This summer, the magic word for bars and clubs at the beach is "outdoors." From Rehoboth Beach to Ocean City, the night life is moving to poolside cabanas, outdoor tiki bars and waterfront cantinas.
Rehoboth Beach
Aqua Grill on Baltimore Avenue will be holding serious parties this summer. After an off-season makeover, the restaurant reopens this weekend as a warm-up for Memorial Day's blowout. Sponsored by PlanetOut, the three-day party features appearances by singer and performer Randy Thompson from Key West, Fla.
The other hot destination for Saturday nights will be Cloud 9 restaurant's Sky Bar. D.C.-based Atmos Events is making a welcome return with C9 Saturdays, when DJs spin until the wee hours while patrons hit the dance floor or mingle on the patio. The season kicks off Saturday, but they're expecting bigger crowds for the Memorial Day Inferno party with DJ Ting Azarcon, a fixture on the D.C. and beach club circuits. (Hint: Wear red.)
AQUA GRILL 57 Baltimore Ave. 302-226-9001. Open Monday-Thursday from 3 to midnight, Friday-Sunday from noon to midnight.
C9 AT CLOUD 9 234 Rehoboth Ave. 302-226-1999. Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Lewes
A few months ago, Agave Mexican Grill and Tequila Bar owner Chris McKeown took a trip to Mexico, touring 15 tequila distilleries and quizzing producers about the intricacies of their favorite drink. "I wanted to open a tequila bar, so I figured I needed to learn more about tequila," says McKeown, who began drinking "Jose Cuervo and all that" in college before developing an appreciation for high-end tequila.
The result of that love affair is Agave, which opened on Lewes's Second Street strip in mid-March and offers about 80 tequilas by the glass as well as a full menu of filling Mexican food.
Besides the dozens of curiously shaped bottles displayed behind its curving concrete bar, Agave's star attraction is its house margarita, which is the finest I've ever had at the beach. It's made with El Jimador, a tequila containing 100 percent blue agave juice and none of the fillers used in less expensive brands such as Cuervo Gold. With freshly squeezed lime juice and a house-made piña honey mixture, the margarita is a sunny drink with a pleasant citrus bite and a perfect kick. The bowl-like glasses, featuring painted agave plants, are hand-blown in Mexico.
Prices are reasonable: The standard (large) margarita is $10, a half-size version is $5.50 and the extra-large five-shot version costs $25. Tequila flights feature six one-ounce samples of various brands and styles, though they can be pricey: as much as $160 for top-shelf selections.
The bar has only 10 wide stools, but McKeown says tequila lovers shouldn't be put off if they're all filled. There are 35 seats at tables throughout the homey restaurant, and "you can sit at a table" if you're ordering drinks, he says. "People do that and hang out for hours."
You'll probably want to order food, though, once you watch plates of fish tacos or stuffed poblano peppers go by. Even the nachos, piled high with homemade salsa and served in old Mexican beer trays, look too good to pass up.
Still, remember that Agave takes its tequila seriously, and even if you've had a margarita or two, never try to order a round of shots and limes. "You're not going to do shots at my restaurant," McKeown warns. "The proper way to drink [tequila] is out of a snifter, so that's how it's served."
AGAVE MEXICAN GRILL AND TEQUILA BAR 137 Second St. 302-645-1232. Kitchen open daily 5 to 11 p.m.; bar open daily 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. After Memorial Day: Bar and kitchen open Monday-Saturday from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., Sundays from 3 to midnight.
Dewey Beach
It's hard to see changes in Delaware's biggest party town: Cover bands such as Kristen & the Noise are on the marquees of the Rusty Rudder and the Bottle & Cork; the Lighthouse offers cheap bar food at its Friday night Taco Toss; the Starboard is giving away its coveted VIP cards, which allow the bearer to skip the Friday night lines during high season.
But there's plenty to talk about, and most of it is centered near the Ruddertowne complex.
New this season is Nalu Hawaiian Surf Bar & Grille, a themed tiki bar that opened across from the Rusty Rudder in April. Giant flat-screen TVs show surfing videos, and surfboards are mounted on the walls above murals of palm trees and tropical scenes. The place has a festive atmosphere: Bartenders hand out plastic leis and whip up such drinks as the Backscratcher, a mix of rums, fruit juices and whiskey that's served with a long-handled wooden back scratcher, or the potent Kapu, a fruity frozen concoction served in a pineapple shell. (Its name, appropriately enough, is Hawaiian for "forbidden.") I've yet to see anyone order the Tonga Bowl, a 22-ounce alcoholic punch served in a large ceramic bowl; I'd like to watch a group take on the 96-ounce version, which the menu suggests is "perfect for sharing!" Designated drivers don't have to feel left out, thanks to a short list of nonalcoholic coladas and cocktails.
Live entertainment Thursday through Saturday features acoustic guitarists playing the usual covers (the Beatles, Neil Diamond, singalong '80s hits), while DJs spin music between sets. There's not much room to dance near the crowded bar, but that doesn't stop anyone from trying.
Across the street, Ruddertowne proper has undergone a few changes. Most notably, the Baycenter, a large venue that played host to the likes of Reel Big Fish, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Hanson and Rick Springfield, has become the Baycenter for the Performing Arts. Instead of concerts, the first performances scheduled are by the Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre. When concerts do return this summer, there will be less alternative rock and more R&B and jazz.
Next door, the Sunnyside Up restaurant is making way for Que Pasa?, a casual Mexican joint that will also offer a "cantina" with seats right on the beach. (You'll even be able to rent watercraft on the spot.) It opens Memorial Day.
NALU HAWAIIAN SURF BAR & GRILLE 1306 Coastal Hwy. 302-227-1449. Open Tuesday-Thursday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday-Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
BAYCENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 113 Dickinson St. 302-227-3888.
QUE PASA? Dickinson Street and the bay. 302-226-1820. Open daily 11 to 11.
Ocean City
The biggest night-life destination on the Eastern Shore is even bigger this year.
The Party Block, a multi-club complex that takes up a city block at 17th Street and Coastal Highway, offers one-stop shopping for Ocean City's night-life-hungry visitors. Cover bands rock out in the cavernous Paddock Nite Club, which also hosts a $500 cash prize weekly bikini contest. Next door, DJs spin house, trance and techno music in the dimly lit Rush as smoke machines blast and lasers shoot overhead. Meanwhile, the party-friendly mix of '80s hits and hip-hop at the Big Kahuna gets crowds grooving on the patio as well as on the indoor dance floor.
On Memorial Day weekend, the Party Block is unveiling its newest component: a 6,500-square-foot outdoor area with a pool, bar, catered food menu and private cabanas.
"This really finishes off the block for us," says Robbie Rosenblit, one of the Party Block's owners. The complex gave up its parking lot to create the new pool bar, which "borrows a tremendous number of elements from South Beach clubs," Rosenblit says.
The centerpiece is a 20-by-40-foot "dipping pool" (it isn't deep enough for swimming) surrounded by a bar and rows of day beds and chaise longues. Two levels of private cabanas, filled with beds, benches, refrigerators and retractable roofs, can be reserved for the day. Bottle service is required, though it's cheap by D.C. standards: $150 gets you the cabana from noon to 8, plus a bottle of Absolut vodka or pitchers of mojitos or sangria.
Note the key phrase "for the day." The Party Block's owners say the new outdoor area will be open primarily during daylight. Folks occupying the daybeds and cabanas can order food catered by the popular Galaxy 66 Bar and Grille, and the pool's DJs will spin music that's toned down from Rush's 1 a.m. rave-ups. One of the first themed parties in the new pool area will be the "Rehab Party" on May 27, when fans of the cover band Mr. Greengenes can "recover" from the group's hugely popular Monday residency at the Paddock.
Proving that outdoor seating and tropical drinks are the order of the day, another new arrival to Ocean City is the Bamboo Restaurant and Tiki Bar, which opened in the Paradise Plaza Inn. The menu is full of pork and pineapple, but the real draw may be seats on the 77-foot deck overlooking Baltimore Avenue. Live music is offered five nights a week, and Friday is team trivia night with drink specials.
THE PARTY BLOCK 17th and Coastal Hwy. 410-289-6331 (recorded information).http://www.partyblock.com. No cover until 10.
BAMBOO RESTAURANT AND TIKI BAR Paradise Plaza Inn, Ninth Street and the Boardwalk. 410-289-6381.
source: washingtonpost.com