Varga Bar
From Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, to Brumidi's Capitol Rotunda, there's nothing like a magnificent ceiling fresco to make you say, "my neck's starting to hurt, let's go buy some bottled water". Capturing your attention more effectively, Varga Bar.
Inspired by Alberto Vargas's 1940s pin-up art, the guys behind Mercato have taken the old Azul and decked it out with 14-stool black bar, black and green banquettes, a checkered tile floor, and, most impressively, a stunning fresco'd ceiling of classy floozies in various seductive poses. The boobs are complemented by fine beer, doled out by a pair of hand-pumped firkins, and a 20-tap draft system pouring the likes of Russian River Damnation, Allagash Curieux Tripel Reserve, and a Founders duo: bourbon barrel-aged, 9.2% Backwoods Bastard, and the coffee-tinged Breakfast Stout -- a name that'll make college students everywhere doubt the wisdom of their t-shirts. Beer also rules the kitchen, in items like the Sly Fox Helles-brined Kobe hot dog, the Dogfish Head Aprihop-basted pulled pork sandwich (w/ truffled Provolone), and an Aprihop-brined, bone-in ham dubbed “Not My Mom's SPAM in a Can” -- actually served with a side of fries in a SPAM can, because some traditions are too precious to be abandoned.
Varga also serves a few potent, theme-abiding classic cocktails (the "Miss May", "Miss June", etc). There're also house-made desserts, from the Victory Root Beer Float, to Cookie Crisp- and Lucky Charms- flavored ice cream -- sure to make you say "my teeth are starting to hurt, let's have another beer".
