Carved out of a corner of a shopping plaza where the beltway meets Route 50, Grevey’s is a Merrifield restaurant owned by former NBA shooting guard Kevin Grevey who, back when the Wizards were the Bullets, helped the team to a championship in 1978. Not surprisingly, this is a sports bar.
And boy, is it a sports bar. This is an ideal spot to watch a game. More than 50 TVs are set up across the expansive restaurant, ready to broadcast anything from the Super Bowl to a round of intramural curling (or even the nightly news if diners find themselves visiting during the offseason). Larger TVs are set up across the restaurant, but the screens mounted in every booth guarantee that any sports fan will have a good view of the action.
The restaurant, from décor to menu, is reminiscent of larger American chain restaurants like Chili’s and Applebee’s, with a few perks – like supporting a locally-owned non-chain restaurant. Though decorated in sports memorabilia (not to mention, a few photos of Grevey himself), the restaurant features elegant wood-paneled walls and tables and booths in shades of chocolate and cream. Outside the restaurant, a full bar and surrounding plastic patio furniture serve customers in more casual surroundings.
The menu features American food and bar favorites with a few Central American and Mediterranean outliers bringing intrigue. The appetizers, listed cleverly as “First Round Picks,” serve up the preferred game day accompaniments at about $9 a dish. Of note are the Buffalo wings, which cannot be missed. They are everything a good wing should be – crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and slathered in a sauce that makes the mouth water at the mere smell of the spicy, tangy tastes to come. The wings are not breaded, but still crispy – not an easy task. But such well-done wings come at a price, and that price is unfortunately about $1 a wing at Grevey’s. The nachos, another popular pick to please the taste buds while the need for competition is satisfied, aren’t as inspiring. The dish plates admirably house-fried tortilla chips, in small proportion, covered in melted cheese, salsa, jalapeno peppers, sour cream, and over-limed guacamole.
The hamburgers, from the $9 cheeseburger to the $13 NFL Burger, are made to order with flame-grilled black angus meat which, though underseasoned, is made flavorful by an ample blanketing in melted cheese. The barbecue burger, in particular, is as tasty as it is messy.
The Main Event portion of the menu brings an eclectic assortment of entrees, from barbecue staples to pasta dishes, at around $14. The fish tacos, the cheapest of the entrees at $10, serves delicious fork-tender and lightly breaded cod along with crunchy cabbage shreds, cilantro, avocado, tomato, and a lime and sour cream sauce, which is unfortunately all stacked atop three rather soggy and flavorless corn tortillas. Despite the tortillas, the dish is a pleasant and light alternative to the heavier dishes on the menu.
An entire panel of the menu is devoted to the restaurant’s beers, wines, and liquors, an extensive collection highlighted during the 4 – 7 p.m. weekday happy hour.
While Grevey’s might fall short as a restaurant, it soars as a sports bar and happy hour retreat, and has understandably become a popular spot for Merrifield locals to enjoy a $2 draft and some Buffalo wings while watching the game and unwinding after work.
Grevey’s is located at 8130 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church. For more information, call 703-560-8530 or visit greveys.com. Restaurant hours are Monday – Sunday: 11:30 a.m. – 2 a.m.
