Rugby Cafe/Rugby Store

Chinos & Cheesecake has gone abroad for the weekend. I've went away to Columbia, MD to spend some time with family. On the way up, I felt it would be a great opportunity to make a stop in Georgetown which lies about 30 miles south of my final destination. 

The Georgetown area is buzzing. Lots of people walking around, great shopping, great youthfulness (Georgetown University lies on the west side of the city), and great eats. Speaking of which, it was the perfect chance to partake in an edible version of Ralph Lauren (the brand, not the man, silly).

This is home to Rugby Cafe. 

An exert from ralphlauren.com 

"The Rugby Cafe features dark wood notes and preppy vintage accents that capture the essence of a classic setting for the restaurant's classic casual American food."

And not to disappoint, the food was pretty darn good. My recommendations? Well they're known for their burger and fries plates. So I picked the King's Burger (angus beef, fried egg, grilled pineapple, spinach greens, cheddar, tomato, mayonnaise, & Rugby's special sauce). And while most good burger joints screw up when it comes to fries, these backed it up quite nicely. I thought I was in heaven, until I took a bite of my wife's Holden Burger (angus beef, crispy bacon, caramelized onion, barbecue sauce, spinach greens, tomato, cheddar cheese), it flat out blew me away. That bbq sauce was pretty close to the best I've ever had. Needless to say, the next time I pass through these parts, that burger will be on my plate (not for long though, I'd inhale it expeditiously).

And what better way to walk off a full stomach of burgers and fries then to go shopping? Well right next door to the Rugby Cafe is the actual Rugby clothing store. 

Mr. Lauren launched the Rugby brand back in 2004 which was aimed at the younger generation, the 25 and under crowd. However, if styled properly, some of the pieces can be worn by men and women in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. So just be careful, the mannequins are awesome to look at. But they're supposed to be. It's not meant for you to copy them. Take the pieces and style them as your own. If not, then you kinda just end up looking like a poser. And that is definitely not the name of the game.