First Down Sports Bar & Grill

This is a sports bar… Don’t expect frills. They get 4 stars because their grilled chicken tenders are AMAZING. The sauces tend to change (eg, you order it once and then the next time it’s a little different) but still you cannot go wrong. Sweet chili, Korean BBQ, spicy blue cheese, Maryland madness… Definitely worth the trip. Also Gameday specials. Cheap beer. Good chicken.

When we arrived we had to show IDs on a Sunday evening when we left 2 hours there was no by the door. I was there with 4 other gentleman. We all wanted are own checks and the waitress tried to say in order to do that she needed a credit card from each of us. Which was BS (she thought we were going to run out on the check cause we were minorities). Then the bouncer started looking at us funny! The cheese sticks were horrible and the waitress gave everyone their beers with her hand around the rim. Then I ordered chicken fingers and they were hella greasy and tasted like funnel cakes. She refilled my Sprite added no ice. The whole feel of the restaurant was like a basement! It sucked.

This is a fun little dive bar. We got wings with several different sauces & they were some of the best wings I’ve ever eaten. They have a solid 20 – 30 sauces & rubs to choose from. I also have a steak wrap which was very good as well. And I imagine it’s a great place to watch sports!

Overall bar has good drinks and good bartenders, good is pretty good as well. Wings are ok, Mac n cheese sandwich is awesome!

I was in Northern VA a couple of weeks back on a Saturday morning for a soccer training and a bit out of my comfort zone as to what was in the area. After the run, I searched on Unilocal for a place that we could watch the Premier League game and get something to eat. A few of us go out regularly after for a beer and camaraderie and it’s usually a sports bar with wings and this place looked decent. I asked a local if he knew of anyplace nearby as well and he said — «go to First Down», it’s a small place, but they got TVs and they make great burgers. That endorsement was enough AND it was just 3 blocks away from the high school.
We found easy parking on the road in front on Saturday morning. It has a meter that uses Park Mobile. Only drawback is there is a 2 hr limit and they say you have to move your car if 2 hours comes up, but we didn’t and just re-​upped the meter and all was well. No tickets.
Inside we found it fairly empty and upon arrival, it looked like a small, narrow place, but walking toward the back we found it really opened up and there were actually two other rooms — all lined with TVs with a wide variety of games on. We also found a manager that greeted us, was very friendly and identified us as «football guys» and quickly went to work to find a place we’d want to set down and a good TV for the games. We decided to take a spot at the bar. He set it up to have three different games on across the TVs in front of us.
First Down has a large selection of beers and some really good micros on tap. We like the micro and easily found a beer we’d like — AND in pitchers to boot. The bar tender was very nice and attentive, got us set up with menus and watching some footie. We were impressed. The menu was good bar food, and a large selection of different sauces for the wings and burgers that sounded as good as advertised. We went with the wings, and got the jerk seasoned and the buffalo blue cheese. Both orders came out quick, hot and nicely seasoned. A nice portion — and I have to say, the wings on this day were excellent. We have gone to the big wing places and these beat the BWB and BWW joints in flavor, quality and quantity. They were well done.
We also tagged on an order of onion rings that were done just right — nice big rings and not to over-​fried or mushy. Perfect O-​rings.
We hung out for a while. Ordered a few pitchers and had a great time watching the game. The service was very friendly. The manager came around to check on us a couple times and was legitimately interested in our experience being good. As we sat there, 20 and 30-​somethings came in to catch the game of interest and it got a little busy. Every table was able to have their game on a TV with good viewing and the staff was attentive with getting everything set up. People were enjoying themselves and getting served by friendly staff.
I must say, that sitting at the bar, I saw a number of burgers go by and as we enjoyed our wings and beer, I must say, I thought twice about not ordering one of the burgers. They looked big and juicy and certainly appeared as advertised. Next time!

Go in, sit at the bar (great service there — many times) get your Maryland Madness wings with a drink of choice and excuse yourself politely when you finish. Good TV sports packages but cleanliness is just better not overly inspected. It is a dive bar with good staff and they have those tasty wings to boot. Better than a dry mix of salty snacks
Going for more of a meal? Get more wings. Anything else is at your own discretion.

The food on the old menu was excellent and I just recently noticed they changed their menu again and it’s even better than before. Wings are the best in Arlington. Most of the bartenders are great but the one I dealt with the other day was more interested in talking to his friends and showing video’s on his phone while we waited sometimes 10 – 15 minutes to order another drink. The owner should spend the $ 500.00 in repairs to the men’s room. You could film a SAW movie in there is so disgusting. John Taffer would die if he saw that bathroom. He’d actually die becuase he’d likely slip and fall due to the constant flooding.

I’m a big fan of B-​dubs, but I honestly like this place better. The wings are meatier and the curly fries are way better than those shoestring fries you get at B-​dubs. The down side is there clearly isn’t as much room or TVs as Buffalos. Plus, the wing flavors aren’t complex (they pretty much just sprinkle on a combo of seasonings and bottled garlic).

Let’s just say I’m still searching for good wings in the area. I can say nothing of the bar as I just got hot wings to go for lunch, but they were overpriced and not all that great. Tough chewy meat, soggy yet tough skin, and the blue cheese needs some serious work — super weak blue cheese flavor and only flecks of microscopic bits of «blue cheese.»
The hot sauce was oddly and unappealingly salty but had a nice level of heat. Overall, the wings weren’t disgraceful, but I didn’t love them and won’t be coming back.
Alas, my wings craving has yet to be satisfied ’round these parts.

Came here yesterday after work to kill some time before meeting a friend. I’ve heard a number of great things about this place from co-​workers and friends.
The décor is nice with the perfect sports bar essence. The place is big. Two bars and additional sitting behind the second bar.
I sat at the front and ordered the tex mex rolls. They were amazing to say the least. Will definitely be back to try their wings.

Out of town first timers. Madness sauce is HOT! Buffalo Garlic is excellent, but Madness is one step below insane! Excellent service, quick turnaround and very accomodating. Highly recommended.
I’d get the grilled over fried chicken next time. A little too much breading, but it gave lots of area for the sauce to cling to!

My wife & I have been here so many times and all we have to say is just, this place is disgusting & horrible. Really don’t think the cooks know no hygiene. Witnessed they don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom or returning back from smoking a cigarette.
We got sick several times after eating there food & decided not to return back anymore!

I went in on a Saturday night to meet some friends and sat at the bar while I waited for them. Two bartenders walked past me without acknowledging me, then a third finally takes my drink order. After placing a second drink order, I asked for a menu. I looked it over and decided I might try their wings. She (bartender #3) never came back to get my wing order. I continued to sip my drink and when I was done 20 minutes later, a different bartender asked if I needed anything else. I stated that I would like to close out my tab. Another bartender brought me my bill. It only had one drink on there. I signed for it and then told him that I actually had 2 drinks. He very rudely asked me if he should run the card again. I said no and handed him cash. He brought me back my change but did not bother to thank me for being honest.
It was not overwhelmingly busy, so I don’t know what the deal was, but they won’t have to worry about seeing me in there ever again.

Your standard hole-​in-​the-​wall dive bar. From the front, it looks very small, but it goes back quite far and has a bigger room near the back. It is wedged inbetween buildings, though, so it doesn’t have many windows nor much ventilation and gets very dark and stuffy. Beware this place in the summer — pretty sure there is zero AC, so prepare to sweatttt… eww. Wings are okay — they have lots of flavors, but I’d stick with the traditional buffalo ones. The garlic butter wings were drenched in oil.

Came here on the recommendation of a coworker who, being from inside the district, proclaimed the wings are so good he «crosses the river to get to them!» My reaction, «I don’t see what the big deal is.» This place is super bro-​ey and the wings were standard. I wouldn’t go out of my way for them. The bartender was ok — it wasn’t game night and there were few people there, yet we had some trouble getting a second round of drinks.
Overall, not a terrible experience but I can’t see what the buzz is all about.

I went to the happy hour on Monday. The place was packed but luckily my friend and I found a table by the door. We had to wait quite a while for someone to come to us but that wasn’t due to negligence — this place is severely understaffed.
Finally, the bartender came to us and we put in our order of 30 wings and a couple of big mugs of domestic. Drinks came out quickly and the food followed soon after. We got the hot, buffalo garlic, and the spicy honey garlic butter. All three flavors were great! I was hesitant on the spicy honey garlic butter because I’ve tried that flavor at a couple other establishments and the flavor was never strong enough but First Down did it right. Buffalo garlic was my favorite of the three. The wings were a good size and very meaty.
First Down will be added to the Monday happy hour rotation.

Probably one of the better wing establishments in the area. On Monday night’s the wings are 59 cents (I think this may be just during football season for MNF). You order them by 10’s and you get to pick from what looks like 100 different sauces… ok it’s more like 20, but that’s a good amount. My favorite sauce (although I’ve only had a handful) has been the Garlic Buffalo. I’m a huge fan of garlicy things and who doesn’t like buffalo sauce??? What’s also great about the wings? They are actually pretty meaty. They’re not those tiny chicken wings with zero meat on them… you know what I’m talking about! Pretty good price for decent size wings. Oh did I mention the burgers are half off too (except the turkey burger, but who orders that?!). The curly fries were delicious too, so delicious that my gf and I ordered 2 baskets!
Oh, what’s that you need something to wash down those delicious wings? How about 34oz of beer! Yes I know the beers are domestic only for this size mug (Bud, Miller, and Coors Light), but 34oz for 6 $?? You can’t beat that price. Welcome back to college!
Haven’t found a better wing place in the nova/​dc area… that includes you Buffalo Wild Wings!
I’ll be back for more.

It’s FOOTBALL SEASON!
And what a perfect place to spend this season! Much different than the typical bars in Arlington (Ballston, more specifically), this place is casual, yet inviting with great happy hour deals, chicken wings, and TV’s… EVERYWHERE.
So. let’s talk more about these chicken wings. there’s like 40 flavors. A group of four of us got 4 different flavors (40 chicken wings– h*ly COW. I mean. h*ly CHICKEN). I don’t remember the first two because honestly, the flavors all seemed the same on the menu. But two things to get for sure: the Old Bay and the Siracha flavored wings. Ask them to add honey to the Siracha one like my cousin did. GOLDEN. AMAZING.
Not so amazing? So far. everything else was meh… okay (if that). Don’t bother with their burgers. Their fries, move on. Nachos were okay but their specialty are them wings. Chow on those with a few of their beers and a couple games of football. It’s an awesome Sunday. Or in my case, a Monday Night.
Ill be back FIRST DOWN!

Wings wings wings! This place has the best happy hour deals on this side of town! I stare at this place all the time as I wait for my bus after work, and finally, I got a chance to try their wings!
Monday’s happy hour special is 59 cent wings! You can only get them 10 wings at a time, you can’t do 5 of one flavor and 5 of another flavor. I get it, you ain’t no Buffalo Wild Wings. So that’s why I knock off a star because it would’ve been nice to try their different variations of flavors. Nonetheless, my bf and I still enjoyed the wings.
I got the spicy garlic honey butter and the bf got cajun. The spicy garlic honey butter was not spicy at all! Didn’t even tingle my tongue! I am sensitive to spiciness and I wanted to feel a little heat with my wings but I didn’t. It was still good though. Cajun was pretty good too, not even spicy. Next time we’ll try to get the traditional flavors of wings like Medium or Hot. We also got the loaded curly fries. Somehow I was expecting a big tall pile of curly fries but it was just a small plate topped with ground beef, beans, cheese, and a side of ranch. It was delicious though! Maybe their regular non-​happy hour appetizer is bigger in size and since we were getting the happy hour deal on the loaded fries, it wasn’t so loaded. ;P
Beer specials during happy hour were pretty good! $ 1.99 for domestic draft and $ 2.99 for premium draft. Overall we were satisfied. I can see us coming back here. It’s conveniently located right off the Ballston metro and bus station. Give them a try!

If you want to know where I’ll be on a Monday evening, it’ll probably be here.
They have a great Monday happy hour with the current going rate being 59¢ wings until 9pm. Late enough where I can put in a long day in the office and still be able to cash in on their specials.
The wings are really tasty and they have plenty of flavors to choose from. Though one flavor is no longer served, that being, the waiver required, Fire flavor. In my attempt to have my own Man vs. Food challenge, I tried to order these but was told they were taken off the menu about 2 years ago. No matter, I’ll just eat my way through the rest of the flavors now.
Tasty wings, attentive service, and cold beer makes this my go to local bar!