Beer flowed, music played and regulars gathered. Dr. Dremo’s Taphouse reopened two weeks ago, after more than three months out of business. Not much had changed at the Courthouse neighborhood watering hole — except the roof wasn’t leaking.
County inspectors shut down Dremo’s on Thursday, July 3, for code violations stemming from a leaky roof. Repairs attempts dragged for Dremo’s owner Bill Stewart, as county bureaucracy and other difficulties led to one setback after another.
In the end, the work resulted in a brighter, cleaner interior to the usually dingy but inviting pub. The new roof, and a newly-painted open ceiling updated Dremo’s look, but even with resurfaced floors and renovated pool tables the bar retains its funky feel.
“It’s a total anomaly,” said Chris Cather, who has been coming to the bar for about a decade. Dremo’s has proved an anti-establishment holdout against the upscale restaurants and chain stores popping up throughout the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. “With the current development status of Courthouse, it’s amazing it hasn’t become a Starbuck’s,” said Cather.
Getting the bar back up to code cost Stewart considerably. But his establishment, at 2001 Clarendon Blvd., has undergone plenty of changes over the years, from its days as Bardo and Ningaloo up to the present.
“It’s awesome,” said Cather. “It’s like the phoenix. It just keeps getting reborn as something else.”
DREMO’S REOPENED HASTILY two weeks ago, on Wednesday, Oct. 8. But grand reopening festivities took place last weekend. Stewart promised that live bands will have extra importance in the new Dremo’s, he said.
Ecclectic musical selection is a calling card of the bar. On the stereo last weekend, 1970s punk sometimes followed 1980s pop and 1960s folk-rock.
The mix of music parallels the mix of people at the bar. “People come here from yuppies… to establishment-Capitol Hill people, to people with pink Mohawks, and they don’t feel ostracized here,” said Louie Muniz, a Dremo’s regular. “Isn’t that what the world is about—being accepted wherever you go?”
That air of inclusiveness hasn’t changed in the reopened Dremo’s, but one change was evident. Neil Haygood, a regular in Arlington’s pub scene, passed away suddenly on Sept. 19, at the age of 48. Haygood worked for the United Negro College Fund and was an Arlington native.
“All the regulars are here, except for Neil,” said Stewart. “Neil couldn’t take it. We were closed so long he went and died.”
At Dremo’s outdoor bar, Stewart invited regulars to a free open bar for several hours Saturday in Haygood’s honor. Similar activities took place at the Galaxy Hut last week, where Haygood also frequented.
“Everybody loved Neil, Neil loved everybody,” said Julie Hoskin, who began coming to Dremo’s four years ago with coworkers from the Smithsonian.
DESPITE THE LOSS of a regular, Dremo’s is back to normal. “It’s almost like we didn’t skip a beat,” said bartender Theresa Darrah.
“It’s a place to come and let your hair down, and nobody cares,” said Teresa Locklear, a Dremo’s patron. But even with an informal vibe, it still has an element of the standard Arlington nightlife. “You want to be part of the Arlington scene,” said Locklear. “It’s great for people-watching, so you still get a bit of the ‘see and be seen.’”
“It’s where my friends are, and the staff are great,” said Hoskin. “It’s a good neighborhood bar.”