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Looking for restaurant/bar along I-81 to watch sports on Friday night that allows OC

mdak06

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
59
Location
Manchester, New Hampshire
Hi folks,

I'll be heading down I-81 Friday afternoon/evening and was hoping to catch one or more NCAA basketball games on TV, so I'm hoping there's a place to do that ... somewhere from Harrisonburg down to Blacksburg/Christiansburg.

I know that Buffalo Wild Wings is not gun-friendly, so I was wondering if folks know of any other places I could go. I'm not going to consume alcohol, so that shouldn't be an issue. Any suggestions?

- Chip
 

jmelvin

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2008
Messages
2,195
Location
Lynchburg, Virginia, USA
I have carried openly at the Applebee's and the Ruby Tuesday in Lexington on a few occasions in previous years. I don't have much experience in the areas where you're mentioning though.
 

mdak06

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
59
Location
Manchester, New Hampshire
Saying "there are no bars in Virginia" does not help me find a place to watch an NCAA basketball game while open carrying. But thanks, I guess.

(And thanks to jmelvin, who actually tried to help.)
 

SouthernBoy

Regular Member
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
5,837
Location
Western Prince William County, Virginia, USA
Saying "there are no bars in Virginia" does not help me find a place to watch an NCAA basketball game while open carrying. But thanks, I guess.

(And thanks to jmelvin, who actually tried to help.)

Sorry for the inconvenience; it's a statewide thing. We really do wish you well in your quest for a place to watch the game(s) of your choice and we also welcome you to our commonwealth. Hope you have a very pleasant trip and stay here in Virginia.
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
Some people want to be a state-specific word lawyer, even when they aren't in the courtroom. They don't need to be helpful; they just need [you] to be as correct as if you were in court and bound to the terms of definitions of state law. Never mind that you actually also said "restaurant."

I've been to Virginia several times, and went to a bar every time. I don't care what a lawyer calls it, or what they have to call it on their business license. It was a bar. I've been to lots of bars, I know what they look like.

These are the same guys that correct you if you dare call Virginia a "state" in casual conversation.

There's common language, and then there are legal specifics. We don't always want the latter, but it's all some people have for contribution, and God help us if they didn't contribute. I'll bet not a single Virginian has a "gun" or a "car" either.

That said, I can't help, either, unless you are willing to come a LONG way off the 81. But I know lots of OC-friendly bars, taverns, pubs, restaurants, saloons, speakeasies...
 

SouthernBoy

Regular Member
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
5,837
Location
Western Prince William County, Virginia, USA
Some people want to be a state-specific word lawyer, even when they aren't in the courtroom. They don't need to be helpful; they just need [you] to be as correct as if you were in court and bound to the terms of definitions of state law. Never mind that you actually also said "restaurant."

I've been to Virginia several times, and went to a bar every time. I don't care what a lawyer calls it, or what they have to call it on their business license. It was a bar. I've been to lots of bars, I know what they look like.

These are the same guys that correct you if you dare call Virginia a "state" in casual conversation.

There's common language, and then there are legal specifics. We don't always want the latter, but it's all some people have for contribution, and God help us if they didn't contribute. I'll bet not a single Virginian has a "gun" or a "car" either.

That said, I can't help, either, unless you are willing to come a LONG way off the 81. But I know lots of OC-friendly bars, taverns, pubs, restaurants, saloons, speakeasies...

Look sport. Nothing on my part was meant to be nasty or an a--hat answer to our visiting gentleman and I believe I can say the same thing for ProShooter. We mention the fact that there are no bars in our state because; 1) there aren't and 2) it is a rather strange thing to folks from other parts of the country. A state with no bars? How does that work.... that kind of thing.

No harm meant or done as far as I can see.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
To answer the OP's question....sort of. Take your pick as to the type of food you may desire.

Virginia restaurants are by and large gun friendly or at the least gun neutral. Very few have gun buster signs.

The reason for our distinction bar vs restaurant is somewhat important. Bars tend to be watering holes devoted solely to the flow of alcohol; whereas a restaurant here must derive a substantial amount of their income from food.
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+4.1-210
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
Look sport. Nothing on my part was meant to be nasty or an a--hat answer to our visiting gentleman and I believe I can say the same thing for ProShooter. We mention the fact that there are no bars in our state because; 1) there aren't and 2) it is a rather strange thing to folks from other parts of the country. A state with no bars? How does that work.... that kind of thing.

No harm meant or done as far as I can see.

Take it easy, Tiger. You are confusing harmful with useless. No one accused your post of the former.

I'm sure every Virginian tells each other to meet at that "counter in the restaurant where they serve the alcohol and have the sports on the TV right above you. You know, the one with the dedicated waitress that just serves the drinks for the counter." No one cares what word is on the business license, except the lawyers, and that includes the people that built, own, and run the place, as there are a LOT of places that call themselves bars in Virginia.

http://www.unionstationdowntown.com/site/

I'm glad I didn't ask what bars to go to when I was in Virginia. I'd have died of thirst while practicing for a bar exam instead. Believe it or not, I'm trying to be friendly in my observations. And I damn well better have gotten a laugh for that last one.
 
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FBrinson

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
298
Location
Henrico, VA
Take it easy, Tiger. You are confusing harmful with useless. No one accused your post of the former.

I'm sure every Virginian tells each other to meet at that "counter in the restaurant where they serve the alcohol and have the sports on the TV right above you. You know, the one with the dedicated waitress that just serves the drinks for the counter." No one cares what word is on the business license, except the lawyers, and that includes the people that built, own, and run the place, as there are a LOT of places that call themselves bars in Virginia.

http://www.unionstationdowntown.com/site/

I'm glad I didn't ask what bars to go to when I was in Virginia. I'd have died of thirst while practicing for a bar exam instead. Believe it or not, I'm trying to be friendly in my observations. And I damn well better have gotten a laugh for that last one.

Just out of curiousity, why is this the battle you choose to fight? What is your beef with Virginia/Virginians?
 

BillB

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
200
Location
NOVA
Just out of curiousity, why is this the battle you choose to fight? What is your beef with Virginia/Virginians?


Maybe he had planned to open a liquor store here in VA a few years ago when the commonwealth was considering getting out of the retail liquor business. Just sour grapes I guess.
 

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
Most any bar along 81 allows oc as long as you remove the clip or have a VA CWP.
 
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JamesCanby

Activist Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
1,480
Location
Alexandria, VA at www.NoVA-MDSelfDefense.com
Take it easy, Tiger. You are confusing harmful with useless. No one accused your post of the former.

I'm sure every Virginian tells each other to meet at that "counter in the restaurant where they serve the alcohol and have the sports on the TV right above you. You know, the one with the dedicated waitress that just serves the drinks for the counter." No one cares what word is on the business license, except the lawyers, and that includes the people that built, own, and run the place, as there are a LOT of places that call themselves bars in Virginia.

http://www.unionstationdowntown.com/site/

I'm glad I didn't ask what bars to go to when I was in Virginia. I'd have died of thirst while practicing for a bar exam instead. Believe it or not, I'm trying to be friendly in my observations. And I damn well better have gotten a laugh for that last one.

And yet, the very link you posted as an example of establishments that call themselves a "Bar" is, in fact, named the Union Station Restaurant and Bar. This is in keeping with the fact that restaurants may sell alcoholic beverages at a Bar internal to their eating establishment, but their main source of revenue must be the food they serve. I know what Bars are like, having grown up in Baltimore. There were Bars on just about every corner in the urban area, where the same sots occupied the same stools every day, drowning their sorrows. I don't see that here in Virginia.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
And yet, the very link you posted as an example of establishments that call themselves a "Bar" is, in fact, named the Union Station Restaurant and Bar. This is in keeping with the fact that restaurants may sell alcoholic beverages at a Bar internal to their eating establishment, but their main source of revenue must be the food they serve. I know what Bars are like, having grown up in Baltimore. There were Bars on just about every corner in the urban area, where the same sots occupied the same stools every day, drowning their sorrows. I don't see that here in Virginia.
Nice catch James - guess I should have looked at the link.

Balto. City College and Johns Hopkins alumnus here, so I can confirm whereof you speak. Best crab cakes on the east coast were to be had on Greenmount Avenue :uhoh:
 
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