Including the :before selector is not necessary to clear the floats, but it prevents top-margins from collapsing in modern browsers. (с) Nicolas Gallagher
.menu-row {
width: 100%;
background: url(../images/menu-row-tail.gif) center top repeat-x rgb(23, 143, 190);
position: relative;
z-index: 10;
}overflow: hidden; лишний текст будет скрываться.