Reasons to Move to Arlington: Karaoke and Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
My friends are still a little alarmed at my impending relocation to Arlington. They cry that I'm abandoning the city and soon will have no life. I try to explain that Arlington isn't the burbs, that it's actually cool. It's like a secret hidden neighborhood were you can be a real person and avoid the high-rent, high-douchebag factor of living in Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan (Whitlow's aside). The Royal Lee proves my point.
The Royal Lee is a real dive bar, an increasingly rare find in D.C., where most are either fake or infested with doofuses or both. And since it's inconveniently located in a strip mall far from any Metro stops, there's no risk of it being "discovered." In addition to hosting karaoke five nights a week (five!), the Royal Lee serves some damn good fried stuff in baskets (usually with a doily). The highlight of the menu, however, is a sandwich. A buffalo chicken sandwich. I'm sure this has been done before, but the Royal Lee's version is a miracle. A slab of breaded and fried chicken swimming in a gooey, spicy buffalo coating. Squishy white bun, lettuce, mayo. The sloppy thing usually falls apart about two-thirds of the way through, which is usually just about quitting time. Next time, I'll take a picture.
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2:59 pm
I am sorry to tell you, I have lived in Clarendon for the last two years and there is a high-douchebag factor over here par excellent. The Royal-Lee is a okay dive bar with a little too much military types.
3:15 pm
Gabe, if you don't love the Royal Lee, I'd have to start wondering if maybe you are one of the douchebags. A douchebag with bad grammar, to boot.
3:24 pm
You gotta try the chicken curry and the kima burger too. Amazing! For an Irishman like myself, the Royal Lee also stands as a "reason to move to America" ;-)... best dive bar in the world!
4:38 pm
Rents are cheap in Arlington?
6:14 pm
I can't speak to the Royal Lee, but I can say that if you wanted to live in a relatively douche-free Arlington generally (and Wilson Blvd. cooridor specifically) you should have lived there about five years ago. Back when *real* dive bars like Whitey's and Los Tunas were still around. I used to defend Arlington vehemently, but since all those condos popped up in Clarendon, just about every vapid airhead 20-something girl and ex-frat douchebag have gathered there. It breaks my heart to go back there nowadays, particularly if I just sit along Wilson and watch the people walk by.
There are still a few remenants of a once great neighborhood (Iota, Galaxy Hut for instance), but they're disappearing all the time.
9:34 am
You can't leave DC, you're a celebrity writer here with your skewering of the LNS crowd, crazy scooter adventures, and interview by the Prince of Petworth. All I have to say about Arlington is my boss lives there!
9:44 am
Was this blog a joke? Arlington ceased to be cool many years ago and is now inhabited by douche-bags and airheads with too much trust fund money and little awareness of the world. Trust me, as someone who grew up in Arlington the county has changed for the worst.
Also, rents are not cheap in Arlington and they haven't been for a long time. In fact, unlike most cities where a decent credit rating will suffice, you have to meet a minimum salary requirement in Arlington for most places. And if you consider yourself to be be poor or lower-income, well there is housing for you. But be aware, Arlington considers low-income to be at least $35,000, so don't plan on getting that subsidized place to live in if you actually "work" for a living. And if you are Hispanic, well then thanks for stopping by all these years, but we need your affordable land so fuck off. Good luck Angela!
Your right, the Royal Lee is one of the last great "dive bars" in Arlington, but it won't last too much longer I assume. Dont' think you are going to find some great places nobody knows about, for the most part, those places are gone, demolished by the developers who would rather have density and the Cheesecake Factory.
Again, the Royal Lee Deli? That strip mall you talk about is just about dead. What you are seeing is not some great found dive bar that will save your soul. Years ago there was the "Sweet Shop" , a hardware store (where I worked for one summer, ages ago), a drug store and a slightly better version of the supermarket that exists. The Royal Lee has always been a dive bar where the Army brats from Fort Myer love to hang out. And for one last point of history, the owner, Jaspani "Paul" Narang once tried to steal a $6 million dollar winning lottery ticket from one of his loyal customers. He claimed he had found it on the floor. Luckily for that winner, Paul was caught.
Sorry, Arlington is not some East Coast version of Portland, Oregon. It may have been at one time or had the chance to be now, but they fucked it up. Some of the changes have been good, most have been bad.