Allzah
Allzah (ôl s
) n. Of
and related to all things that enrich the lives of open minded people. v. To
be creatively expressive. To be open minded.
) n. Of
and related to all things that enrich the lives of open minded people. v. To
be creatively expressive. To be open minded.
PLACES
ON THE TOWN REVIEWS
This section began when Karen Kleyle and Heather Bartlett decided
to share some of their Girls Night Out experiences with everybody.
We have decided to include reviews of clubs, bars, bands and restaurants by any of our staff or feature writers for this section to keep you informed about the places you might like to party, sing, dance, drink, hook-up, WHATEVER!
Also check out links in our "What do BAD GIRLS do around here?" section.
NEW DEAL CAFE - Old Greenbelt, MD
April 2004 - by Heather Bartlett
Tucked away in the tiny Old Greenbelt center of things is a quaint and often energetic café where you can grab a variety of organic and vegetarian fare, something with some meat if you want it, as well as a good cup of coffee. I once had a piece of blueberry-lemon pie that I still dream about! I recommend the "Bella-Rella" sandwich which is a portabello mushroom with mozzarella cheese, served warm, yum!
I’ve actually been visiting this café for a couple of years now and have enjoyed its funky little energy that echoes the funky and mostly laid back patrons.
My favorite part of the café is that it displays local artists’ work on its walls and they have all sorts of musicians perform on their tiny stage.
I can't be certain, but it seems that they’ll book just about anybody and there is no cover charge so the musicians accept tips as payment. It’s a great place for new artists to stretch their wings. They also have an open mic night one Thursday every month, sometimes more frequently.
This café totally has a bohemian feel and is a great place to sit and play a game of chess or scrabble, since they have a variety of board-games on hand as well as some reading materials.
This is also a good place to stop and grab a bite if you are seeing a movie at the single screen theatre (so OLD SCHOOL!) or a play at Greenbelt Arts Center, both about three steps away from the door of the New Deal.
Hours
Monday 8am - 9pm
Tuesday 8am - 9pm
Wednesday 8am - 9pm
Thursday 8am - 9pm
Friday 8am - 11:30pm
Saturday 8:30am - 11:30pm
Sunday 9am - 7pm
Visit their website for directions and the music schedule.
Review by Heather
Bartlett
My
visit to Rams Head Tavern in Savage, Maryland late on a Sunday
June morning was, for the most part, a delectable experience.
My companion and I sat on the exterior deck, which blended beautifully
with
the
historic mill that the restaurant is contained in and is two
stories high. Sitting in the trees, the breeze, the sun, it was
exceptional. There were strands of light hanging around the deck
that undoubtedly would make it very romantic for evening dining.
It being daytime I could see the foot bridge and a tiny piece
of the small river through the rich foliage. It was totally beautiful.
The only exception to the beauty and relaxation of the experience was the growing crowd of people recovering from hangovers, naturally by ordering shots and various mixed drinks at a row of tables only four or five feet from us – which started with a young couple that was there when we arrived. I don’t know how much it would have helped to move since they were rather loud. One woman, who looked to be in her thirties but thought she was a teenager, kept saying things like “tea-baging” or “cock” and other various and sundry topics of charming brunch conversation. Her boisterous manner and the loudness in which she cackled would have been ok at a club at night, but on the beautiful deck at brunch time she wasn’t funny, it was just sad since her only topics of conversation surrounded how much booze she could down, how hung over everybody she partied with was, and how I could see she was much older than she was acting. Sad.
Anyways, it was ok, because it made me reflect about what is important in life. It made me feel fortunate that I had topics to discuss that didn’t always include drunkenness or making an ass of myself, I can do that sober. It made me feel very full because she sounded so empty…so hollow.
The food came and we tried to ignore the fact that the crowd had grown to about 12 people. Some were loud, but most of them were fairly quiet, some probably still too wasted to be as loud as that one chick.
The waiter was new, he wasn’t sure about some things, but he was helpful and nice, if not a little slow, but we were in no hurry.
The food was delicious. I had a crab quiche which came with a side salad and my companion had a crab dish as well with wonderful pickled peppers and garlic bread. The only complaint he had was that the bread was a bit soggy from the pickled peppers. We also ordered a beer sampler which came out with mini mugs of different types of beer for us to try. It was about $5 and was cute and fun thing to do, since all together they barely made a whole glass of beer, which I shared with my brunch-mate. The serving sizes were good, everything was tasty and seemed fresh and colorful.
There was plenty of room and atmosphere inside as well, since the Rams Head occupies two floors in the mill. Upon further exploration to shops we passed a very good jazz band playing on the second floor of the eatery.
The prices were what you'd expect of a finer establishment, but you could have a great meal with your friend or lover for under $30.
I would definitely go back to the Rams Head and to Savage Mill for all of the great antique shops and artsy things to look at. It’s something enjoyable to do on a Saturday or Sunday. I highly recommend it.
More information on Rams Head Tavern and Savage Mill can be found at:
www.ramsheadtavern.com
www.savagemill.com
Panera Bread, Waldorf
by Heather Bartlett
While Bill was interviewing Nick Syracuse I decided to take a look around Panera Bread since I’d not been there before and in fact had only learned of its presence a week before the interview. Odd, since Waldorf is a small town and you’d think I’d know they slapped this place into the corner of a shopping center I frequently pass.
It has a coffee shop feel to it, but it’s much bigger than any coffee shop I’ve been in. It was brightly lit, nicely decorated, clean and seemed adequately staffed. There were booths as well as short and tall tables available and even a little area with a couch and chairs near the large glass-enclosed fireplace. Though it tried for a degree of “cozy” it was obvious it was a franchise or chain of some kind.
You stand in line to order and your food arrives at the table. This evening it was in a timely fashion even though the place was pretty full, though not crowded. One thing of note was that the iced tea which looked as though it had milk or cream in it came in the same type of big ol’ coffee mug that my café mocha was in, which even though I enjoy the tactile sense of a solid mug, these I thought heavy and awkward. The café mocha was pretty good. Bill seemed to like it and his soup, which came in a cool edible bread bowl. The prices were average.
There was one annoying thing. Since I knew I was writing this review I wanted the phone number and address, which – since they have a pick-up area where phone-in orders are picked up, seemed to be unavailable to me. The staff member I asked for a menu or business card with the phone number said they didn’t have anything with the number on it. Whatever, I wasn’t gonna hunt it down, it should be posted about the place if they take phone-in orders. It’s located near the intersection of Leonardtown Rd. and Craine Highway in Waldorf. Their hours posted on the building are Mon-Sat 6am-9pm and Sun 7am-8pm.
HOWARD'S BILLIARDS in Waldorf
by Heather Bartlett
Well...the place isn't the greatest, but it has plenty of pool tables and had a live band. We think we got ripped off because we paid FOURTEEN BUX for a pool table Robert and Bill played pool at, the guy in charge of the tables seemed to be confused about the time we got the table. When we got home we realized we'd only been at the place a total of not quite two hours and a good half hour of that was spent in the bar area when we first got there. Either the place charges a RIDICULOUS amount for billiards or we got totally ripped, either way it does not reflect well on Howard's. Robert thinks it may be attributed to the people before us at TABLE TEN perhaps skipped out without paying and we ended up footing that bill. Thanks a LOT!
 Jackie, double team supreme with Bill on the left and Robert on the right. |
Switch! Robert on the left and Bill on the right of a happy Heather. |
 Dude in charge of tables (center, between Robert and Bill) trying to figure out the time situation and I'm pretty sure we got screwed. Robert and Bill had fun playing, so, whatever. |
 Some clever patron of this, um...establishment left his or her initials (sure...heh) in the "Big Buck Hunter" game. |
While we were in the bar section teetering in some rather shaky naugahyde chairs Jackie noticed, "All of the lighting in here is provided by beer related lights." Heh. We looked around and IT WAS TRUE. Unless you count the TV, lottery ticket machine and a few arcade games.
The place is HUGE on the billiards side, but there is little seating and none in front of the band area, where we would have LIKED to have had a seat. Later, a group of patrons drug a table over to the band area...good for them! The band was ACT II, which we have seen before. This time we got to hear the bassist Jimmy sing a song (I don't recall that last time, but we didn't stay for the second set before) and he was pretty good, but the guitarst Aaron rather wowed me with a great rendition of "I Will Follow" by U2. I think the lead singer, Michelle, sometimes adds a little more flourish to the ends of the songs than she should (quit while you're ahead), but other than that, like I said last time, a good party band to hire.
Couldn't find a website, so here:
Howard's Billiards
2175 Crain Highway
Waldorf, MD
301-870-9999
Cheerleaders
of the Apocalypse (live show)
by Drew
It was rather well-lit, for being the "best dive bar in town,"
but far be
it from me to disagree with the locals. The Royal
Lee Bar & Grill had plenty of Bass Ale, plenty of comfortable
spots to sit, and, as time went on,
plenty of underage punkers on hand for the festivities. The old-timers,
meanwhile, stayed at the bar and drank, unfazed and only marginally
interested. read
more
Urban
Comfort Tucked into Small Town La Plata
by Karen Kleyle
Shhh! I am supposed to be working
on my class assignment (gimmee a break, I've been toiling away
for over two hours now!) when I felt compelled to review La Plata's
brand new coffee shop called La Plata Brewhouse Coffees.
read
more
La Plata Brewhouse Coffees...
Ahhh, can you say "ATMOSPHERE"?
by Heather Bartlett
When our occasional
"on the town" reviewer, Karen Kleyle, phoned to tell
me she'd reviewed the new coffee shop in La Plata I was happy
to hear it was open for business. We small town folk love it when
the promise of comfortable social atmosphere materializes. read
more
The
Crossing at Casey Jones - ACT II
by
Heather Bartlett
Click on a thumbnail to see the full image.
 Jackie plays with the cool touchable & stackable bubbles her friend Susannah gave her. |
 Jackie cheesin' between Jim and Robert givin' off that birf-day glow. |
 Our own Drewfus gets a little lovin' from the birthday girl and then me after I took the photo. |
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 Of course Jackie & Sweetie take perfectly cute pictures!!! |
 Wonder twin powers ACTIVATE!!! |
 Tat-chix - these girls were sitting right across from me, HAD to take their pic. |
 Hot new bartender. I didn't get a great shot of him. I'll do better next time. |
 Act II during their performance. |
If you live in or near La Plata and have any kind of social life at all you've probably been to the bar side of Casey Jones at some point. The restaurant recently went through some renovations after barely escaping total annihilation by the worst tornado in Maryland history in May of last year. But The Jones is doing fine now and has even added a cute new bartender I didn't recognize.
A crowd of us were there celebrating our very own bookworm Jackie Burson's 25th birthday. She looked faboo in her flower print dress with the bell sleeves. Her smile lit up the room.
It was a Thursday night and often there is some form of entertainment Thursday nights and to make the deal sweeter it's half-price pizza night. This is saying a lot since Casey's has AWESOME pizza, I recommend the Caesar Salad Pizza, or for you red meat lovers Prime Rib Pizza hits the spot.
Act II, a local cover band, was playing some familiar tunes you could hum along to. The drums were a little loud but the guitar was great, the singing was decent, probably a great band to book for things like birthdays and weddings, they had a pretty good variety and some dance tunes too.
I've been to the bar side of Casey's on many evenings and find it to have a warm atmosphere and accommodating staff. The prices in some cases are a little high, but it's quality food so you get what you're paying for. There's a pool table (that is absent during band nights) and a large u-shaped bar and usually plenty of tables if it's not a super busy night. The place has a pretty good vibe and is a great place to kick around with your friends after work or just because.
RECHER THEATRE
 Jackie shoves Amber towards Ari. |
 Heather gets a sweet squeeze from Ari. |
 Jackie gits some Ari sugar. |
 A Heather sandwich with two Georgia Avenue cuties. |
Click on a photo to see a larger image.
Maybe we should start calling this the ARI FAN PAGE. I guess he's one of the musicians we just don't mind hauling our cookies around to see.
Amber's Review of our October outing to Recher Theatre in Towson:
I went to see Ari Hest at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland. Ari is one of my favorite artists and the show rocked!! He does a rendition of "Halleluiah" and it's really good….my mom cried. My mom thought I wasn't enjoying the show because I wasn't singing along to every song, though I knew them, but in all reality I just wanted to hear him…not me…and I was in awe, so I was too stricken by talent to pay attention to what was going on.
Towson was pretty cool too, it had little coffee shops and theatres everywhere, it was pretty awesome. I was feeling nervous and shy when I got to meet him, and he reached out to shake my hand and I backed up into my mom's friend (Jakki) cuz I was being all shy. She pushed me toward him and was cracking up. Finally after about five minutes I warmed up to him, and we were taking a picture together and I was hugging him and after the picture was over he went to walk away and I wouldn't let go of him….he cracked up!! It was great, I brought my best buddy Nicole and she liked it too. She got his CD and some stickers. I am really glad I went it was cool……and as I always say….ARI ROX!!!!
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L-R:
Nichole, Ari, Amber Seems as though Amber is warming up to Ari. |
"You
didn't think you were going anwhere did you?" Amber
tightens her grip. |
Santa Fe Cafe, Ari Hest and Georgia Avenue
by Heather
Not
an official "Girl's Night Out", but I don't see the
reason to waste a good review, so here it is goes.
Jackie and Heather
went to see Ari
again just two weeks after seeing him in Alexandria (yes, he's
THAT GOOD, in case you didn't get the hint from the LAST reviews)
at Santa
Fe Cafe in College Park, MD. The restaurant had a great atmosphere,
relaxed and yet electric vibe. Lots of cute tan college girls.
Lots of dudes stopping by our table and making chitchat or just
outright flirting. The keyboardist for the band Ari was opening
for, Georgia Avenue,
sat in the booth next to us and kept being silly, eventually sitting
with us and giving me the rest of his almost full beer. The sound
guy was a notable flirter as well. Ari sang on a stage a floor
above us, he looked beautiful and sounded angelical. During his
rendition of "Hallelujah" I looked around and noticed
that most of the women and some of the men had fallen silent and
had their heads slightly tilted and a serene look on their faces...I
pointed it out to Jackie and we grinned at the effect Ari was
having on the place. We were gonna leave after Ari but the sounds
of Georgia Avenue, and they weren't hard on the eyes EITHER, kept
us there until close to closing. The night was just awesome. Good
tunes, good atmosphere, though the coffee could have been better,
overall it was worth the drive out. The layout had tables, bar,
booths, and can easily accommodate a girl's night out, which will
be on our agenda I'm sure the next time a band there strikes our
fancy.
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July- Found us at Zig's Bar in Alexandria with the purpose of seeing cutie-pie shy-boy singer Ari Hest and his small interesting band of fellows. Ari was opening for another band, so therefore started his set early on in the evening. We were quickly smitten with the young singer's smooth voice that ranges from rich to an amazingly high peppering of notes that makes him unique.
Reviews
for this night by:
Sweetie
Heather
Jackie
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USEFUL LINKS
DC
Metro Guide
Barseen
Maryland
Nightlife
