Hi friends!
As I mentioned yesterday, Friday night I met Kacy and Kelly out in Arlington for some pizza and beer at Fireworks in Arlington.
The restaurant is extremely spacious, with an outdoor patio (complete with a fire pit, BONUS) and an extensive bar area.
One of the biggest appeals of Fireworks for me is the extensive local beer menu.
I started out with Abita Purple Haze since I had heard so much about it and hadn’t seen it on any menu before. Plus, it’s the beer of choice for Tiffany, so I knew I had to give it a try.
I have to say it lived up to the hype, it was crisp and delicious. The scent of the beer hits you before you drink and just adds to the fruity flavor. It smells like a blueberry muffin. Amazing.
For an appetizer, at Kelly’s suggestion, I got an order of the garlic knots.
Wow. I mean…wow. These may rival the fried brussel sprouts at Lattitude as the best appetizer I’ve ever had. I ate an entire basket by myself…thank god Kelly ordered her own because I would have started a fist fight with her over these knots. Friend or not.
For my entree, I ordered the 10″ Siciliana pizza, which had kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, spinach, and eggplant chunks.
The pizza was actually really good, but I could only force down two slices since I had gorged myself on garlic knots. I gave Kelly the rest to take home.
During dinner, I ordered my second beer of the night, the Founders Imperial Stout.
I enjoyed this beer, but not nearly as much as the purple haze.
For dessert, I went with my go to favorite of bread pudding. The bread pudding at Fireworks was a White Chocolate Cherry bread pudding.
I don’t typically say this. As a matter of fact, I NEVER say this. This dessert was AWFUL. It was dry, had absolutely no flavor, and actually seemed like it was stale and had been made days ago. A disappointing end to the meal, but definitely not a deal breaker for the restaurant, which was otherwise near perfect.
I love me some Abita! I went to there brewery and it was amazing, you can pour your own samples and they have about 10 different kinds. My 2 favs are Amber & Turbodog (which is a nutty dark ale).
I like Purple Haze a lot. It doesn’t taste too fruity to me. If a beer is too fruity, like a cider, I don’t like it. Purple Haze has just the right amount.
A bad dessert?!?! I didn’t think those exsisted- BOOOO (it does look dry in the pic for bread pudding). Thank goodness you had good beer and pizza and garlic bread!
Mmm garlic knots, more please.
Sounds delicious! I want that pizza!
Founders is my favorite brewery, but you gotta go with a hoppy beer from them next time. Or I see they had their Cerise on the menu. That is a really interesting one with Michigan Tart Cherries. The brew BIG beers, so you only need a couple to really loosen up.
I wish I would have been hungrier so I could have eaten more. My one gripe was that my bill somehow turned out to be $40 and I only had a salad. The beers may not have been $12, but damn. Other than that I loved the atmosphere and both of your pizzas looked delish.
Mmm, looks so good.
I hate hate when I have a good meal but the dessert fails. It’s like I leave the whole dinner with a bad taste in my mouth. The pizza and garlic knots look delicious!
Wow, I need to go to Fireworks when I’m in DC next wk! I’m so glad you liked the Abita. I saw the picture of it before reading and squeled a bit…..and I’m in public so it’s a tad awkward.
I’m sad about your dessert, how can one mess up bread pudding?
Pizza, beer, and atmosphere seem awesome! I’ll add this restaurant to my list.