The hustler–wannabe chalks the cue, watches the balls break, listens to pointers from better players on Team Husbands about how to make the shot, and takes aim

I was thinking about Paul Newman’s famous film role when we put a dollar’s worth of quarters in the slot for a game of stripes and solids while we waited for our entrées at Angel’s Sports Bar & Billiards on State Route 3 near Fredericksburg. That handsome Newman, playing the cocky pool shark, planned to take on the legendary Minnesota Fats.

The two-room bar and restaurant in a strip mall has been open since January. It is filled with TVs, three pool tables, electronic and steel-tip darts and other game machines.

The menu is not extensive, but enough to satisfy the cravings of sports enthusiasts or anyone attending Angel’s frequent events—karaoke, dart tournaments and comedy nights.

Friends who like games joined us for an early dinner. I hadn’t held a cue in the year since we left Florida and other friends, who enticed us to play a game every time we visited their pool table.

While My Dining Partner is experienced enough to own his own break-down cue, something I didn’t know about him until many years into our marriage, I have had no experience other than those games in Florida. All I have is an unrealistic desire to win.

The hustler–wannabe knocks the white ball, the cue ball, into the pocket. “Oh well,” she notes, “at least I got one in, even if it was the wrong one.”

The very jovial owner waited on us and even tuned in jazz on one of the sports TVs. She said that while there are no nonsmoking areas because of the nature of the establishment, she planned on installing smoke-eating devices in a few months.

We asked for her food recommendations and selected the onion loaf ($5.99) and hot wings ($4.29) for our appetizers.

Our friends described the wings as coming from Chicken Little, but the owner had noted how petite they were before leaving the kitchen and doubled the amount to a dozen. They were less hot than tangy, but we all liked the blue cheese dipping sauce.