Some nights staying home and cooking is fantastic, you can wear stretchy pants and drink red wine with fish and no one can judge you. However, some nights you want to go out and let others bring you delicious things to eat and drink. On a night like that you should absolutely go to Front Porch in Del Ray, which is the brain child of the lovely folks behind Evening Star Cafe and Planet Wine.
Front Porch is set up the way the would want your backyard set up for the summer. A combination of long tables for mingling and discussing the menu, and small tables for more intimate conversations, along with a row of orange adirondack chairs perfect for people watching.
I recommend starting your evening with a bourbon slushie, which is a delicious combination of bourbon (obvi), lemon, lime, and orange juice. It has a sweet tang like a really good lemonade with a tart finish. Its icyness makes it the perfect way to unwind at the end of a day.
Once you have finish your slushie you can move on to a number of beers or wines. Their wine list covers a lot of ground, but if there is something specific you are looking for ask one of the delightful servers and they can pull anything off the shelf in the wine shop and chill it to perfect, I highly recommend a lovely beaujolis for a crisp and cool wine that has a bit more punch then your average summer white.
Once you are ready for some food the menu offers food best eaten with your fingers, from fish tacos, crab fritters with a dipping sauce, and savory tomato sorbet to heavier fare such as fish and chips and burgers.
The real fun of Front Porch is that you can mingle and make new friends with the groups of local sitting and enjoying the weather. You will not be disappointed if you spent any portion, or all of, your evening there.