GOOOOOL! Tending

Soccer-centric sanctuaries

Article by Warren Rojas / Photographs by Jonathan Timmes

Every four years, the eyes of the world turn toward the pulse-pounding pageantry (and crushing heartbreak) that is the World Cup.

Behold the spots that, much like you, are ready to bask in futbol fanaticism at its finest.

 

Summers Restaurant
1520 N. Courthouse Road, Arlington; 703-528-8278; www.summers-restaurant.com.
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily, brunch Saturday and Sunday.

Since they already show every sporting event imaginable in high definition (the restaurant is home to over 60 TVs), Summers general manager Joe Javid says they’re thinking of upping their game for the World Cup: 3-D sets.

Even if the high-tech pipe dream falls through, know that Summers is pulling out all the stops for the soccer showdown. Expect all-day telecasts (including every live game and nightly replays), free T-shirts for the first 10 squatters for every match (capped at 30 per day) as well as food and drink specials custom tailored to every game.

They’re even kicking around plans to erect street-side TVs to entice passersby to join in the fun.

Assuming you actually score an open seat, most menus items make short work of hunger.

Blackened chicken (more Cajun-dusted than skillet-charred) hoisted atop chopped greens and grated cheddar does well with sweet honey mustard, but really shines when drizzled with bacon vinaigrette (a smoky-spicy coup). Seasoned turkey, raw red onions and fiery pepper jack make nice beneath a squishy ciabatta roll. Savory roast beef goes West Coast with creamy guacamole, supremely crunchy pickles (like the sound, love the vinegar infusion) and peppy salsa.

Babylon Futbol Cafe
3501 S. Jefferson St., Falls Church; 703-820-3900; www.babylonfc.com.
Average entree: 13 to 20 ($$). Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

Soccer banter appears to be the universal language at Babylon Cafe, a combination sports mecca/shisha lounge/nightclub favored by Mediterranean/North African crowds.

During peak times, the 3-year-old establishment can mimic a tower of Babel-like echo chamber, particularly if everyone—Ethiopian diners, Middle Eastern hookah enthusiasts, overly excited Latin sports commentators—begins yammering away all at once. Management, however, wisely pipes the colorful commentary from featured games throughout the restaurant so EVERYONE can hear what’s happening sans interference.

Co-owner Paul Hectom has laid out plans to broadcast every World Cup game live (they’ll open early for the 7:30 a.m. matches), and suggests they will most likely replay games in the evening for working stiffs who missed all the day’s action. No word on any soccer-related food or drink deals (the bar routinely does happy hour Monday through Fridays). But Hectom hinted there’d be “a little something every day” for the gol-oriented masses.

Fried tortillas filled with grilled steak (think: extra crunchy exterior, juice-dribbling center) handily kick hunger to the curb. A crusty sub roll serves as the perfect bedding for a marriage of lamb sausage (spicy but not stinging) and a prismatic melange of sauteed vegetables. Sultry chicken cutlets arrive bathed in lemon and are ably bolstered by robust black olives.

Piola
1550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-528-1502; www.piola.it.
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

iola owner Nabil Achi seems downright giddy about his still-secret plans for the World Cup finals, volunteering only “there are going to be surprises.”

Bar patrons will enjoy the full happy-hour treatment—discount beers, cocktails and wines plus free hors d’oeuvres (meatballs, olives, mini pizzas)—while those who camp out in front of the dining room’s new 55-inch LCD TV can indulge in the “pizza time” deals (incremental pizza special starting at $5 a pop from 3-4 p.m. and maxing out at $7 from 5-6 p.m.). Meanwhile, discounted Peroni buckets (four imports per bucket) will be available to everyone.

As for the aforementioned “surprises,” Achi hints at the possibility of free Margherita pies should Italy ultimately triumph or cut-rate caipirinhas and Coronas during a Brazil-Mexico bout.

The signature pies, meanwhile, provide plenty to cheer about.

The Diavola is a cut-to-the-chase thriller composed of gooey mozzarella and hearty pepperoni rounds that bleed spicy oil. A doubled-over slice of salty, expressive Parma ham makes the San Daniele extra memorable. The Lisbona ushers in the perfect marriage of bitter greens and piquant Gorgonzola. Elsewhere, tender gnocchi swim in meat sauces (good) or robust cheeses (better).

Victor’s Grill II
7634 Lee Highway, Falls Church; 703-573-4161; www.victorsgrill.com.
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for breakfast Saturday and Sunday, lunch and dinner Wednesday through Monday.

Anyone who’s even remotely fuzzy on what Argentinean dining is all about need only scan the far wall at Victor’s—a romantic mural shows a traditional gaucho tending to a still-roasting steer—to divine what’s on the menu: red meat.

You hear most mixed grills—the near-constant hiss! pop! of sizzling proteins echoes throughout the spacious main dining room—long before they arrive at your table. Meanwhile, the perfume of herbs, smoke and charred fat emanating from the kitchen alerts carnivores that they have, indeed, come home.

Sports-tuned TVs are sprinkled throughout the establishment, making every seat in the house, whether parked at the modest but snazzy bar or tucked into a booth, prime real estate for soccer fans.

The house steak summons well-marbled beef accompanied by whole, grilled onions, your choice of sides (fried yucca was crunchy/fibrous fun) and, if requested, homemade chimichurri (an entrancing blend of red wine, olive oil, basil, parsley, black pepper and minced garlic).

Grilled shorts ribs deliver fragrant, flame-licked slabs still dripping au jus that transmit unimpeachable beefiness in every mouthwatering bite. Juicy franks partner up with over-easy eggs (the albumen cooked till wiggly, the yolk warm but fluid) and fried yucca.

Espresso Cafe and Restaurant
9002 Centreville Road, Manassas; 703-361-8244; www.portuguesegrill.com.
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Given that there’s ALWAYS a group of working-class Portuguese—by day, they pound coffee; come nightfall, their cups runneth over with Gatao—at Espresso transfixed by some sort of sporting event or another, you better believe they’ll show up en masse once their countrymen take the field in South Africa.

The unassuming restaurant boasts just a handful of TV sets (twin plasmas grace the bar and main grill; some older units are tucked into opposite ends of the main lounge), but wants not for dedicated patrons. It’s the type of place where fathers and sons (and, increasingly, grandsons) first talk sports, the elders swigging beer and spinning yarns while the younger generation stares on with unshakeable pride.

The kitchen knows its constituency well, turning out native dishes like grilled sardines or steak with clams. Bracingly pickled fare (black olives, cauliflower) accompanies everything.

Fried pastry pockets sporting minced shrimp swirled in a creamy seafood paste are prime snacking material. Grilled quails are simply gorgeous, their tiny frames perfumed by salt, herbs and coal firing, their meat moistened by olive oil, lemon and vinegar. Pork ribs yield spice-rubbed meat flanked by hand-cut and spot-fried spuds finished with the barest salting.

Velocity Five
Multiple NoVA locations; www.velocityfiverestaurant.com.
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

Budding sports haven Velocity Five—four local outposts strong (Centreville, Courthouse, Merrifield and Sterling), with a fifth spot already in the works—will happily host World Cup watchers looking to catch the international action while savoring domestic favorites.

Velocity Five marketing director Leona Ebbay says the various restaurants will run custom specials depending on the day’s matches, but suggested that half-price appetizers—specifically their signature chicken wing selections—will most likely serve as a universal deal.

And while they don’t expect to carry the early games live (the restaurants open at 11 a.m. daily), Ebbay says nightly replays are definitely on the table.

Kentucky derby wings reveal big, meaty specimens doused in a blue cheese-and-herb sauce that’s creamy up front and zesty in the rear. Cilantro-rubbed wings surprised us with creeper heat (terrific curveball). The eponymous Velocity wings weren’t as bold as promised, but did deliver in the extra-crunchy category (thanks to the Korean-style, double-frying process).

Specialty burgers have been hit or miss (firecracker was feebly spiced but fairly beefy; hickory number never quite clicked). Memphis-style ribs, on the other hand, yield sensibly rubbed swine (salt, pepper, cumin) served with peppery slaw (fresh, crunchy and delightfully creamy).

Don Churro Cafe
13905-B Metrotech Drive, Chantilly; 703-378-1211; www.gotchurros.com.
Average entree: Under $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch Monday through Friday, dinner daily, brunch Sunday.

Carrying home the FIFA World Cup trophy is every professional soccer player’s dream.

Starry-eyed restauratuer Wagner Garces, on the other hand, has made it his mission to try and accommodate the Metro-D.C. area’s entire Latin American viewership at Don Churro throughout the month-long tournament.

“This is part of our culture,” the native Ecuadorian says of his lifelong obsession with the international contest.

Don Churro plans to show as many games as possible—core constituencies to be catered to include: Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Spain, Honduras and the U.S.—splitting the broadcasts between a pull-down projection screen (reserved for “the most prominent” games of the day, according to Garces) and the twin plasmas (slotted to show the less in-demand matches) parked above the bar.

According to Garces, patrons sporting jerseys of still-in-the-hunt World Cup competitors will enjoy 10 percent off food orders (two jersey-clad fans per group required to claim the discount). Meanwhile, all guests will be treated to assorted drink specials (including cut-rate domestic and import beers, wines and cocktails) during the games.

Garces also plans to play up his international cuisine, a carte that embraces specialties from across Latin America and Spain. Seasoned beef and plump raisins give Chilean empanadas a sweet-savory punch. Lightly spiced huevos layered with thinly sliced potatoes make the tortilla Espanola completamente maravillosa. Ribbons of savory steak encircle the buttery-rich slab of smoky Gouda (bien hecho!) at the heart of the signature Barros Luco sandwich.

(June 2010)