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Velocity Five
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Music:
- DJ
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
27 reviews for Velocity Five
so I guess its safe to give this place 3stars.
not only it is like 5minutes away from my GF's apt there is also no cover and they have 3 bars inside the club. Funny how they also serve food. I mean food like fried anything and even sushi. This place is also a good place to watch football or basketball games they are even showing the Pacquiao vs Cotto fight this weekend. the dance floor is OK not to small not to big. All and all this place will work. They are busy on Saturdays I don't know about other days but i have been here 2x and its not that bad.
check it out
Zero Stars! My friends and I have given this place MANY MANY chances, but this past Saturday it was a total FAIL. I brought a group of 14 people to watch the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight. The fights start at 9pm, so to miss the rush and avoid not having a table we got there at 7:45 pm. We paid a cover of $10 per person at the door which is average for specific bars to charge during huge fighting events. We asked the hostess if we could get a seat for 14, we were told that we could not sit down without half of our party there, which is understandable, so we ended up getting a table for 10 (since 5 of us were there). When our other party finally came, the "half of your group" policy didn't seem to apply to all, because my friend looked at a table that was set for 4 and one person was sitting there holding it for more then an hour....where was their half? It didn't make sense. Our server took 15 minutes to even come to the table to acknowledge us and by that point 3 of other friends showed up. At that point it was not busy so I am not sure why it took that long before we were even approached by the server. When she finally made her way over to us to take our drink and food order, I asked if it was okay if we got seperate checks, since there were 3 different couples, it made sense and I thought I was saving her the trouble by asking her ahead of time. She turned to me and flat out refused, there policy that is stated in their menu says they cannot split more then 4 checks per table. But she flat out said NO, perhaps she thought she would not get a big tip and would have settled for the gratuity. Whatever the deal may have been, she was rude and unprofessional.
Overall, Velocity 5 in Merrifield was understaffed and unprofessional that night. The owner/manager who walked around the whole night was more concerned about who he could get hugs and kisses from on grounds of letting people in for free. Its a sports bar, not an upscale lounge, at some parts of the night it was almost entertaining to watch him at the host stand then seeing Cotto getting his a** whooped.
Working in the restaurant industry is not an easy game, the stress and people you have to deal with is not easy, but no matter what the situation is you do have to put on a smile and give good customer service.
Lastly, we tried to enjoy our evening with a few of us having to stand in the end to watch the fight, but we know one thing- we will not be going back and giving our business to them ever again. I suggest other sport bars in the local area, unless you want a ton of headaches, I would just stay away from it. I gave it 1 star last time I rated it, Ive since learned my lesson.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/29/2009
Velocity 5 was described as the "Ruth Chris" of sports bars. Its not. The decor is great, they have… Read more »
Cal and I walked in here on Sunday with Detroit Lions shirts on during the Lions/Redskins game. By some miracle of astronomical proportions - the Lions won.holy.mother.of.the.pride.
We did not get beat up, hissed at, or tarred & feathered like I had originally speculated. My brother told me we that we must never wash those lucky shirts now.
Oh, btw the bbq wings are delish and they serve beer out of aluminum bottles. Woohoo!
Not many bars in the area are showing all NFL games. Therefore, it's worth 4 stars just for that.
It's a spacious bar, with plenty of Plasma TV's showing just about any sport you could want. More than you can say for almost any other bar in northern VA. :) Spicy wings. Yummy burgers. Pretty darn good. :)
A place I'll probably come back to in the future. :)
4 stars on sports bar criteria.
Classifies as a higher end sports bar that's cleaner than any other I've been to and is nice inside with newer interior and styling.
Wings there are so-so. They've got a bunch of different sauce flavors to choose from, which is good for variety, but some of them are just plain odd. Like the island wings....gutter ball.
I really like how each of the U-shaped booths each get their own plasma TVs. This is great to have in a sports bar, so you don't have to worry about watching the same thing that everyone else is, because there's always THAT guy who wants to watch the WNBA during Monday Night Football. Although, I did go there to watch a UFC fight and everyone was watching the same thing anyways. Bygones.
Will definitely go back there to watch PPV UFC fights, as these are pretty hard to come by at a lot of other sports bars (especially since I really don't enjoy Hooters), and the atmosphere was really great.
Bartending staff was really friendly and quite easy on the eyes. Wait staff at tables was mediocre.
Final note. For some odd reason, Velocity Five feels the need to be a night club after restaurant hours. They move tables around, dim lights, bring in DJs that play all that top 40 stuff. I stuck around to see this take place because, well, I hadn't seen anything like it before. Was interesting to see the type of crowd it brings in and although entertaining, definitely nothing I would seek out or plan on going to.
No longer a patron of V5 after being a regular customer since their inception. After spreading the word about the Saturday night dance party - the GM "Pepe" decided that it was time to turn the lights on before 1am; music off by 120am and promptly started asking people that had ALREADY PAID FOR DRINKS TO LEAVE...even AFTER the bartender told him that the drinks were ORDERED AND PAID FOR before "last call" was announced. We had paid for 12 drinks that our group was not not allowed to drink. That establishment will NEVER get my business again.
I walked over once with some friends when they changed their name to V5 since they were promoting it so heavily. We sat down to eat and were watching football, and shortly after they started clearing away tables until ours was the only one left. The waiter told us that we could stay as long as we wanted and finish our meals, but then they plopped a huge speaker system right next to us with a DJ playing club music ( nobody was even there dancing). It was so loud we couldn't hear the game or talk to each other, so we promptly finished our meal and left, with ringing in our ears. I'll never go back.
As I read through some of the previous reviews I guess my 1st thought was ' what were you thinking'...
You got to Velocity V to watch sports, it's a Sports Bar.
Don't go to impress your main squeeze with the food, the chef or the service.
First of all they have a great selection of Wings...prepared 10 different ways...how many times have you been asked...you want that wing bone in?
Despite what one of the local rags said in a review...they DO serve Guinness and it's quite fresh and reasonable at $5 a pint.
They have the ususal pub grub, some steaks and seafood but the main attraction on the menu is the appetizers, Crab Cake sliders, big NACHO plates and even Sushi.
This is a great place to see March Madness, Soccer, colllege and NFL football. Besides the 50 plus 42 inch screens, they have a private room
with a 106 inch screen that can be reserved with no additional cost.
Yes, the location is a bit sketchy but once your inside you'll be impressed with the dark wood & decor. No worries and second hand smoke, they are banned to the patio.
Sit at the bar and ask for LaLo, he'll tell you all about his Elvis memorabilia. The staff is friendly, welcoming & professional.
It's not a pool hall, it's not Ruth's Chris, Legal Seafood or M&S Grill.
It's a Sports Bar! An upscale one to be sure but go with a group, crowd or team and you won't be disappointed.
Went on a Saturday night because some friends were meeting some friends. But they spoke highly of the place, so on we went.
It took an incredibly long time before I was finally able to get a drink. I didn't order any other drinks after, since the idea of waiting for one was not appealing.
While privileged to have paid the $5 cover to wait incredibly long for a drink, I think I'll pass on the opportunity from now on. I will say the folks working there were nice...there just weren't enough of them to meet demand.
Not a bad place over all but can be better.
Decor:
Nice place full of TVs every where.
Service:
Service was good.
Food:
Crappy.
Beer selection can be better. Overall the place is OK. The Arlington location has a better vibe.
Went here last night with the wife and didn't find much reason to return. Service was okay and the food was okay though the wings took a long time to come out and weren't all that great. We ordered burgers and my wife liked her mushroom burger but she did not like the BBQ sauce they initially brought. She asked for something else and the hickory sauce was more to her liking. My hickory burger was okay as were the fries but again, nothing worth coming back for. I don't do sports so the big screens don't matter. It was okay but If I want a burger I'm going to Five Guys for a lot less money and a better burger and much better fries.
Oh yeah, bathroom was a single. For a bar! C'mon, that's just dumb.
This place stinks!!! It is always too crowded and you can never get a table, a drink, or a server. It may be different if you go for lunch or on a Sunday night, but if you go here for a sporting event, don't expect to get a seat unless you show up at 5pm. I've also heard a story from a friend about trying to pay their tab in cash, and they did, but their credit card was also charged....and no refund. Apparently, the owner's didn't believe them and they were double charged. Needless to say, they no longer go to V5.
The last few times I have gone here, It has been so crowded that I drink before I go and don't bother ordering anything. I have tried. I waited at the bar for 15 min.....waved at the bartender...then I resorted to waving a wad of cash at the bartender....Still, no service. They never get to the people who walk up to the bar.
When I have had a server, 2 were great!! the last 2 I have had were rude and acted flustered. If you are a flustered waitress, don't work at V5.
I guess this is a great place to watch a UFC fight if you are broke. Since it is so crowded, no one is bothering you to purchase anything, so you can literally stay there hours without spending any money. Its not good for business, but if V5 would get their act together, this wouldn't happen.
Pro's- lots of screens. No door fee, though I bet this will change since the owners seem to love money. Nice smoking patio, no tables though...and the warmers they have out there never work, so if you want to smoke and its cold, you are SOL.
Con's- terrible or non existent service. Very expensive. They wont allow you to sit if you don't have a group more than 5. Usually, a line around the corner. VIPs are treated like royalty, while the average person waits an hour to get a drink. There is NO outdoor seating in the evenings. Just a smoking patio with benches. reservations don't mean anything. They will give you a reservation, but give your table away...
Sports bars should be graded on three criteria. Quality of the sports ambiance, quality of the food, and ease of alcohol flow.
On a normal night, getting drinks is not a problem. During a fight night (PPV boxing and UFC ), after 10 pm, you may have some difficulty getting your server to be attentive, but at that point its more of a nightclub atmosphere so I can't really fault them for this. The drinks are not cheap (no real specials outside of 4-7 weekday happy hour), but their normal prices are reasonable. $5 for Sam Adams drafts, $6 Guinness. If u drink the cheap stuff, u'll find its priced hte same as the good stuff. Upgrade your go-to beer, would be my suggestion.
The 42" LCD's throughout the entire restaurant are definitely a plus. Great place to watch sports. And during the big events the audio is put over the entire speaker system. Definitely garner some level of respect on their presentation of sports. The ambiance is certainly that of a more upscale sports bar, but I still found most people to be knowledgeable about the sports they were watching and attentive. That's a pretty crucial aspect of the communal nature of a sports bar.
The food was actually pretty great and the bulk of the reason for a 4-star rating and not 3 or 3.5 stars. The crab-cake sliders are great, the Alaskan Salmon was cooked with care and attention, as was the Blackened Ahi Tuna sandwich. Blackened often seems synonymous with a burned or charred layer of once spicy seasoning reduced to unrecognizable bitter dust. Not in this case... I was really impressed by the sandwich, and hope to continue to make it a place to watch major sporting events in the future.
I was excited to check out this spot for the following reasons:
It is about 5 minutes from my house.
The cover is $5.
It has a decent roped off outdoor "patio" section for fresh air or smokers.
The DJ was actually pretty fresh, eventhough there was a nice sized dance floor, the only people that were dancing were some older white dudes and the "go-go" girls in cheezy lace and wigs.
The drinks were good and the bartenders were even better.
Good mix of people and a casual dress code.
Would I go back? Hell yeah, if you are trying to keep it local, and make the best out of a sports bar turned club for a night, this is the joint to go to!
I went to H Mart for grocery and somehow ended up in this place next door. It's a great and enormous sports bar. You gotta love that it's NON-SMOKING! (They do have an outdoor area where you can smoke.) 50 high-quality big screens. Bartenders are friendly and the wings were good and huge (though 'medium' was almost spice-less). 6 pieces of Velocity Wings ($6) is pretty much a meal.
Daily happy hour-- appetizer special til 7pm, drink special til 8:30pm.
As a longtime patron of the Shark Club which previously occupied the space, it's tough to come to a renovated venue aiming to be an upscale sports bar/restaurant sans-pool tables.
The new owners did a great job renovating the restaurant and creating a new image. The atmosphere is nice for a drink and quick bite. I've been a few times for drinks on the weekends and twice for dinner and it's been just what you might expect. Generic food which is good, but nothing to rave about.
One thing you have to know going in is that you will encounter the 35-50 set, many of which are women looking for men (of any age). Bartenders are great and they expanded the once awkward main bar to be complimented by three bars to allow more people to order more drinks.
Every time I've been they have karaoke going with a charismatic (although slightly overcrowding) emcee.
I give it three stars for happy hours that turn into happy evenings, although I hear it's a great place to watch sporting events (go skins!)
I am a girl that loves sports. When I walked into V5 last Friday night for the UFC match, I thought I was in heaven. All the ingredients for a perfect sports bar, booths with your own huge flatscreen, 2 well-stocked and well equipped bars, comfortable seating, and busy but not packed. I should have known it was too good to be true...Essentially, it was like a really hot guy with no personality or intellect. And here's how:
We got seated immediately but when we wanted to add 2 latecomers to our party they wouldn't allow us to move to a better grouping of booths. Our wings and things took forever and while the price was reasonable the flavor was less than. I got so frustrated with the lack of service I got up and walked to the bar and paid cash for my 3 beers.
But...sadly...I would go back because all those flat screen TV's are just sooo pretty. I told you it's like a really hot guy.
Back in the day when I worked in Falls Church, a bunch of my co-workers used to go to this place when it was the Shark Club, especially on Thursday when they had their Corona special. So some of the old gang decided to try this place in its new incarnation as Velocity Five. The place looks 100X better now and all of the old dingy wood trim has been updated with new fixtures. There is also a nice seating area with leather couches, located near the back of the bar which is great for watch sporting events on a huge flat screen TV. The manager came over and told us that this area could be reserved for special events.
Pros:
NO SMOKING. I love the fact that there is no indoor smoking and patrons who want to light up have to step outside now. This alone is worth making this a gathering spot for me.
New pool tables and fixtures.
Wait staff - our waitress was awesome and very friendly.
Cons:
Food - The food is above average bar grub. Our group had a sampling of wings (The Island Wing and Georgia Peanut) and they were pretty good but nothing to write home about. The nacho plate was overflowing and was a big hit.
The overall consensus is that Velocity Five is an improvement over the old Shark Club and that we'll back.
Uh oh... just when I thought V5 got it together they f things up again. We put our name in for a table and the hostess said you'll get a table in 4 weeks. She wasn't kidding. We never got our table. It was UFC 92 though. But, there we empty tables supposedly reserved for other groups but they got sat BEFORE us and AFTER we already put our name down. And I peeked on their reservation list and there we no groups of 8. But the table that was sat had 8 people. Oh yeah $10.00 for a Long Island Iced Tea that was watered down? Are you serious? Let's say V5 is back on my shit list and I won't go there from now on. Buh-bye!!!!
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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7/20/2008
Okay, after 2 WJFK events at Velocity 5, they have definitely upgraded their service and… Read more »
Went here to catch some pre-tournament action. This place is basically an upscale sports bar. This place looks out of place, only because the new condos around Multiplex Cinemas aren't finished and it's in the same shopping center as H-Mart. This used to be Shark Club. I assume it changed owners or something like that. I like how the place has a crapload of tv's. The wait staff does not look like standard sports bar staff. They wear dress shirts and ties, not t-shirts and jeans.
The place has pretty standard sports bar food. I tried the island wings and they were ok, nothing special. I was not a big fan of the French dip sandwich, but the fries were good. Drink prices are not bad, beer from the tap was 5 bucks.
I would come back here because it's so close. Definitely looking forward to March Madness, so long as UNC loses first round.
The interior is nice and plenty of flat screen tv's. I wouldn't come here for the food though. Their spicy chicken wings were mild and blue cheese dressing tasted cheap.
O yeah, their drinks are weak. All our mixed drinks were watered down. I'll stick to beer!
becuase of my great experience on a saturday night, i decided to try my luck out on the giants game this past sunday.
my roommate (an eagles fan) and i usually head to glory days to watch the game because a) we have one big screen t.v. and b) because usually are games aren't on because of the skins
well, i was very disappointed in the turnout and the atmosphere for the game.
there was almost no crowd. maybe it was because the skins were playing at night but i dont know.
we sat down at the area with the couches and 3 flat screens. my game happened to come over the speakers so my roommate was a little annoyed. i would have been too if i had to listen to the eagles for 4 hours b/c of their OT.
anywho. our server seemed nice, he was a little slow. i ordered 6 wings (6.95 is not bad at all) and they were surprisingly good. couldve used a little more sauce but thats okay. i was POed, however that he didnt ask if i wanted bleu cheese or ranch; they automatically came out with ranch which i HATE with my wings. yuck.
so, i must talk about the triple-date couples "watching football" that sat in the adjacent couches. hahahahahaha i just have to laugh to myself. most were in some type of fan-garb but you could tell that they were there to interact with their friends. the woman straight across from me was the wife of a "bears" fan who donned a retro bears shirt, while she sat and looked pissed off the entire time in heels, a black turtleneck and jeans. i knew this wasnt going well.
i had completely walked in, unfortunately ordered wings, so i could sit and watch my team in utter silence. well, at least it was over the loudspeaker.
we left, my roommate couldnt take it and i was about to go insane. we went to glory days.
oh, they also dont have chicken fingers. only "boneless buffalo wings." yes, there is a difference.
WILL NOT go back for football but will definitely go back for a night out, maybe even dinner as some of their meals looked really good.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/14/2008
**3.5 stars**
i think the fact that i went here solely for the purpose of the bar on a saturday… Read more »
I was there for the start of the NFL season and it was packed. Nice looking place with lot of High Def tv's, but the service or lack there of was horrible. I think they had only TWO cooks......TWO..... For a place that big and it being the opening day, to only have two cooks and about 5 servers was the worst service I'd ever seen. The table next to us got their food two hours later. It took me 20 minutes just to get a soda. I really hope the service improves because it's such a nice looking place and I would really want to go back.
The service here can be better, they are a little slow on getting your orders out and coming by to ask if everything's ok. The food is generally good, although the first time I went there I ordered a burger medium and it came out raw. Their regular wings have been the most consistent, which is a definite plus. The place is perfect for sports fans.
Note: skip the honey wings, not that good.
It's a major upgrade from what it used to be during the shark club days. i think this joint somehow is affiliated with chiks and wings in tysons because the set-up and the menu items are very very similar. the joint is clean, service overall is ok, and food is good.
great service, and even better food. 50 big screen tvs for any and all sports events. a huge dance floor. private viewing/party rooms.
this place has it all!
Really, this place isn't so bad. I live in the neighborhood by the Metro station so I was excited to have someplace new to go to that wasn't another Asian grocery store! The decor is nice - amazing compared to the dive pool hall it used to be. They definitely poured a lot of $$ into that! I've had a variety of the appetizers and the burgers and really have no complaints. Everything is good, but haven't had anything fantastic yet. I do like the variety of wing sauces they have, but the wings themselves are TINY for the price you pay (I'm from outside of Buffalo!). They do have some nice private party space here, too. Brunch is pretty darn good for the price! BUT, WATCH YOUR BILL! On 3 of maybe the 6 times I've been here they've screwed it up! At brunch my friend got 3 OJs which were supposed to be included, and they charged her $5 for each, and the 2 other times they charged us full price (around $3 more) for what was supposed to be the Special during the time we were there. Service is a bit lacking here. You'd think that maybe they weren't working for tips. Anyway, I'll keep popping in here from time to time for a burger or a drink but when I'm not expecting anything too extravagant and when I've got the time and patience to put up with the staff.
