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Chelsea Jo's not your typical sports bar

Chelsea Jo's goes beyond typical sports-bar fare with dinner entrees

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 9/11/2003

By LAURA MOYER

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

A server named Mary steered us toward the good stuff right away one recent dinnertime at Chelsea Jo's Restaurant.

Rather than listen to us dither over what drink to order, she just said, "You should try a Dirty Banana."

That, it seems, is a specialty of the bar at Chelsea Jo's--a friendly, welcoming restaurant and sports bar at the Spotsylvania County edge of Lake Anna.

Soon, the dark-yellow frozen drink arrived at our table in a goldfish-bowl size glass. It was as sweet and fruity as a Slurpee but with a potent kick--Mary told us it had four kinds of rum plus banana liqueur totaling two shots. Be kind to your designated driver.

No football game was on TV the night we visited, but in honor of the start of the season we tried two of Chelsea Jo's sports-fare appetizers.

Onion rings at Chelsea Jo's are sold by the foot ($6) or half-foot ($4). Mary explained that the cooked onion rings are stacked on a dowel like a toddler's toy.

They turned out to be hand-battered, perfectly fried and well-drained, with a sweet-smoky barbecue sauce.

I preferred ketchup with the onion rings but found the barbecue sauce irresistible for dipping our second appetizer of steamed shrimp ($7 for a half-pound). The medium-size shrimp were tender, lightly seasoned and served so hot that peeling them required G. Gordon Liddy-like will.

Sandwiches, soups and salads are served all day at Chelsea Jo's, and it's the type of food you'd expect--a pork barbecue ($6), a cheeseburger ($5.50), chili with onions and cheese ($4) and a four-decker club ($6.95).

After 4 p.m., though, choices broaden to include Italian dinners and seafood, beef and chicken entrees.

Grilled marinated chicken breasts ($11) were simple and good. I'd imagined that this meant two pieces of breast meat, but instead it was the equivalent of four good-sized pieces of chicken if I were serving it at home. They were meaty and only lightly marinated, then grilled until they were cooked through and not a moment longer.

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Date published: 9/11/2003