side is a much more fun and convo friendly area, but that being said the primitive nature of drunk Arlingtonians will come out whenver you have to take a leak. Â $25 an hour to shoot pool during "peak" time makes me want to head back home to the dive bars, but it gives me something to do while friends fist pump.
Review Source:Went for happy hour (they open at 4 on weekdays - don't show up early!). I never got a clear definition of what their happy hour entails but here's what I deciphered: 4-8 PM, they have daily specials (Thursday was margaritas and mojitos for $3.50), and draft beers are half-ish price...bill was $3.67 for $6.50 beer...?
Don't get the margarita unless you like sweet&sour mix and dislike tequila...cause you won't taste any in there.
Service was unimpressive but not bad. Though we didn't partake they have lots of games - pool, shuffleboard, darts, and God's favorite game...Skeeball!
Not sure what some people on here were expecting for a Clarendon bar, but it's pretty spacious (which is nice for Fri and Sat nights), decent drinks and usually a good crowd.
The bar games (pools and darts) are nice if you're not just looking to drink and mingle
Overall once of the better bars in the area...
This place is really spacious. Â They have a great hh menu and the food was good. I like the set up of their central bar - very inviting. Â They also have a lot of booths for anyone to sit in and service is friendly and attentive. Â TVs everywhere so your able to watch the games in peace :) Â I remember the food here is really good but all I remember is that it involved fries lol.
Review Source:HORRIBLE BOUNCERS and INATTENTIVE WAIT STAFF! I asked the bouncer about the dining area where my friends are eating. He stamps my hand  tells the Bouncer #2 to take me to the table. "Why?", Boncer #2 asks. Bouncer #1 replies "it's a line cutting situation." A line of 3 people! Bouncer #2 yells at me "I am not here to hold your hand" and that I am an idiot for not standing in line "you woulda been in by now". Wait, What? How did a simple question turn into this? Bouncer #2 proceeds to call me  an a$$hole and that I have an "iPhone stuck up [my] ass." While I wait for my friends to come out these guys are ogling girls coming in, telling them to "bend over that fine ass", and licking their lips. They talk about how they need to make a reality show about bouncers and the "pu$$y and a$$holes they gotta deal wid." I told them it would suck more than Ice-T and Coco or Flava Flav's shows.
My friends said that the wait staff got the wrong order and had the audacity to tell them that they must be mistaken. After the dinner the wait staff were absent for 20 minutes and my friend had to track them down to pay the bill!
EVENTIDE next door had great wait staff, Â no [vile, obnoxious] bouncers, and a classier crowd. I pray it does not have the same owner as Spider Kelly's.
The reviews here are pretty mediocre, and while I do think it can be "a raging shitshow of douchebaggery when it gets full" as others have said, I have never had a bad time here. Â What does that make me? Â Actually I think, like most bars, for me it is the company I bring with me. Â I'm married and just looking to hang out with my friends, not meet anyone new and this bar always delivers.
Lots of bar games, pool, darts, etc. and a bit larger than other bars in the area so more room to move around. Â Seems to be much less packed than Clarendon Ballroom (for the younger and dancier crowd) and Liberty Tavern (for the older crowd) and some areas off to the side for company HH's. Â
The HH specials are good, with all the beers being $4, including the Guinness and Stella and other $7 beers. Â The tater tots were delicious. Â Nachos left a bit to be desired but not horrible. Â Some of the other apps were definitely up to par.
Spider Kelly's seems like the type of place that can be cool when it's not crowded, but a raging shitshow of douchebaggery when it gets full.
It's a pretty big space, the menu is decent if overpriced (but maybe not overpriced for the area). There are pool tables, shuffleboard, darts and a few other activities if you get bored with just hanging out drinking and talking. When we went it wasn't crowded so there was no problem getting a seat. There are also tons of TVs so this is likely a good place to catch a game.
Those are the plusses.
The minuses include the big warning at the door not to bring in weapons. If I thought this was just to be funny or ironic, it'd be okay. Combined with the bouncers with earpieces, it tells me this place attracts a bunch of dicks. The entire feel of the space is much more yuppie-meets-clubbers than the dive bars I normally frequent.
So verdict - probably a great place to grab a burger, a beer, and play some pool or darts after work. But I'd be a little reluctant to go there later on a weekend, it just seems like it's probably not my kind of place.
Spider Kelly's....where the 24 year old crowd comes to play. Â This is the perfect place for Clarendon Ballroom graduates who just want to chill out but WILL get down if the perfect opportunity arises.
As a lady in her late twenties, I find this place a little bit too loud and run-of-the-mill for my taste but I will say that:
#1) Their cheese fries are BANGIN'
#2) It's a great middle ground for a birthday party or after work get together
#3) Their cocktail list is pretty inventive and a great price during happy hour
#4) Shuffle board is the greatest game invented
#5) Late night Friday/Saturday is basically club night so if this isn't your scene then beware!
Spider Kelly's....one of the main staples of Claredon! I'm an out of towner but I had a good time here.
They got good music, pool, bars, lots of people and good bartenders. The bartender that took care of my friend and I was Leo. You should hit him up.
They got good mixed drinks as well. Check them out!
Plenty of TVs to watch sport games. All they need is a dance floor for people to dance in!
Take care of your bartenders!
I used to work in Clarendon and naturally coworkers and I would come to this place after work for happy hour. Â They had good specials during the week and some pretty decent wings but I've also been here during the weekend - each time swearing it would be my last time.... Â It is quite the Arlington douche-fest - this is the type of place where people come to rekindle their college days by drinking uncontrollably and then get tossed out - so much so that the bouncers can be pretty hot-headed and eager to throw anyone out at any time. Â And this is all so that young late 20-somethings and early 30-somethings can hold on to a piece of their college glory days.
It's a decent place for hanging out for a mid-week happy hour with coworkers - terrible place to spend a saturday night.
Meh. Â It's a bar with overpriced drinks and mediocre fare. Â Not sure what the appeal is - it seems to be a very crowded and popular place. Â As someone else mentioned, white people seem to love this place.... Â maybe it's the shuffleboard? Â Can't remember the last time I saw so many polo and button down plaid shirts.
Review Source:I have been to Spider Kelly's quite a bit. I usually go here first, before I head next door to Clarendon Ballroom. It used to be one of my favorite places, but has since fallen out of favor. Sure, it's a popular place on the weekend. The problem with that is it is too crowded on the weekend. Parking sucks if you're driving here for a happy hour.
Don't get me wrong, it's a fun place to hang out at! You just may get bored after going here so many times like me.
I went for the Annual Big Game between Cal and Stanford. There are a LOT of TVs, which makes for a great sports bar. They have a great $5 menu- I got the Loaded Tater Tots, which were AWESOME. Shared it with some of my friends, who all agreed it was a great dish.
I think my biggest issue is with the service. I understand that it was pretty crowded, but it always took a really long time to get the waiter's attention and to get drinks (15-20 minutes). Same goes for the time it took for me to get the check and its issues to get resolved.
As for the check: I got charged an extra quesadilla (the waiter got my order wrong- friend ordered quesadilla, I ordered loaded tater tots, and we were delivered 2 quesadillas), the regular price for the loaded tater tots ($8 instead of $5) and a full priced Yuengling (the private event either gave us false advertising for the drink discounts or management didn't realize it was in the contract or something.)
Overall, nice bar, but I really didn't like the issues with the bill. I think I'd still give Spider Kelly's another go- they have a Pumpkin Chai Martini that looked amazingly delicious, but after all the issues with my current bill I didn't want to bother with it.
I must preface this review with the fact that it's not for a bar hopping experience. Â I've been to this place during a weeknight and on a saturday afternoon around dinner time and both times I felt it was a fun chill spot. Â
The food is pretty good but not particularly memorable. (If I don't remember what I had, it's usually average.) Â I think we ordered sliders and buffalo wings during the happy hour special during the week and when I went on a saturday evening I only had drinks. Â That being said the prices during happy hour for eats were GREAT and the drink prices and beer prices were affordable as well. Â
In addition to good prices, there is LOADS of room to accomodate a group of friends (if you don't go on a super busy weekend late i suppose....) Â The pool, shuffleboard, video game hoops, and other games also make it a desirable place to meet friends for downtime.
I doubt I'll go during a bar crawl type situation, but rest assured if I do I'll adjust my review accordingly. Â :-)
Large bar with a lot of seating and separate rooms with pool, darts and shuffleboard. Â We went here for happy hour so we got cheap drinks and pitchers of beer for good prices. Â They were training a new waitress but she was pretty good. Â We didn't have complicated orders so it wasn't like she had a lot to mess up.
I'd go back if I was in VA again but I hear (and saw) that it gets pretty busy after 10 with lines out the door. Â So if that's your style get in line. If not, then go for happy hour, get housed for little cost and move on to one of the other bars in the area.
One of the only bars in Clarendon that isn't a dive/dumpy.
Wednesdays are $0.50 wings and these wings are really good. They're buffalo wings but have a slight sweetness to them. Blue cheese dip that comes with the wings are made with actual blue cheese!
Tip: on the bball shooting game.. it's all about speed! chuck the ball at the square and break 100 every time :)
A straightforward sports-bar that doesn't try to be something else.
SK is always a solid option for hanging out in Clarendon because it's decently bright, has a large bar area, and has tons of spots to play table games or lounge about. The service is solid, and there are lots of TVs for those who want to catch the game. It's a popular spot that stays true to what it is - a sports bar. It doesn't try to outsmart customers with fancy stuff or pretentious whatever. I like that they've picked up more craft brews and have those on tap.
I'll echo the sentiments that after 10PM, this place will start getting dude-bros and the ladies start to think they're at a club. I don't know why so many people think SK is something fancier or is some place at the Hamptons. It's not. The clientele can make or break SK on any particular night.
I have been here several times after I made my initial review and it keeps getting better and better everytime. I have tried the food for a few times and that made me completely sold on the place and plus they plus alternative rock all of the time (the good alt rock). I had the wings here and they were pretty good, not too hot and they were really meaty. The pork sliders are decent, but not my favorite. They were packed, but I felt like I needed more bread and they were a little tangy in my opinion. The jumbo wings during happy hour are jumbo! They are like chicken drumsticks but a little smaller and they are only 0.50 cents on Wednesdays. I ate 6 and was full but had enough room for cheese fries.
Here we go the king of fries is made here. I had the loaded french fries. That comes with cheese, bacon, chives and buttermilk dressing. The cheese was actual cheese sauce, a concept foreign to most restaurants in DC. It was not just on the top but all throughout the fries and there was a reservoir of cheese at the bottom which made it even better. The cheese did not stiffen up and it was really creamy. I would love to get the recipe for this sauce. There was not enough bacon though. They were sooooo good. I will definitely try the loaded potato tots.
The drinks still remain so so and the strength of the drink really depends on the bartender. Mixed drinks are not a special (booo), but beer and wine are. Best to come here after work when it is not super packed.
When I moved here in January, Spider Kelly's was kind of my go-to place. I've since moved on. All the other reviews are right, in that Day SK's is about a thousand times better than Night SK's. If I am going to go out for a drink on a weeknight and don't want to go into the city, I'll go to Spider Kelly's.
On the weekends? Never again. You would think that girls were on their way to a night club and the guys were on their way to work at vineyard vines or something. I've never seen so many guys in teal khaki shorts and baby blue or light pink polos. Don't forget the boat shoes.
Generally, I come here when I've run out of other options.
There's "day" Spider Kelly's and "night" Spider Kelly's. During the day, it's a great place to chill for happy hour, watch a game or two or just chat with friends. "Night" Spider Kelly's, which usually rears its ugly head sometime after 10 p.m. on the weekends, is when the ladies break out the short skirts, heels and glitter for a night of mingling and more. The guys also step up their game by spraying on some Axe.
I prefer "day" SK's. The food isn't anything special though, just regular ol' bar food. Staff is  friendly enough. There's shuffleboard and other games too for additional entertainment.
I was quite surprised and shocked how lowly this establishment is ranked among Yelpers. But after reading few negative reviews, I see why. I'll go into details later.
My roommates and friends are regulars here on Thursdays for Happy Hour as we just drink Mojitos ($3.50) like it's Vitamin Water. We order multiples right before HH ends at 8PM so we can drink more even after 8PM. If you see bunch of Asians with multiple mojitos on their hands and on tables, that's us.
The foods are above average in my mind, but nothing to be wowed by. It's only good because we're probably drinking and needing some foods to go with. Wings and burgers seem to do tricks.
As for the downside, the place is very large and very divided. It almost feel likes 3-4 different bars into one giant restaurant and people seem to be VERY segregated. It's like Booz people are in one corner, Deloitte on the other, IBM there, another consulting firm here.... At one point, I felt like I was at career fair but only with drinks on my hand.
There are TVs but it's smaller than what you got in your living room. So if you came out here to watch big game, please don't bother. It's LOUD and you can barely see anything, so just order wings and pizza and watch from home, so much better idea.
They offer game tables, so that's a plus for me. Often times, I find myself with a mojito on one hand and just staring at TV, exactly why I don't get girls. At least there are games, so I can play with gals and make me feel bit comfortable about myself.
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