A Good Bar Wanted

My friends and I have been on a ten year crusade to try to find a decent bar to watch the football games on Sundays. You would think this would not be such a difficult task yet, after a decade our search continues. I don’t think we are looking for that much yet, every bar we go to has issues. Here are just some of the problems that we have encountered in our quest to find the perfect bar to watch the NFL.

The biggest issue that we encounter is not having enough games on. If you advertise having the NFL Sunday ticket, then you might want to have more then three games on at a time. The reason we are going out to a bar to watch the games is that I can not watch them all at home. Going to a bar that has the ticket allows one to watch multiple games. However, I will go to a bar on a Sunday and they will have like three games on when eight are being played. A good bar should set everything up before the noon kickoffs. Have all the games on and setup, and then don’t change them once the action starts. I hate it when I will position myself at a spot to watch say, the Colt game and some moron asks to have the TV I was watching switched to the Packer game.

Also, I realize this is Chicago and the Bears are the home team. I am a Bears fan, so, I get it. I have no problem having the Bear game on in the bar in a couple of spots. However, if you are a bar that has the ticket, why have all of your TV’s tuned into the Bears game? If I wanted to watch the Bears at a sports bar, I would go to a bar without the ticket. The reason you have the NFL ticket is to have as many games on as possible. Having all your TV’s set to the Bears is a waste of money considering buying into the NFL ticket costs money.

Another peeve of mine is not having food out for halftime. I don’t need prime rib. I am talking about maybe some hot dogs, pizza or some fried chicken. Spending $20 to $30 bucks can go a long way into customer satisfaction. I know most bars have a kitchen and they want customers ordering off the menu. However, there are a number of bars out there that you are in competition with. Putting out some free grub is a small token of appreciation to people who are spending hours at your bar buying drinks.

And since we are buying drinks, put some booze in them. Now, I usually drink beer so it is no big deal to me. However, a number of my posse drink the mixers and sadly, a lot of bars make a weak drink. Again, if you are going to charge four to five bucks for a mixed drink you should put some booze in them. Otherwise you are over-charging. You know a little extra booze can go a long way to keeping customers.

Also, when serving the drinks, do so with a smile. I swear some bars I go to, they act as if they are doing you a favor when they get you a drink. I understand being a bartender or waitress at a sports bar on a Sunday can be taxing, but you are working on tips. So, if you want to put a little extra coin in your pocket you might want to at least fake a nice attitude when you are serving the public.

Yet, another mistake I see bars make, is not knowing what they are. I once went to a bar that had a band playing at halftime. I like music and I like hearing bands. However, during football I want to concentrate on that. It is distracting when you are trying to pay attention on a game and you have some bar band playing in the background. Also, during football games turn off the jukebox and dartboards. If you are a sports bar and you have the Sunday ticket, then you are married to it. Realize what you are, and perfect it. Don’t try and be more then you are because then you won’t do anything right.

On top of all that, what might be the biggest blunder of them all is to have a TV not tuned into football. Alright,during baseball season to have a TV or two on the Cubs or Sox games is fine. That is the lone exception. I harp on NASCAR a lot, and well it deserves my scorn. There is no sin greater then to go to a bar that advertises the NFL Sunday ticket and they then devote a set to a car race. If you want to watch NASCAR (which is on regular TV, anyway) then go to a fucking Hooter’s you hillbillies. One bar we went to had bowling on. I mean who watches bowling to begin with? To request it at a bar is borderline psychotic.

These are just some of my complaints. I have others but, I don’t want this post to become a book. In ten years, one bar had it almost perfect and that was the Dome in Bridgeview. Sadly, they closed a couple of years ago and we have been homeless ever since. The Dome in Bridgeview had a special where you could eat and drink all you wanted for $20 bucks. The food spread that they put out was to die for. I admit it was a meat fest, but man was it good. They had all the games on and setup before noon. It was a little on the small side, but was perfect for our needs. The owner was a bit shady and somehow got a kickback of some sort when the Village took it over. Ever since then we have been on a revolving door of bars and have still not found one to call home.