Best of Arlington 2015

Food & Drink

Best Irish Bar

Ireland’s Four Courts

Stop by Ireland’s Four Courts and you get much more than a pint and a plate of fish and chips. You get a community, too. Just ask Kaylie and Carl Sanders, who met there five years ago through a pub-sponsored soccer league. Now happily married, the couple continues to spend roughly eight hours a week at the pub, visiting with friends and neighbors.

Pub love is not uncommon. “A lot of people have their first date here and return to propose,” says General Manager Dave Cahill, who witnessed five such proposals last year alone. “You might not think it’s the most romantic place, but a lot of people see the sentimental value.”

Ireland’s Four Courts brings people together in other ways, too. Whether through running races, open-mic Tuesdays, the beloved mug club (regulars can buy their own engraved pewter mugs and store them at the bar), fanatical World Cup soccer matches in the wee hours of the morning or family-friendly weekend brunch, there’s always a reason to walk through the doors.

–L.H.

2051 North Wilson Blvd., Arlington, 703-525-3600, www.irelandsfourcourts.com

Other top vote-getters:

Ireland’s Four Provinces
O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub
RÍ Rá Irish Pub
Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub