B Live was an awesome shoot that started with your typical 3pm rush hour moans and groans and the neverending DMV constructions that seems to results in worse roads than before. Once that struggle was over, came my favorite part – finding parking in Arlington that became an abysmal pain after about 2020 with absolute scrutiny over unused neighborhood streets, so every modern hike that way usually involved jumping through 2 hoops and never puts a smile on my face.
Finally parking out the way, I beeline to B Live, and enter an almost typical 4pm atmosphere of pre-dinner downtime after the lunch rush from all the surrounding offices. The head, or perhaps the only-at-the-time there, bartender greets me with a line that almost makes me crack up,
“Oh, you’re actually here!”
“Well, yea, and on-time, as one should despite the mental parking and traffic of 4pm,” I reply and thus both of our moods brighten through that mutual understanding of how this business works and appreciation of the common professionalism involved. He informs me that kitchen has been ready and will pop everything out in about 15. Music to my ears that are much more used to hearing “we had no idea about the shoot,” “our chef isn’t in,” “the owner who never mentioned anything nor can really cook isn’t in,” and myriad of other excuses mediocre restaurants tend to make. After the said 15 minutes, I am greeted by these:
And let me tell you, everything was absolutely properly done and thought through. Burgers and chicken sandwiches are your usual diner fare, but these fit the hip diner atmosphere this otherwise properly equipped live music venue sets.
And then came some of the smaller, side bites that were equally as impressive as the burgs-
Peruvian grilled wings! Not some buffalo ranch with bleu cheese, no, but proper Peruvian style party wings. Pretzels still aren’t quite as common to see outside of beirgartens. Croquettes at a diner or pub? Not something you’d normally or almost ever really see over the standard mac ‘n’ cheese. Properly done and sized menu makes everyone’s lives easier, especially the kitchen.
Overall an amazing spot that I wish was around when I was much, much more active in that area, but at least I know where and how it is and it’s definitely worth a visit!
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