The Continental Modern Pool Lounge

Has anyone heard of this place or ever been for a visit? It looks like you've walked into a Shag painting.
http://www.modernpoollounge.com/default.htm

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2004-01-13 15:49 ]

ikitnrev, from the MD.VA.DC area went right around it's grand opening.

Here's his review>

I did stop at the new Continental Lounge, to get a look at the place. It is much bigger and wide open then I had expected. The main thing I noticed when I walked inside were the pool tables ...... it looked like the hippest and best designed pool hall I've ever seen. Most of the tables had an unusual purple, almost glow in the dark surface on them.

The main bar is neat looking, acrylic with 40 pounds of glitter underneath. The tiki bar is on the back row - much smaller, but it does have the two large Moai heads on either side. What was strange is directly over this bar is a wide-screened television screen .... which made me realize one reason why I like the Honolulu -- no television sets inside.

To the left of the tiki bar is a small lounge area - with another large pool table smack in the middle - this is the one area which feels the most tiki to me - the pool table had a light green surface, there were large bamboo abstract characters on the wall, and a chair that looked somewhat Witco-ish.

Along the windows are the multiple hanging globe lights, which provide a nice touch ... with the reflection in the glass, they present a somewhat pleantary look. I was told these lamps also serve a practical outdoor identifying function, as there is a limit of how big a sign could be placed outside .... these lights can be seen easily as you drive by.

They do have a food menu - taps and snadwhiches of the panina (sp?) type. I looked at their specialty drink menu, and the only tiki-ish sounding one was a mai-tai. It was served in a clear glass (no tiki mugs here) , but I thought it tasted fine ... not as good as the Honolulus, but still good. At $7, it was also $2.50 more than the Honolulus. I expect that beer will be the most popular drink ordered here.

There was a 100 CD jukebox, which conatined 6 of the Ultra-Lounge CDs, but most of the other music seemed to be more mainstream rock. I think they hope to get much of their clientele from the students at Georgetown University on the other side of Key Bridge.

Parking in Rosslyn can be tight, but the Continental does have an open parking garage located on the opposite side of the front door - it holds 70 cars, I think. The garge located right next to the front door closes at 9:00 pm.

Overall, I would say that although there are elements of tiki at the Continental, the main aesthetic is of a giant modern design Shag-like pool hall - not a bad thing.

Vern

[ Edited by: Turbogod on 2004-01-13 15:58 ]

Turbogod, I looked for info on this place thru TC's search tool. I didn't want to repeat the topic. Where was his review at? Blast my search technique! Grrr!

A blurb from their site:

"Award winning interior designer Travis Smith and his partner Skip Przywara of Good Eye 20th Century Interiors were inspired by the colors and architecture of vintage clubs in Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The club is filled with vintage furnishings that have been restored and reupholstered to create a retro fantasy world, which pays homage to the 1964 World's Fair, Barbarella, Disneyland's Tiki Room, and the art of SHAG."

Dawn,
We have a little local website.

Whew! :) I guess I need to visit Maryland DC Tiki site more often.

Argh- if it was only 10 years ago when I lived in Rosslyn!!

The Good Eye site has some nice interior design, too.

I see a BOT on the table.

"Good Eye" JohnnieV! Sorry, that was just too easy :P

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2004-01-13 19:20 ]

Wow, I was just in the other room redoing a vintage couch and decided to check in on TC. The couch I was redoing is the one in the third photo. Most of the joints are coming apart and the bottom has been replaced with a board, so I have a lot of work ahead of me. It will be worth it though. It has such a sleek shape. I can't quite kind material that I like as well. I'm ranting.

DawnTiki: Been a couple of times. I tend to inhabit darker, seedier joints so I never feel really comfortable there, but it is a spectacularly cool space. Great decor. You should check it out.

Thanks Iolani, I live on the west coast if I ever make that way I might have to take a peek inside.

Jesus marimba! This place looks swingin'!!!

I think I want to be buried here!!!

It's the coolest club I have ever seen!

Was at the Continental last night for the first time in awhile, and it's still a pretty damn cool place. They've rearranged some of the furnishings a bit since my last visit. Place still has the largest collection of spaghetti lights I've ever seen - those big plastic (or are they glass?) ball lights that hang from a chain.

This place still seems to be one of the best-kept secrets in DC - they have a great happy hour with $2.50 drafts, which is the cheapest I've heard of in this town. There are also some menu items that get knocked down in price as well. Their pool prices seem to have dropped pretty nicely as well, so shooting some stick is not prohibitively expensive. The great jukebox was shut down early in anticipation of Monday Night Football. Oh, that's probably the biggest change - some new giant screen TVs in the middle of the joint. The ceilings are really high, though, the place has always felt big to me. And for some reason... it's usually empty during happy hour!

Haven't had any of their mixed drinks because beer is so cheap there. While not exactly tiki, any fan of mid-century modern furnishings or of the Jetsons (this looks like where George would take Jane for cocktails) or of the Encounter bar at LAX airport would totally dig it.

Cheers,
Rupe

[ Edited by: rupe33 2006-09-19 06:27 ]

On 2006-09-19 06:22, rupe33 wrote:
shooting some stick

I would advise to only do that in private.

Haven't had any of their mixed drinks because beer is so cheap there.

Beer? I've heard of it, but I just can't get past those mixed drinks. :)

Where is this pool hall located? thanx

On 2006-09-19 17:01, TikiSass wrote:
Where is this pool hall located? thanx

Continental modern pool lounge
1911 N. Fort Myer Drive
Arlington, VA 22209

It can be a bit tricky to find...
via Metro, use the Rosslyn stop and exit facing Burger King & McDonald's. Turn left and you'll see its orange sign at the end of the street.

There's also a parking garage a few blocks up the street that used to be free after 6pm. For their happy hour specials, check the website!

Cheers,
Rupe

I used to be a "regular" there when it first opened. Not sure if it is still there, but there was parking right on the roof of their building. You had to drive around the building and go up a steep ramp that is a little hidden. No one knew about it and there were always spaces (and it was free in the evenings). I can give you a little history on this place if you're interested.

They are actually owned by the same company that owns a chain of pool halls/bars. They have another place in Herndon/Reston VA called Carpool. It's a bar with pool tables and darts, heavily themed out with vintage car, gas, and travel stuff. I remember that had a great set of those old Burma Shave signs - a set of 4 that would make up a saying. We would go to this place a lot after work. It was pretty nice. When the owners decided to open Continental, many of the better bartenders from here went there to bartend and manage. They were all great people and slowly became friends, so we followed them to Continental.

I was there on a regular basis for the first few years they opened (including their first night). I loved Continental, with their great staff and atmosphere. I still keep in touch with many of the old bartenders, who have since moved on. When they first opened they did have some bamboo tiki mugs for the mai tai's, but they said everyone kept taking/breaking them, so they stopped doing that.

Even though they only have a tiki "wall", it was still an awesome place! :drink:

Because I spend a decent amount of time in DC for my work (www.commoncause.org), I decided to go with a friend to the Continental back in November. Until Trader Vic's returns to DC, there's not much easy to get to without a car, however the Continental is only a block away from a Metro stop.

We went in on a Sunday evening around 7 and there were about 4 other people in the place, which given how large it is, made it seem sadly empty. My guess is that other nights it's more packed.

We took the following photos of the Witco decor and the giant tiki. The Witco seemed out of place because of the sparseness of the decor. I normally see Witco in a more "cluttered" situation.

You'd think that the people working there would have some idea of what makes them different from other bars. However, that was not my experience.

i asked about tiki mugs. They looked at me like I was an alien. They didn't know what tiki mugs were.
I tried to order a tiki drink other than a mai-tai. Zombie, fogcutter, suffering bastard, Dr. Funk, planter's punch... they only one the bartender had even heard of was a zombie, but he said he didn't have the ingredients. I said, ok, give me a mai-tai.

They did serve it to me in a bamboo mug, but that might have been special for me since they were unable to fulfill any of my other requests. I saw mentioned earlier in this thread that they stopped serving in them due to theft. the mai-tai was adequate. It was refreshing, but hardly complex. I don't quite have the sophisticated palate that some others here do, so I don't have a great viewpoint on it. But I would warn that they seem to be a more utilitarian bar, serving alcohol as efficiently as possible.

We also ordered wings and something else (I can't remember what else now). The food was actually rather good.

So my review is this. It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but I will only head back if I am with a group that wants to go there. And don't expect anything interesting in terms of cocktails.

..sb

We would kill to get anything that remotely kewl in Sacramento. I love the colors they used. :tiki: