I can see how reviews can swing both ways for Arlington Pub. It is, after all, a hybrid craft beer bar and coffee bar in the upstairs of the Clarendon Whole Foods. So I'll pose this questions to my fellow beer hunters. What matters to you most ... atmosphere of the bar, or an excellent selection of craft beers on tap, including a few that are hard to find, at rock bottom prices. If you are in the camp of the latter, then you will love Arlington Pub. I stumbled upon Arlington Pub a bit on accident. I was in the area and had heard lots of great things about Galaxy Hut and wanted to check them out. I got there about 4:15PM and found their door locked. Having to REALLY need to use the bathroom, I decided to hop across the street to Whole Foods, take care of business, and then figure out a place to kill time until 5PM. As I headed upstairs towards the restroom, I saw that my search for a place to kill time would be over quickly. Behold Arlington Pub. They had recently had a tap takeover from Oskar Blues Brewing, the brewery best know for Dale's Pale Ale. Tap takeovers are a great way to find and sample beers that you rarely see. In this case, it was the excellent Ninja Cow ESB. I found it a bit dark in color for an ESB, but had that characteristic ESB smoothness. They were on the tail end of the tap takeover, so some of the OB brews were tapped, but had been replaced with some interesting options. They offer a flight, so I decided to sample a few of the other OB offerings - their 10 Fidy Imperial Stout and Gubna Imperial IPA. I also threw in selections from other breweries - Sump Coffee Stout from Perennial and Allagash Curieux, a Belgian Tripel aged in Jim Beam bourbon barrels. These are all VERY strong beers, but the flight pours were generous, and there was no upcharge on the strong brews. The flight, normally $5, was $4 for happy hour. And prices like this is what makes you forget that you are enjoying cheap craft beer on the top floor of a hipster grocery store. My pint of Ninja Cow, normally $3, was a dollar off for happy hour. Throw in a double espresso to finish off after the flight, and my tab was under $10. And the bartender/barista actually functions as a checkout cashier, so there is no need to tip and no place for tipping on a credit card transaction. (I didn't ask if they were allowed to take cash tips ... I didn't have cash, so it was a bit of a moot point.) So if you can get over the fact that the this is a bar on the upper level of Whole Foods, you'll find Arlington Pub is a great place to kill some time and enjoy a great selection of craft beer at insanely cheap prices. read more

Arlington Pub - 4 dollar flights at happy hour ... all of these beers are strong 8-10% brews. - Pubs Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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This used to be a great place. Now they only serve the beers & wines they must be trying to unload. All the other Whole Foods have a much better Beer & Wine selection and are far more cleaner. The glasses all have lip marks and the tables have chunks of old food and are sticky ALWAYS! There are also numerous surveillance cameras & the lighting is extremely harsh above the bar which I find very odd. It's a shame because I love eating & having a drink or two at Whole Foods for it's a comfortable place to be alone & not feel like I'm at a meat market. I now many times go to the Fairoaks location which has lower nice lighting, is clean and has a great atmosphere. read more

When you say pub, you think dark wood, dim lighting, and the smell of something frying in the back. If that's what you are looking for, then how did you end up on the second floor of a Whole Foods? This appears to be an experiment but i like the concept. I like the idea of draft beer from a 200 mile radius. Some beer I have never seen on tap much less in bottles. 4-7 is happy hour and best thing of all, Growler fills! It's not always a good deal to get a growler filled but some of those beers are hard to find and it might be nice to take home 64 ounces. This is a good after work hangout. It's easy to pay if you have more than 4 people in your group and there is no tipping. Give it a shot. It will not substitute for an actual pub but it sure is cool for what it is. read more

A nice place for a beer and some oysters. They change their beers regularly, so there is always something new and interesting. read more

Arlington Pub - menus and drinks on the wall - Pubs Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Sometimes I wish Yelp would allow for two reviews of the same place. On the one hand, I love the Arlington Pub as a place to come and have a coffee or a beer, relax and have a casual meal or work on my computer. It's a great place for that--plenty of places to sit, good coffee and an interesting selection of beers. Good food too! But, I'm giving this a two star review on the off chance that the Whole Foods management reads their Yelp reviews. I am annoyed to no end that the place is always disgusting. The table tops and floors are rarely cleaned. Every time I come in the first thing I do is go into the bathroom, wet some paper towels and come back to bus my table top. Every. Single. Time. I don't get it. I've lived in the Clarendon area since 2009 and I'm a regular at Whole Foods. The store is terrific and very well run. But it's as though the Pub is managed by another outfit entirely. I used to assume that it was the people who worked there who were slacking but now I can only conclude that this is a management problem, since there have been a variety of people working the Pub over the years while this issue remains constant. Whole Foods: I know the pub is busy and people are messy. But come on, this is so simple. Run someone through there now and again to wipe down the tables and sweep up the debris. Ask the people from behind the bar to occasionally pop out to tend to the rest of the place. As I write this the people who arrived at the next table over just grabbed a bunch of napkins to clean the table and chairs where they will sit down to eat. No surprise. read more

Whole foods decided to seriously upgrade their beer offerings and move it upstairs (combining it with the coffee bar). 8 different local beers on tap, reasonable prices (and growlers) plus a neat way to try a bunch of them ($5 for 4 beer flight). Nice job Whole Foods! read more

Arlington Pub - the interior of the restaurant - Pubs Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Great local brews! This place is off to a great start. I can't wait to see what else they get in. The little snacks are good too. read more

Arlington Pub - Beer Flight $5 - Pubs Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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Best craft beer prices in north Arlington and great daily food specials. The beer flight is a particularly good move. Laid back, friendly staff. Yes it's in Whole Foods but you can eat whatever you buy in WF so it can be very cheap eats. read more

What an underrated and awesome spot! I've been going here for 3 years, and whenever I tell my friends I'm headed to Whole Foods Pub.... I'm given blank stares and met with great reluctance on their committal to come. It's clean, quick service, lot's of space, affordable, and there are several TVs for sports. Drinks are $1 off during Happy Hours. read more

This is upstairs in the Whole Foods Market, they have a nice selection of draft beers and small entrees, good prices. We bought a growler ($5) and had it filled with a local draft (forgot which one). There was only one server, otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars! read more

Arlington Pub - menus on a blackboard - Pubs Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Coffee and beer bar above Whole Foods. Growler fills at 32 and 64 ounces. Reasonable tap selection. Zero atmosphere (tremendous view of shoppers pouring through grocery isles) but has two of the best things in a convenient spot. Wish it opened a tad later. Closes daily at 9:30pm. read more

One of the worst beer on tap selections of any place that has 8 taps. Not a single standard IPA. I am aware this isn't a bar, but if you're going to promote yourself as a pub at least diversify your offerings more. If you're looking for a place that offers a good selection of regional crafts beers and at far better prices go to Glens in Dupont. read more

Upstairs at Whole Foods. Fun, friendly regulars. Best vibe in Clarendon. Rotating and hence unpredictable drafts, but usually high quality. Often tap take overs. Aaron, the beer manager, is a home brewer and knows beer better than anyone in Clarendon. Prices are 20% to 50% cheaper than other Clarendon bars, plus you can buy any beer or wine downstairs and open it upstairs, no corkage fee! Bring food from hot bar upstairs, or order oysters. No bar in Clarendon can compete on selection, price, or friendliness. Space is like a cafeteria, that's the only downside. read more