Written by DCist Contributor Rebecca Cooper After much ado—and by that we mean delay — the Old Dominion Brew House at the convention center opened in January, and from the looks of things, the bar and restaurant is still trying to combat the relatively light foot traffic in the area during off hours. With its seemingly countless flat screen TVs and copious “tailgate” specials for weekend football games (the bathrooms even have televisions so you…

Virginia’s love for wine is no secret. It dates back centuries with Thomas Jefferson’s personal endorsement of wine as a suitable beverage. However, when you mention “Virginia Wines” to anyone, you are met with one of two reactions: an overwhelming expression of excitement and testament to how fabulous they are or an exasperated eye roll that says it all. Whichever one you fall under is fine with us, but as avid wine drinkers we feel…

College basketball fans on the Hilltop and in College Park are pleased, while the ones in Foggy Bottom probably wish they hadn’t turned on the TV. The Hoyas pounded Belmont and will face Boston College, while the Terps handled Davidson and will face Butler, and the Colonials were clobbered by Vanderbilt, losing by 33. And over at the DCist Reader-Staff Bracketfest, Kyle Mahaney is in the lead, having picked every game except Butler over…

After all the hype and hope, the seeds are planted and the brackets are being filled out: it’s March Madness. Seven (!) area teams made the Big Dance: Georgetown, GW, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VCU and ODU. We’ll preview the field in the coming days and also announce our first-ever DCist Reader-Staff Pool. In the meantime, we’re salivating (and we assume local bar owners are too). There’s a potential second round Maryland-Old Dominion matchup,…

Mason’s Magic Slips Away For 38 minutes Monday night, the George Mason Patriots did what they needed to do to complete their improbable four-game run through the Colonial Athletic Association and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. They lost it all in 14 seconds. That’s how long it took for Virginia Commonwealth’s Eric Maynor to steal the ball from Dre Smith, drive downcourt, hit a layup while getting fouled by Gabe Norwood,…

Finally. After years of delays, the Old Dominion Brewhouse in the new convention center will be opening this Saturday. The convention center folks announced the opening in a press release, and mentioned food but not beer, which worried us a little — however, a quick call confirmed that they do indeed have a liquor license, avoiding similar trouble at nearby BeBar and Vegetate. We walked by the place the other day and it looked completely…

Hoyas Bully the Irish Georgetown came into Saturday’s contest with Notre Dame after a successful, if underwhelming non-conference season. After starting the year with high hopes and a top ten ranking, three early losses pushed them off the national radar and out of the rankings. ND, however, was so hot they were smokin’, and riding a 12-game winning streak to a #17 ranking. But after a 66-48 thrashing of the Irish at the Verizon Center,…

For the better part of 2006, District bar-goers furiously debated the idea of a smoking ban. It was freedom of choice versus the nanny state, healthy air and clean clothes versus a tradition that dates back centuries. But now the debate is over, the smoking ban has taken effect, and the arguments on both sides will finally be tested. First among these is whether or not District bars will lose customers to their more smokeful…

>> The President has granted his annual Thanksgiving Pardon today to two lucky birds from Missouri named Flyer and Fryer. Though some animal rights groups are reportedly upset that Bush plans to send them both to Disneyland, which is apparently not the happiest place on Earth for turkeys — last year’s turkey only lived for a few months after arriving in the Magic Kingdom. The rest of you Turkeys still hoping for a reprieve, try…

Midnight madness has come and gone, and area NCAA men’s cagers are back at it. Georgetown looks to be the area’s top team this year, starting the season ranked in the top 10, while Mason hopes to keep up the momentum from their Final Four run, GW tries to make their third straight NCAA tourney after losing 4 key players, Maryland hopes not to make a third straight NIT, and the rest hope to compete…