Wings, Football, Cheerleaders, and Pizza...A Great Combination
When the Cardinals are on the road and you can't join the other 60,000 people inside University of Phoenix Stadium to watch your beloved team, where can you go to share your passion with other fans? Well, I'm going to help answer that question. Based on certain factors, which I'll outline below, I'm going to give you the five best places to watch the Cardinals when they're playing on the road.
Here are the metrics I'll be using (each on a 1 to 5 scale):
Atmosphere: this includes cheering fans (an absolute must), enough TV screens to catch the game from every angle, and a friendly enough staff that if you decide to get a little rowdy (after a beer...or eight), they'll forgive you.
Food: Watching a football game without great food is un-American, be it wings, burgers, pizza, or tasty fried appetizers.
Beer: This is maybe the biggest overall factor. If you don't have draft beers, you're not on this list.
Location: Not the most important factor, but if you're in Tonopah, you're not on this list. A great place to watch the Cardinals has to be at least semi-accessible by most of the city.
Without further ado:
5. Half Moon Sports Grill (2 locations in Phoenix) - With TV's everywhere, a friendly staff, a constant crowd, and great food (their burgers are incredible and their menu is vast), this bar and grill can be a lot of fun. Parking can drive you nuts on it's busiest days and it's not exactly the rowdiest of places, but if you want some good food while you watch the game, this is the place to go.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Beer: 4
Location: 2
Total: 13
http://www.halfmoonsportsgrill.com
4. Native New Yorker (22 locations in Phoenix, 1 location in Tucson, 1 location in Yuma, 1 location in Show Low) - Not the best service in the world, but there are enough TV's to go around, the wings and pizza are perfect with their draft beers, and there is no doubt to be Cardinals fans filling the place. Add to that the fact that you can find one almost anywhere and you've got a pretty solid place to catch the game.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Beer: 4
Location: 5
Total: 15
http://www.nativenewyorker.com
3. Zipps Sports Grill (6 locations in Phoenix) - Zipp's was created with sports fans in mind, no doubt about it. There's even a tab at the top of their website called "Sports." Most locations have pool tables, shuffle board, golden tee, or darts and there are definitely enough TV's to catch the game. Oh yeah, and their menu is full of fatty greasy goodness.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Beer: 4
Location: 4
Total: 16
http://www.zipps-sportscafe.com
2. Old Chicago (4 locations in Phoenix, 1 location in Tucson) - If you've ever been to an Old Chicago, you know why it's included in this list. Yep, beer. Lots of it. 110 to be exact. That's kind of like being in sports heaven. The food's pretty good, too, and there's always a rowdy bunch of people to cheer with.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Beer: 5
Location: 4
Total: 17
http://www.oldchicago.com
1. Buffalo Wild Wings (7 locations in Phoenix, 2 locations in Tucson, 1 location in Flagstaff, 1 location in Prescott, 1 location in Yuma, 1 location in Sierra Vista, 1 location in Bullhead City) - If you are a Cardinals fan and you live in Arizona, you can definitely find your way to one of these locations in what can only be described as the ultimate sports bar. There aren't just a bunch a small screen TV's in corners throughout the room - you are surrounded by big screens everywhere you look. And if you're a fantasy football fan, you can find every single game that's being played that day, no questions asked. Add to that their famous wings, wonderful cold draft beer (there's always a draft beer of the month that you can drink on the cheap), the usually friendly servers, and an always rowdy Sunday football crowd, and you've got a recipe for the best place to watch the Cardinals when they're on the road.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Beer: 4
Location: 5
Total: 18
http://www.buffalowildwings.com
Places that just missed the cut:
Tilted Kilt - Female servers in short kilts and tight white shirts. Almost too distracting...almost.
http://www.tiltedkilt.com
Four Peaks - Great place to hang with friends and have some very tasty local brews.
http://www.fourpeaks.com
McDuffy's - One of the best true Cardinals atmospheres, this place is for the fanatics, especially the Peoria location.
http://www.mcduffys.com
And I know there are a lot more - just let me know which ones I've missed by leaving a comment below.
Other Arizona Cardinals 101 insights:
Arizona Cardinals 101: Where can you find the 2009 Arizona Cardinals Media Guide online?
Comments
Native New Yorker Wings and Pizza are so much better than BWW...They cant even afford to give you a real knife or fork! Place is awful...Service is below avg!
Native: One more thing, this season they are doing $2 Coors Lights and Miller Lights every Sat, Sun and Mon and giving away a $2009 prize! Last year was a ProBowl trip! Just for watching football at any Native...BWW nothing!
LOL - Thanks for the passionate comments, Mike - Native New Yorker has some of the best wings and beer around, but two things worked against them here. First (and this may depend on the location...I haven't been to all of them), but every time I go, my neck hurts from looking up at the screens and I have to wear my glasses to see. There are PLENTY of TV's, but no big projector-screens. That's a huge minus in my book. Second, I have had so many slow servers at a NNY, I now order two beers at a time when I go.
That said, I still go because of the wings, the people, and the convenience, but if given the choice, BWW wins for me every time.
Thanks for the addition of the giveaway, as well - that is great to know!
All chains? That's weak. Half Moon? Bottles only, no draft (at least at the 20th Street/Highland location.)
Evan - I myself had a hard time with the fact that these are all chains (there are SO many good little one-offs out there), but remember, this is for all of Arizona (so number of locations is important) and I wanted to put together a list of easily-accessible places.
Maybe what I need to do is to put ANOTHER list together of great local places. I'll need some help on this one though...especially with Flagstaff and Tucson.
If you know of a great local sports bar/place to watch the Cardinals, leave a comment, please! I'll check them out and put a new local list togther...
I think I may have been too harsh as BW3's one of my favorite sports bar. Love the mini corn dogs.
I'm a fan of the Teakwoods group which isn't a chain, there are just several with the same name. Also, A-Town in Ahwatukee was packed last year with 80% Cards fans. That's not a bad number considering our transient state.
Evan - Great addition on Teakwoods...my wife and I LOVE that place.
Never heard of A-Town, so I'll definitely have to check that one out.
Who else has got some good ones???
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