Eleventh Street Lounge

Guest blogger time! I was at work late last night, and cranky about it, so Bananas and I agreed that drinks and yummy dinner were much in need. After passing over Random Ballston Thai Restaurant (not feeling it), Cafe Morocco (too much fuss), and Liberty Tavern (too crowded!) we wandered over to Eleventh Street Lounge, which is just off the Clarendon metro beyond Clarendon Grill. Its a long, thin space full of small 2-person tables and low leather arm chairs clustered into 2's and 4's, painted mostly red with a classy-let-go kind of vibe. Thursdays are good days at Eleventh Street-- half price drinks until 8pm (which we just missed) and half-price small plates until 10 (woo!). Anthony had a caiparinha, which was perfectly limey and tasty and must have been amazing since it was mostly gone in about .3 seconds. I had a "zen moment" (thank god, I really needed one) that was green tea liquor, white cranberry juice, and soda-- yum! I also ordered two small plates, one a trio of tangy, spicey Carolina BBQ sliders on sesame-seed buns topped with coleslaw and served along home-made potato chips, and the other a generous smoked salmon carpaccio with capers and beets, served with good french bread. All in all, very satisfying, and a good, friendly place to chill. The music's loud, but Bananas and I are pretty much out of things to talk about anyway:) (Kidding!)