Fans of chef Jamie Stachowski have been guessing at his next move ever since he sold his Restaurant Kolumbia on K Street a few months back. Well, the protégé of Jean Louis Palladin and former executive chef at eCitie has resurfaced again, this time on an unassuming little stretch of Glebe Road.
Thirsty Bernie (the name a nod to the St. Bernard rescue dog) is a laid-back sports bar where Stachowski aims to elevate the standard pub fare.
“It’s a little bit casual, a fun project,” he said. “They let me do an Eastern European thing. The whole thing just kind of came together.”
The Scene: Simple sports bar chic is the thing here. Dark green walls, dark wood, a few autographed photos of famous athletes and, oh yes, those TVs. Big flat screens, everywhere you look, showing everything from baseball to international soccer. The owners plan to show a full slate of NFL games this fall.
The Pour: Beer is — unsurprisingly — the focus here, with an array of the usual domestic and import selections augmented by a nice surprise or two (Hoegaarden on draft!).
The Taste: Given his Polish heritage and Buffalo upbringing, Stachowski excels when it comes to the classic dishes of central Europe. A homemade kielbasa sandwich will make you forget the boiled, grocery store Polish sausage of your youth (or at least my youth). Pierogis are stuffed with farmers’ cheese and served with Riesling raisin sauce. Wiener schnitzel is breaded and fried crispy, and served with braised cabbage and button mushrooms. But being a sports bar, you’ll find some classic guy-food items here too, albeit with a twist. Grilled, meaty wings get picked up by a house-made barbecue sauce that artfully blends smoky and sweet. And chili here gets some depth thanks to dark beer and ancho chilies. A couple items didn’t work so well. The rare beef in that old Buffalo favorite, beef on weck, was a bit gristly. And the noodles in a vegetarian four-cheese lasagna were quite undercooked, outmatching the best efforts of my knife and I.
The Touch: The staff is young, and not always as attentive as I’d like, but this is a sports bar so the laid-back service can be mostly forgiven.
Don’t Miss: Stachowski’s homemade butcher board, a carnival of charcuterie that changes daily. You might get bresaola, duck prosciutto, fatty salami or any number of other salty, dried meats. On the side: dark raisin bread, coarse-grain mustard and two varieties of pickles. Heaven.
Why You Won’t Go: The small room can fill up quick, so now that football season’s rolling around, you may be standing until a table comes available.
Why You Will Go: Because there’s a game on. Of any kind. Team handball, even.
(Quick info: Thirsty Bernie Sports Bar and Grille, 2163 N. Glebe Road, Arlington; 703-248-9300; Hours: Monday-Friday — 4 p.m. to games’ end; Saturday-Sunday — 11 a.m. to games’ end; Prices: Appetizers $7 to $14; sandwiches and burgers $9 to $12; pastas and entrees $16 to $21; Bottom Line: A sports bar that takes its food more seriously than cheese fries and nachos.)
