Not sure how a guy who doesn't drink beer ends up going to WoB and then is writing a Yelp Review! I guess Yelp pushes people to new places and adventures!
Now that I've shared my credentials (non-beer drinker) I must admit this review is based mainly on others' input. Â Knowing that I needed a stop for specialized beer on a recent food tour I reached out to a few experts in the field and each pointed me to WoB!
Need a Quickie: Â MASSIVE selection of beers....they most likely have it!
Upon entering I found hundreds upon hundreds of bottled beers from all across the globe! Â Many countries in each continent were available and I think "W-o-W" W-o-W'd us. The reaction of my guest was just what I hoped had intended.
WoB has several draft options as well and between bottle's and drafts their menu is about an inch thick!
Individuals go here to drink BEER so I would recommend you stay away from the food and stick to their specialty.
I never submitted a review to Yelp before, but wanted to do one now that I just visited the Arlington VA World of Beer after reading other Yelp comments.
I was pleasantly pleased and surprised. Though my wife and I are older than the target market for taverns and pubs, we thoroughly enjoyed the general atmosphere and the live music. The balance between being able to relax and talk with friends and having an upbeat and exciting environment was great.
We did not expect much from the place's food or were doubtful about having to order from outside. Our concerns were wrong. The food was great, and quickly served. No complaints there.
We have never been to any other bar that has such a good selection of beer, and we really liked the samplers.
We want to go back again, and again!
My first time at world of beer was good. Â the male bartenders were great!! Â the females never said a word and walked right past us. Â Not good for a place with such a good looking female staff. Â Cmon ladies a few smiles and hellos wouldn't hurt. Â The beer....awesome!! Â selection....awesome!!! Â 'The guys were polite and friendly, so I give them kudos. Â not the girls.. Oh well.... We will return to drink some great beers!!
Review Source:Let me begin by saying that I love World of Beer for exactly what it is...a bar. It's not a Rustico or a Churchkey so don't go there with the idea of having a big meal. It's got appetizers when you need some food to snack on when you are boozing, but nothing to write home about. The beer, however, is great. They have a couple hundred of beers from all over the world. They even have some of my favorite beers that I can't seem to find anywhere else.
One thing I must say is that neither my husband nor I have never experienced terrible service. There are some wonderful servers there that I have had a few times that know their stuff. There is a male bartender there with curly hair that always keeps us laughing and a waitress Lia who is so nice and knowledgeable.
With all of this being said go to WOB for the beer and a good time!
We were staying at the hotel next door, and given the lack of nightlife in the area we ended up at WOB three nights in a row. The place can get really crowded but we were lucky enough to nab a table outside 2/3 nights. We got great service the first night (I hate that I can't remember our servers name right now), as he seemed like the only one who had any idea what was going on. The other two nights the service was a little slow, and the female servers had a bit of an attitude. Although I'm sure the somewhat douchey crowd this place attracts has something to do with that.
The beer selection is ridiculous. In a good way. I really enjoyed combing the menu, and pretty much every beer we tried I would drink again. We did get a tasting board once and I would not do that again, there were only a couple out of the six beers on the paddle that would be worth a repeat order.
Gross-out time: When we were seated inside the first night there was a dark brown, curly-haired guy behind the bar who I repeatedly witnessed biting his nails, touching his face and running his fingers through his hair. Then he'd turn around and serve a beer or some food. Dude, food handlers 101 no-no, and so so gross.
Great idea. The beer selection is, of course, off the charts.
The service? Atrocious. It took 15 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us at a table. Had to wait over 30 minutes for a pretzel. Then the cheese came out 30 minutes after the pretzel. They did take the cheese off the bill, which was nice. Â Our party of 4 ordered 2 of their flat bread pizzas. Â They came out over 40 minutes later and weren't the 2 we ordered. They expedited the 2nd one to correct it, but we should have known when the server didn't write it down something would go wrong. $6 for 4 small, soggy, basically flavorless onion rings? Go for something else. I wish I hadn't eaten that. We also had he spinach artichoke dip which comes with soft flat bread and tortilla chips. Flavor was good, but the dip was cold.
Between 4people, our small "apps" came out over probably a 20 minute period, which was less than ideal.
My friends and I had to wait 15 minutes on more than one occasion before anyone asked us if we wanted another drink.
We kept our good spirits until the end when we tried to pay our bills and sat there for another 20 minutes before our server took our payments to run the cc's.
I can't even commend the staff for making a ood effort, as there wasn't much hustle or drive to help ensure we were having a good experience.
Stay away. Go somewhere else.
World of Beer in Ballston has become our new spot to hit up on occasional Saturday evenings when we don't want to venture too far from home, but don't want to pay $9-11 for beer at Westover Market. When going on a Saturday, I recommend going earlier rather than later because seating inside and out can be hard to come by as the night goes on. The past two times we have been we have arrived a little after 7 pm and had no problems finding seats at the bar to saddle up to.
The service is friendly, although at times they can be a bit too busy chatty with each other and miss when you are ready for a new beer. However, they easily accommodated us this past Saturday evening when we asked for some of the TVs at the bar to be changed to the Orioles game. WOB has a small food menu,but they also allow you to bring in food from the surrounding businesses or to have it delivered to you. Of course, the real reason to come here is the beer! They have an extensive bottle and can list, and a pretty decent sized draft list. I've been enjoying trying all of the IPAs and Double IPAs they have on draft. Most of the beers are in the $6-7 range with a few at the $9-10 mark.
WOB has happy hour during the week until 7 pm and then they have some other day/night specials throughout the week (i.e. Monday is government employee and military day, so those with gov or military IDs get reduced drink prices; Thursday is Ladies Night). Additionally there is live music which is nice to listen to while sipping beer. It's definitely nice to have a place like this that we can get to very easily.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this place, but I like beer, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Â I was actually pleasantly surprised by the crowd here on a Saturday night--most people looked to be in their mid 20's to early 30's. Â We sat outside because the weather was warm but with mild humidity, and it was nice to hear the live music wafting outside. Â I was so excited to find that a place actually had Tusker, which I haven't had since I visited Africa! Â (Unfortunately, they were out of that, so I settled for a Peach Lambic, which was also quite good.)
I did try the black and tan onion rings (made by World of Beer). Â They weren't spectacular, but they weren't bad. Â Our waitress was a little all over the place, and talked about another server who worked there, saying she was basically incompetent. Â Having been a server, I didn't think that was very professional, but other than that, she was a friendly girl.
Even though this is a chain...I loved my first World of Beer experience. Unparalleled beer selection makes this a great bar to just hang out and drink at. This particular location is right in the middle of the Ballston downtown area and gets lots of young professional in. As for my particular beer selectin on this trip...I need to get a couple of do-overs. If you take anything out of this review remember this...Don't try the Maple Donut and Bacon Beer from Voodu. It seems like a great plan.mit has a funky pink bottle. Donuts and bacon are two of my favorite things in the world. Unfortunately, this beer tastes absolutely disgusting. Despite this... I would definitely go again.
Review Source:World of beer = Heaven
This place is known for its beer. Not the food. Just keep that in mind. But okay let's say you are craving something yummy to eat but don't want to leave the delicious beer behind...what do you do??? Â You order your food to world of beer and they will deliver it to your table!!! My husband and I called Big Buns and they delivered our meals to the table in less than 20 mins.
Some tips: sign up for their loyalty club, download the world of beer app, try as many beers as possible, ask for a taste of the draft beer if you are unsure
Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame. Lots of beer, to be sure. But what crap I received when I asked for a Bud Light.
So the Metro sucks a bildgesnipe's bunghole. Broke down in Ballston, which I'm clearly beginning to see as the carbuncle on the armpit of places to go in NoVa. Had to get out of the rain and went into this pretentious little crap bucket. The following ensued:
Me: "I just got kicked off the Metro because they can't do their basic job of transporting people from spot A to spot B. Just a Bud Light if you have it." Or some other form of water...I don't really even want to drink, but here I am. Have to wait out Metro's issues on the one time a year I choose to ride it. And Bud Light is my water of choice when I am not drinking.
Overly beer-snobby asstard, who sounded like he owned the place with his "I" this and "I" that: "I don't serve Budweiser products" even though I have one hundred million beers from around the world.
"Why not?"
"I prefer to sell only local microbrews and craftsman beer." In my head I hear only a Thurston Howell III voice.
"Is Guinness enough of of a craftsman beer for you all?"
"Of course." Lovey.
So you'll sell a beer brewed in almost 60 countries around the world, sold in over 100 countries (of 190+) but your beer-snobby American guilt won't let you sell the most-popular American brand. Chang and Singha are the number one sellers in Thailand; have them? Check. Red Stripe is Jamaica's number one beer. In house? Check. Even on special? You got it. No Bud products, though.
So this is the guy/place that loved Starbucks when it was a small Seattle company doing coffee right, but eschewed all interest in it when it became corporate because "they lost sight of making product for the right reasons."
It's business. The right reasons are dollars in the trousers. And if it's popular, it means it's good. Or at least palatable to the masses.
I can respect being true to a business model if that's what you are trying to do, but you're not. Not at all. Is that clear enough, Scotty M.? Â Don't sell every other countries' most-popular beer brands that sell over a billion (with a B) pints a year of their product (because...wait for it...they are palatable to the masses) and then tell me I can't get a Bud Light because you have your principles. Pound sand down the closest rat hole and get an Anheuser-Busch/InBev rep on speed dial, because you are nothing of what you pretend to be.
The Metro sucks, by the way.
**********
So some dude named Scotty M. created a Yelp account, tried to flame me because he took offense to my review, and then bailed (deleted his account with the stock photo) when he realized he had no convincing argument. He is either a VERY loyal customer at "(Most of the) World of Beer", or he's the guy who would never serve Bud products at Most of the World of Beer, or he's just sleeping with the guy who would never serve Bud products at Most of the World of Beer. Whatever the case, epic fail. And very much a crapweasel move. "I'll confront you anonymously on Yelp as long as I can bail when you start making salient points I cannot counter." Â Well done.
So man friend and I took on DC/NOVA by storm this past weekend. Â He is a WOB member and frequents the Miami area locations and RAVES about it to me ALL.THE.TIME. Â He notifies me there is a location is Ballston and while killing time before our dinner reservations in Falls Church, we make a pit stop at WOB and off we go in skipping like little school children because he love beer (He is OBSESSED with Beer and I like it).
Walk in and it's like any big, clean, chain-y bar. Â They recently got their liquor license and gave us their cocktail menu but let's be serious, we came for the beers. Â Their beer selection is AH-MAZING! Â Man friend has the app to keep track and helped me decide what to order. Â Their beer menu has beers broken down into category by style, region/country of origin which helps narrow down but man, I would just go and order straight down the menu until I could not stand anymore.
We sat down outside, some tables/chairs are wobbly (which annoys me so I was that girl playing musical chairs). Â Service kind of sucked, place was NOT packed considering it was monday night and it took forever to flag a waitress down to get menus/place an order/get the check. Â I think if I went next time, I'd order with the bartender. Â
I ordered the Kona Wheat brewed with Pineapple (light without losing it's taste, crisp, and notes of pineapple towards the end...perfect beer to enjoy outside on a summer day/night).
Man friend orders the purple haze and the honey basil
Beer prices are different. Â I'm used to $8-$10 beers at upscale nightclubs/bars in NYC, DC, Miami but for $5-$6+ for a beer is SAH-WEEET! Â I want to go and try them all!
Tip: They don't serve food but you can order food from neighboring restaurants to have it delivered to you.
Parking limited unless you are lucky to find street parking, easily a few blocks from metro, bus stops or call a cab.
World of Beer was the first stop on our bar crawl. Â Am I too old to be bar hopping in Ballston, of all places, on a Saturday night? Â Most likely, but I was with friends and I wasn't calling the shots. Â Ballston isn't exactly the best neighborhood in NoVA let alone the rest of the DMV to get your food and drink on given the proliferation of generic, chain restaurants and bars on every block. Â Still, goodness can be found and World of Beer falls into that category. Â
World of Beer, as its name implies, is all about the beer with approximately 50 different beers on tap and hundreds of bottled beers available. Â I would say its beer selection compares favorably to, but does not surpass, Churchkey. Â Two "negatives" surrounding its beer-centric focus is that they don't have a liquor license (although I heard talk that this is changing soon) and only sell beer and wine, and with such a lengthy list, it can make for a difficult decision in selecting a beer. Â It also offers live music, which on this particular night looked to be a German style beerhall band, but we didn't stick around for that. Â I opted against wine since the place was called World of Beer and started off with the Sixpoint Sorachi Ace. Â I like hoppy, crisp beers and the Sorachi Ace nailed it with a tart and uniquely herbaceous notes. Â My second round was the Laughing Dog DogZilla Black IPA. Â It had nice balance between hoppy (although not nearly as hoppy as the Sorachi Ace) and roasted coffee notes. Â Both beers were previous unknowns to me, but I enjoyed them both. Â I didn't have any food, but I thought the giant pretzels looked pretty good. Â One service shout out for our server, Samantha, who took great care of me, the gf, and the roughly 50 other people that were crawling with us. Â She was friendly, attentive, and managed to keep our respective tabs straight while maintaining a very positive, upbeat attitude throughout. Â
World of Beers isn't a world-beater as bars goes. Â It does what it does well and if you're in Ballston and are looking to expose yourself to a wide variety of craft domestics or imported beers, World of Beers delivers.
If you are an indecisive beer drinker and options overwhelm you, this might not be your place. If you love craft beer and enjoy trying new brews, this spot is for you. The food menu is scarce but after a few beers, you'll probably forget you were hungry. Live music on the weekends (not sure if it's every night). Great place for happy hour or to kick off a night out. Beer snobs, unite!
Review Source:I love going to World of Beer. Not only are the staff members extremely knowledgable, but they are friendly and helpful as well. The beer selection is great and there is always something new for me to try and take home!
As far as food goes, I know a lot of people have been commenting negatively on food. However, the selection has gotten SO much better. The pork shanks and pork tacos are a personal favorite and I also enjoy the pretzels and other selections. This is not a restaurant, and many people know that...its a bar! I do not understand why people are coming down so hard on WOB! They do what they know best-Beer and the food is very good for what you expect from a bar!
Love everything about it!
The cuisine menu is very limited at World of Beer, but to offset a minuscule kitchen they actually have nearby restaurants deliver directly to your table.
As far as beer goes, they have over 50 on tap if I'm not mistaken; combine that with their impressive assortment of bottled beers and there are too many to try in one day. Good place to go if you're a fan of some cold brews.
World of Beer lives up to its name. As other reviewers had mentioned, if you're coming here for the food, you're doing it wrong. The location can be rough for parking since it's street parking only along a busy road (Glebe), but it's very walkable from bus routes and the metro. I had a club sandwich and it was decent but let's call a spade a spade; it's bar food.
VERY large beer selection. They probably have about 50 beers on tap at any given time, and I think they boast 500 or so bottles. The large draft list is nice, but I think they skew a little too much toward local offerings at this location(DC Brau and Devil's Backbone, for example). The bottle selection is amazing in terms of the breadth of styles available. There really is something for everyone, if you're willing to pay bar prices for a bottled beer, of course.
The atmosphere is okay. Sometimes they have live music which I tend to dislike, but I have seen drunk people dance on the bar, and I can dig that.
It's not a must-visit in Arlington, mostly because it's a chain, but it's a solid backup choice.
Extensive taps and bottles beer selection, pretty casual, Tons of TVs so great for watching a game.
But don't expect much for food, even for a bar. Â It's one thing to not jump on the gastopub bandwagon, but your bites to consist of not more than what you can mix together from fridge items or what you can heat up in a microwave - I expect more than that of ANY beer bar, let alone one in Ballston. Â At least they make up for it and let you bring food form outside places nearby.
I have been going to WOB since it opened. Â I gave 5 stars because they do great for what it is, I have read a lot of comments about service and food. Â It is a beer bar, the food is bar food and it is fine, I do like that I can bring food in or get delivery. Â I have had great service and the bartenders have been most helpful in finding me beer I like.
I usually sit at the bar and have learned a lot about beer.  I have the WOB app on my phone, it has the list of beers they have in stock at the time and gives a description that is helpful  I have sat a tables when it was full and service is slower but reasonable.  The music is loud at times, but that is usually later in the evening.
So this place is relatively decent. I expected it to be a lot grander in size, after all it is the WORLD of Beer, but I digress. The vast beer selection, with several cider options, is excellent. I started with an Oatmeal Stout that was pretty good and next the Troegs Nugget Nectar, an awesome choice. A friend was telling me how this is one of those super rare, seldom available IPAs, so I like that this place seeks out rarities.
It's a little odd that a group brought in wings from one place and people get stuff delivered from other restaurants. The whole thing bothers me: does WOB not want to put any work into the food they offer? I got a pretzel and it was overpriced and pretty dull. My friends got hot dogs and thought they were okay. I'm guessing rather than investing in a solid kitchen and food, they'd favor the beer, which is fine. I'll probably wait until it warms up to check out their patio seating.
I love the beer and cider selection at this place. Â For those that are gluten free they have a ton of cider options and usually 1-2 gluten free beers. Â The place is well located, has a nice patio, and solid live music. The place has tons of TVs so it is a great place to catch a game. When it first opened it was overly packed but lately has been busy but comfortable. Â The place is not meant to be a restaurant so the food menu is light and you should be aware of that.
Note for Management - When you first opened the staff was super knowledgable and attentive but as of late I feel they are ignoring customers because they are busy talking to each other. Â I would nip this in the bud ASAP.
If you like beer, you are most certainly going to like the World of Beer. If you don't drink beer (or cider) then don't waste your time. There is no wine and there is no liquor. There is food, but im sure it all is made in a microwave. They let you order from PF Changs and Vapiano and have it delivered to the bar, that's you're best options if you are dying for some food.
The tap list is quite extensive, though I didn't see that many beers I would consider hard to find or that I was surprised to see. The list is still nice and they have some good offerings in terms of breweries from around the country. The bottle list is also similar. There are some nice stuff on there, but nothing earth shattering. In fact, I ordered a favorite beer that they were out of and then a tap beer that was now finished.
This bar often was out of every single beer you ever ordered.
What is The Brickskeller for $200 Alex.
If they had made it a 3rd time w/o my beer, I would have been angry.
The prices here are reasonable, more so the tap beers. The bottles aren't off the charts either. If you're in arlington, there aren't many places you can get a better selection of tap brews.
Beer selection worthy of a title "World of Beer." Food selections are to be desired but they have an agreement with some of the local restaurants so you can order outside food. Although for a snack, the soft pretzel isn't bad.
For $15 you can join their loyalty program and get a t-shirt. Â The loyalty program is essentially a passport where you can track the unique beers they offer. Â Five down, many more to go....
This place is awesome. Â I went to a Guinness beer tasting a while back and fell in love with the Foreign Extra. Â I've been looking for it since then and I was very happy to find that WOB did not disappoint. Â Also enjoyed a flew flights which was a great way to sample the wide variety of other beers this place has. Â Loved it!
It was more than packed that night but I thought the bar and dining service did really well considering the crowd they had to accommodate. We also snacked on the soft pretzels... drool.... I woke up the next day still thinking about them. Â
Definitely coming back.
I'm not a huge beer snob, though I enjoy craft beers and trying something new. Â My boyfriend and I decided to check the place out on a nice Monday night and sit outside with some beers to relax after a day of work.
The outside seating was nice and plentiful, and they let us keep our bikes parked right next to us, which was a major plus. Â The first beer I ordered they were out of, but no biggie, plenty more to choose from. Â The waitress wasn't entirely helpful on suggestions, but I picked out another one and it went fine. Â The beers were a bit overpriced, but the selection is probably the driver behind that.
We didn't order food from WoB since it was dinner time, but instead ordered PF Changs and Vapianos. Â The fact that they were not only cool with outside food, but outside food that we went and picked up (note; they give you a menu with the surrounding places menus on them, but they aren't complete menus) from the places and brought back. Â Either it's standard for them to let approved food venues food in regardless, or the waitress didn't notice. Â Either way, it worked out great.
The main two gripes I have about this place:
1) The waitresses don't know a whole lot about the different beers, much less the types they show. Â And she was pretty slow on asking if we wanted more beer/water refills/check. Â Service wasn't very good at all.
2) We came in and explicitly told our waitress we were here for industry day (both of us work for the gov't) which got us half off beers. Â When we got our check, we were floored by the $45 tab (5 beers). Â The waitress told us that only 6 beers on the menu were eligible for the 50% off. Â To top if off, one of the six was the original one I asked for that they were out of, and she wouldn't even make that one 50% off. Â
In the end, I think the biggest issue was service. Â I really want to give WoB 4 stars because the concept is cool and the outside food is nice, despite the high prices on the beers. Â However, the service ruined it, not to mentioned the $45 check that could have been avoided (we still would have ordered a full priced one, but one 50% beer isn't bad for a Monday).
Will go back to see if service has improved.
This place is for beer and the craft beer lovers... Forget food, eat before you come, though I do applaud that they support the local businesses that are nearby by offering dishes from a few different restaurants.
The amount of the beer they carry both on draft and in bottle is mind-boggling. The prices are comparable maybe a couple dollars over what you would pay at Total Wine for the bottles. On draft I really enjoyed the fact you could pay for small tasters of any of the draft brews between $2-$5 a pop.
If you don't know what kind of beer you like, before you leave here you will have found something that you may enjoy thoroughly.
Apparently the place has only been open for a couple days... Came here with my boyfriend's Coast Guard unit during a morale outting. The place was clean and all and when we first arrived the service was good. Empty glass, new drink. As the place filled up, the server became completely overwhelmed with orders. Even though we made it evident that we wanted to keep her as our server, so she wouldn't lose any tips, she ignored our empty glasses. We waited over an hour to get our food (which was just simple bar food from their kitchen) because she forgot to put our order in the computer. Once "ladies night" begins at 7 the music is way too loud for any kind of socializing with anyone around you. May be a good spot if you're a bit younger but as a chill bar to hang out in and enjoy an amazing selection of beers, I'm not so sure.
I will say, however, the beer selection was pretty awesome. Had a lot of beers and 1/2 &1/2 mixes that I hadn't seen before, so it was pretty cool. The menu was a bit overwhelming but once you figure out how it's organized it all comes together :)
Ok, so I thought it was only fair that I update my review, since I am now a regular at WOB (as us regulars call it). Â The service has improved considerably since the opening. Â I heard a rumor that 6 or so months ago they had a secret ABC check (fake customers who look under 21, are they asked for IDs, etc) and that the waitstaff who failed got canned. Â Or something like that. Â Anyway, the service is significantly better, even good, these days. Â And a few waitresses, including my favorite Leah, are amazing.
I took off 1 star because being a regular there is expensive, even with their various deals (25% off bottles before 9pm on Tuesdays). Â The flip side is that the beer is delicious, and the selection is amazing.
I feel like my review is the opposite of most of the reviews here - I found the service at World of Beer to be great, but the selection to be a bit lacking.
Finding a place to sit is a real pain, and it's honestly way too small of a venue for the amount of people they cram in. That being said, I found my waitress to be surprisingly efficient and attentive for the number of tables she was serving.
I was a little bummed by the draft selection (or lack thereof) when I went. There are a ton of options on the menu, but I felt like every beer I asked for was unavailable, which really bummed me out. I liked the fact you could create your own beer flight though, so I was able to taste quite a few beers before deciding on a brew. Since the selection rotates, I'd give them another chance on that end though.
Finally - and this is just me being nitpicky - they had a really awful live band playing when we went, who were honestly so bad we were prompted to leave prematurely. But then again, World of Beer was blasting some awesome 80's power ballads before that, so it kind of balanced out.
I'm leaving my review at 3 stars because I believe there is potential for World of Beer to be a really awesome place, but it's just not quite there yet.
Houston, we have a new winner as the best beer spot in Northern Virginia. Â World of Beer would seem more fitting in a hip town like Denver or Portland, not Yuppie Central (Ballston). Â The name is absolutely fitting - they have beer from nearly every beer making location you can think of. Â
Their U.S. selections include several from Virginia, and the beers are rotated constantly. Â I would suggest one modification to their (very thick) beer menu: Â List the beers by region, as well as by beer type. Â
They are extremely generous with the tastings. Â The fact that many employees hang out here on their days off is proof that the place is beer lover's paradise. Â Apparently their bar tenders are required to take attend a "beer school" for several weeks. Â
Didn't partake in any food, but that will change next time. Â
The interior is vastly superior to the cookie cutter corporate feel of nearby Rock Bottom or Bailey's. Â And attitudes of the beer tenders are not as hoity toity as they are at Rustico.
Four and a half stars.
Awesome beer selection that gets rotated on a regular basis. I mean really, would you expect anything less from a place that calls itself World of Beer?
I know that this place has an amazing selection of bottled beers, but if I am out having a beer it is going to be a draft beer as long as the choices are not exclusively macro beers (or IPA's... sorry, my taste-buds are still alive and that stuff is gross).
They don't have much of a menu but you have to give props to a bar that allows you to bring food from other establishments (and provides menu's for those places) as well as from home. I do give them props for the tasty pretzels, the perfect accompaniment for most any beer,.
Even though they have a great beer selection in both bottle and draft. Â They even rotate their draft selections quite often (something a lot of other beer-centric bars don't do). Â Even though I sort of like the idea that I can grab a burger or some salsa and chips or whatever elsewhere and just eat it there... Â the service is forcing me to say that this place is not "A-ok".
There are a couple of bright spots in the service realm, two of the bartenders who appear to be quite knowledgeable and attentive to your needs. Â There is a blonde gentleman in his early-30s (I think his name is Eric) who can tell you what you need to know if you have any questions and will look it up if he can't. Â There is also a nice young lady in her 20s with quite long blonde hair (just trying to describe them as best I can) who has been friendly and has tried/is familiar with a large proportion of their offerings. Â These people make me want to come back.
That said, my experiences with the rest of the staff have been bordering on horrible. Â Any uses of "you" after this apply to all bartenders I have experienced with the exception of the above two.
I understand that whole idea of a "beer clean glass" and the purpose of having the water spritzers behind the bar. Â That doesn't mean leave half an inch of water in the bottom of my glass before you pour my beer. Â That's less beer and I can see you doing it whether you realize what you're doing or not. Â This is after several minutes of trying to get your attention for a bottle menu but you were too busy chatting up the cute girl/guy five feet from me to bother with an old man with his credit card already out to start a tab.
Speaking of pouring beers, unless it's coming out of a draft line you should probably ask the customer if they would like to pour their own beer when they get a bottle. Â Not everybody likes a beer poured to the very tippy-top of the glass where they have to bend over the bar to take a sip. Â Additionally, a snifter is supposed to let you experience the aroma of whatever is in the bottom of it. Â I understand it makes a great measuring device for a twelve-ounce draft pout, but with a bottled beer it becomes a different animal. Â Normally I recognize the fact that in this area the customer is typically wrong about most things, but in this case it is actually less work to make the customer happy. Â Just one question and I wouldn't be all a tizzy about it.
Most other things which make me sad about this place (even though they have such a great beer selection) have to do with ambiance. Â Live music several nights a week, not my thing. Â Annoying drunk people who should have probably been shown the door two beers ago, still not my thing. Â Same annoying drunk people yelling at the TVs and pounding on the bar and tables forcefully enough that I have to pick up my beer, REALLY not my thing.
World of Beer certainly has potential and it is worth going to for the beers on a slow afternoon or evening, but there are a ton of small things which would add up to a huge difference. Â In such a competitive market for the discerning beer consumer in the Ballston/Clarendon area, can a place really afford such downfalls?
Great beer selection and as long as it's not crazy crowded, it's a great place to meet up with friends. Â Additional perk, live music every night.
I do wish they had more food options available in house, but you can order from BGR, Vapianos and PF Changs and they deliver to your table.
This place has so much potential but just isn't there. It's kind of tacky that rather than have their own menu, they make you order from delivery menus of area restaurants. And I was here two weeks ago but they already took the one beer off the menu that I specifically came back for. Impossible to get the attention of the staff.
Keep up the live music.
When you're here, you're not coming for the ambiance or the exquisite service. In fact, the only reason that I really give WOB 4 stars is because of the extreme range of beers that are available here.
I can't think of another place in the immediate are that offers the same selection of drafts and bottles for purchase. You've got a full menu that has everything from local domestics (like DC Brau) to far-away specialties (like obscure Chinese beers, sadly no Taiwan Beer). Â Prices are not bad and on par with other sports bars in the area. And to reiterate, this is a sports bar. It's got a billion TV's everywhere, the place is always packed with Arlingtoners, and there is a live band playing cover songs most nights.
There are lots of bartenders and waitstaff, so you can always get someone's attention.
Don't expect some magical place, just a sports bar that has something for just about everyone.
I love the beer menu. As a beer guy and someone who really enjoys trying lots of different types, this is a fantastic place. I also like that they paired up with other places in the area like PF Changs, but I do think this place would be much better if they provided a more thorough menu. Their brats and pretzels are solid though.
As others have pointed out on here though, the service really leaves a lot to be desired. There is one server (can't recall her name) who is really good, but I'd argue that the rest of the staff is horrible when it comes to being attentive. When they get busy, forget about the service. You might as well walk up to the bar and get your own drinks. It'd be a lot quicker.
Part of the problem, in my humble opinion, is that they really seemed focused on hiring young girls to be their servers in order to put more people (*cough-guys-cough*) in their seats and completely skimped on making sure that these girls were actually knowledgeable in their product and able to handle the kind of volume that comes with a place like this.
Four Stars for beer beyond standard sports bar fare. Four Stars for allowing outside food (you'll appreciate that if you order off of their limited menu). Four Stars for lots of TVs for SPORTS!
Sit at the bar on College or NFL game day and sip your way to heavenly buzzed bliss. Â Their tap and bottle selections can change daily - be sure to peep the chalkboards high up on the wall for what's available that day. They order seasonal or specialty brews a case at a time, so the good ones can go fast.
If you're ordering off of the on-site menu, the Crab Pretzel is the way to go.
Don't miss the "Beer Cocktails" which are concoctions of layered beer or mixed with cider. Pretty tasty if you're up for something different. It's a smaller venue (maybe they should switch with Buffalo Wild Wings...) but they have a good sized patio with lots of tables. Be sure to check it out while the weather is still nice.
I'm hoping they break out the space heaters when the weather turns cooler...
I haven't been, but they have live music on the weekends and they were planning on hosting a trivia night as well. Lots of activities and specials for college students (always a plus).
I give it 1 star.
Hoping for the best,but got the worst. This is coming from a serious quality beer drinker. The 1st problem is the staff. I ordered a beer and expected to enjoy it on my day off,but instead got sales people in my face. Couldn't even enjoy my beer, because of the  6 or more staff asking me to buy a t-shirt, i decided to leave after only ONE beer.  "Hey,you wanna join the club and get a t-shirt"? WTF! I thought this was gonna be a serious beer-lover establishment. Really annoying. I ordered a Reisdorf kolsch, got it in a British pint glass,not a proper kolsch glass. What a mistake to hire inexperienced people who know very little about beer much less "CUSTOMER SERVICE". Big mistake to come into the Arlington area. We already have great beer establishments.
Gonna spend my time down the street at Rustico.
But, what do you care?
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!! Â I have been waiting and waiting for this to open, and last night we rushed over here to sample some beer. Â Actually we came twice last night because it was too crowded the first time. Â AWESOME place!
First things first, the beer was great and the beer list was long. Â Here is what I had: Â Delirium Tremens (good, really strong), Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro (amazing creaminess and like a Guiness!) Lindemans Framboise (basically liquid candy) and Bison Honey Basil 12 (very unique and delicious).
How do I remember the exact beers, you may ask? Â Well, one of my favorite things about this place is that they have a free app for your phone and it records what beers you are drinking! Â We actually downloaded the app before going, and it was awesome because we could see the beer list, a description of each beer, and re-sort the list based on different factors like country or type of beer. Â This app provided a lot of entertainment. Â And then you sign up for the loyalty program, and you get points for each different beer you try. Â And it records the beers automatically when you swipe the card. Â What a great idea!
One sneaky thing they did that I do NOT like: they make it seem like you get a free T-shirt for signing up for the loyalty program but actually it is $15. Â I was so excited about my free T-shirt until I got the bill. Â No mention was made by the waiter that it wasn't free. Â Actually, thinking about that, I just docked this review to a 4-star instead of 5. Â The T-shirt is cool though!
The bathroom is poorly designed - the stall door practically touches the toilet when you open it and you have to plaster yourself against the wall to get out of the way so you can close the stall door. Â My first thought was: how would an overweight person be able to go to the bathroom in here? Â There isn't enough room to comfortably close the door without almost touching the toilet with your leg. Â Gross!
They have all sorts of special nights throughout the week. Â Ladies night I believe on Sunday and they have trivia on Tuesdays and some kind of beer deal that made me excited but now I don't remember what it is. Â We will have to go to the trivia and see how it compares with the excellent trivia at Rock Bottom with Jay!
Oh, and they have a deal with some nearby restaurants where they deliver to your table. Â That is cool!
All in all, I am so excited about this place and can't wait to go back. Â Anyone planning to be a regular here and has a fancy phone, I definitely recommend downloading the app - it is lots of fun and makes the beer-picking process less onerous. Â WOOHOO! Â I love this place!
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