By Abigail Jurk (File Photo)

WHAT’S NEW: A new option for offbeat party or event ideas is set to open this month in Alexandria. Escape Room Live will open in Old Town July 30. If you’ve never heard of escape room adventures, here are the basics: participants are locked in a room for 45 minutes and have to work together to uncover clues and solve a mystery to escape. The clues are interactive, meaning participants are encouraged to search the room, touch various objects and discuss their findings. Escape Room Live will begin with two Sherlock Holmes-themed rooms and will eventually expand to include an Edgar Allan Poe-themed room and a room based on a wizard’s apothecary.

Owner Ginger Flesher says she and partner Darren Sonnier came up with the idea to open Escape Room Live while travelling across Europe last summer, where the concept is very popular. Flesher, a former high school math teacher, loved the idea of group-based puzzle solving. The two opened their first location in D.C. and, thanks to its success, are bringing a new branch to Alexandria.

Escape Room Live is available for parties, teambuilding exercises or special occasions and costs $28 per person. Group sizes can range from five to 13 people and participants must be at least 5 years old. Escape Room Live Alexandria is located at 814 King St., on the second floor. For more information, visit www.escaperoomlive.com.

WHAT’S HAPPENING: The Evening Star Cafe, located at 2000 Mount Vernon Ave., features live music on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Each week, the upstairs No. 9 Lounge features local bands playing diverse styles of music: rock, jazz, 90s cover bands, pop, blues and more. The bands play from around 8 until 10 p.m. and there is never a cover charge. Many of the artists that Evening Star features live in Alexandria, which adds to the bar’s neighborhood atmosphere.

The lounge offers the restaurant’s full dinner menu in addition to a lounge menu that features lighter fare items, so you can order dinner while you listen to the music or simply have a few cocktails. The beer list is extensive, with 19 craft beers on draft and around the same number in bottles.

For more information about Evening Star Cafe or to check out their upcoming concerts, visit www.eveningstarcafe.net and look under Events.

To request a place, event or special be featured in Word on the Street, contact Abigail Jurk at ajurk@alextimes.com.