Over two months ago, horror struck a popular Arlington Irish pub, leaving the restaurant damaged and many not knowing when it would reopen again. Despite being closed, local Little City restaurants are coming together to support the restaurant’s employees.
The Falls Church restaurant community is hosting a fundraiser on Saturday, November 5th, named “Crawl for the Courts.” The money being raised will go to Ireland’s Four Courts employees, the restaurant that was crashed into by a driver apparently suffering a medical emergency. Three employees were reported to be among the 12 who suffered injuries due to the incident.
The six local restaurants participating in the fundraiser are Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Ireland’s Four Provinces, Liberty Barbecue, Northside Social, Dogwood Tavern and Harvey’s. The owners of Clare and Don’s and Ireland’s Four Provinces are the organizers of the fundraiser, with Clare and Don’s owner David Tax stating his involvement is “voluntary” after seeing the “tragedy” that happened at the pub.
Although there is a GoFundMe created by the owner of Four Courts, Tax said he and Ireland’s Four Provinces owner, Colm Dillon, wanted to show their support in the Falls Church area.
“Our interest is only humanitarian,” Tax said. “We just want to try to do what we can to help.”
The restaurant crawl will feature various foods and beverages from the six participating restaurants. According to the fundraiser’s press release, in order to participate in the event, a person will need to buy a voucher, with the vouchers being available for purchase at each restaurant. These vouchers are available online or in person. The cost is $100 per person and 100 percent of the proceeds raised will go to the employees of Ireland’s Four Courts.
Colm Dillon, the owner of Ireland’s Four Provinces and co-creator of the restaurant crawl, said he has known the owner of Four Courts since 1984 and since the area has a “small restaurant community,” he “had to do what he could to help.”
“When you have restaurants, you can’t be an island,” Dillon said. “There will be times where you need to borrow some things from the other restaurants.”
After discussing with Tax on how they could help, they decided to host the restaurant crawl. One important feature of the fundraiser is that there is no starting order on where one can begin and end the crawl. Dillon said he wants participants to be able to “scatter” rather than going in order, and said it is important because “we don’t want our partners overwhelmed.”
As for what each participating restaurant will be serving, Tax said Clare and Don’s will have six various fried shrimp options and possibly a grapefruit “crush” — grapefruit juice mixed with vodka, triple sec and lemon lime soda. There will also be the possibility of a vegetarian option for those who want it.
Harvey’s will be giving deviled eggs and one draft beer or wine from a limited list. Harvey’s owner Thomas Harvey said he was approached by Tax to be a part of the fundraiser, which was a “very quick yes” from Harvey.
Sam Saslowsky, the general manager of Dogwood Tavern, said his restaurant wanted to become involved with the fundraiser because of the past few years being “difficult for all members of the food and beverage industry,” while also having to deal with this unfortunate event. Dogwood Tavern will be serving Reuben Rolls, a spring roll wrap filled with corned beef, swiss cheese and sauerkraut; and a Hot Mulled Cider with Irish Whisky.
The fundraiser will also host a silent auction, with some restaurants donating gift certificates for their business. Dillon stated that anyone who is interested in donating items to be auctioned can contact him through irelandsfourprovinces@gmail.com.
“We are just being good neighbors,” Dillon said. “The goal is to raise as much money for the staff as we can.”