The stereotypical image of a sports bar is not necessarily a pretty one-a, dimly lit dungeon with sticky floors, blaring footage of a football game the only respite from the darkness. It smells like used fryer oil, the only drink on tap is Coors, and your food options are oily Buffalo wings or soggy fries. Although this might be considered a haven for some, it’s an intimidating fortress of gatekeeping and freezer-burned snacks for others.
But sports bars are rapidly changing. Whether developing a more enticing food and drink menu, creating a community space that’s inclusive, or swapping the dark atmosphere for something more open and light, these traditional taverns are no longer restricted to their dated image.
“Being an Angeleno means you’re a sports guy-we have some of the greatest sports teams in the history of the world here,” says Avish Naran, chef and owner of LA-based sports bar Pijja Palace. Avish, who grew up in the Echo Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles and has fond memories of watching the Lakers and Dodgers in sports bars and friends’ homes, knew he wanted to create a space where people could enjoy the game alongside the Indian-American cuisine he loves.
The menu includes the fan-favourite malai rigatoni, a creamy and fiery coriander-kissed pasta dish; glistening dosa onion rings; and thin, cracker-like crusted pizzas topped with saag, green chile chutney, sausage; or even a combination of the three. You can even dip your wings and tenders in curry leaf ranch and yogurt stilton.
Naran did not neglect the drink menu, either. Cocktails include a Chai Whiskey Sour and a Lychee Gin Fizz, but even more impressive is the non-alcoholic menu, which boasts nine craft drinks from tamarind soda to an aranciata cream soda topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can even get lambic on tap. “I love a good cocktail and I’d rather watch the game over a good cocktail than a Crown and Coke,” Naran says. “I think there are a lot of people in LA who agree with me.”
And although the menu is perhaps the biggest draw to Pijja Palace, the interior is just as noteworthy, too. The restaurant is awashed in a rosy pink glow and there is a visible TV in every seat of the restaurant. Even the bathroom functions as a small gallery commemorating Los Angeles sports. It is bright-the antithesis of a stereotypical sports bar. “I feel like every time I walk into a space that’s too dark, they’re trying to hide something,” Naran laughs.
Naran isn’t the only person focused on the aesthetic of a space. It’s what Jarrod Fox and Taylor Lintz, the cofounders of TailGate Brooklyn, built their business on. In the midst of the pandemic, the pair-the former an events planner and the latter a jewellery designer-volleyed through ideas of how to get people to gather safely and still enjoy sports, without being cramped in a bar or stuck at home.
“Jarrod came up with this genius idea to use shipping containers and create what we call pods,” Lintz explains. “And each pod has a 65-inch TV, a picnic table, and they’re spaced out.” Although the Williamsburg-based outdoor bar was created with COVID-19 in mind, having pods proved to have many benefits outside of the pandemic.
For starters, there never needs to be a debate about which game to watch, as each pod has control of their own TV. Pods also made TailGate extremely dog-friendly, and customers could reserve a pod if they just wanted to spend time playing games and ordering mozzarella sticks with friends.
On days without games, TailGate hosts drag brunches and other community events. There are lawn games available, too. “It’s basically just an adult playground,” Lintz laughs. “There’s something for everyone here-even kids.”
This was important to Lintz, who used to visit other sports bars with Fox and felt out of place or bored. Now, she can listen to music, linger in the sunshine or warm up by a heat lamp in the outdoor space, and sip beers without the discomfort other sports bars may possess. And Fox, a Knicks fan, can still enjoy the games (although maybe not this past season).
Inclusivity was also top of mind for Jenny Nguyen, who built her Portland, Oregon-based sports bar, cleverly titled The Sports Bra, so no one would ever have to feel out of place or unwelcomed. The bar, at its core, is a celebration of women and girls in sports, which is reflected in the memorabilia that lines the walls and the TVs tuned into WNBA games.
Nguyen dreamt up The Sports Bra, which she says felt like a mere fantasy, in 2018 following the NCAA women’s finals. “I went out to a sports bar and I thought for sure they were going to have this on TV,” Nguyen explains, especially because no other pertinent sports games were simultaneously playing at the time. When they didn’t, Nguyen politely asked for a channel change and eagerly watched as the game played out, which included a double-digit deficit comeback and a buzzer-beater.
“We blew up, I jumped up and down, and I remember taking my hat off and throwing it across the restaurant,” Nguyen reminisces. “But I realized that literally no one else in the bar was watching the same game as us.”
That’s fine by Nguyen; she’s adjusted to that. But what really sparked the idea of The Sports Bra was an ensuing conversation with friends, upon the realisation that the sound for the game wasn’t even turned on. “I had gotten so used to watching women’s sports in a compromised fashion,” she says.
The Sports Bra became a running joke every time Nguyen and her friends had a frustrating experience at a sports bar. “This would never happen at the Sports Bra,” they would laugh. Nguyen didn’t anticipate doing anything about it though, until the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Unemployed and witnessing drastic societal changes, Nguyen decided to turn fantasy into reality.
The bar’s tagline is We Support Women, which is not only a jokey slogan but a fundamental truth. The beers on tap are crafted by women brewers while a partnership with Freeland Spirits, a local women-owned-and-operated distillery, make up the cocktails. For food, Nguyen tries to source from female purveyors.
“The Sports Bra really represents a space that targets the people who are underrepresented, like women and girls in sports, right?” Nguyen says. “When I thought of the menu, oftentimes you go to a sports bar and people who are gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian-they’re underrepresented on these menus. I wanted to include them.”
Although it just opened in April, the women-focused sports bar has proven to Nguyen the desire for a safe place to celebrate community. “Early on, I just thought of it as a place to gather and watch women in sports,” Nguyen admits. “But to have a physical place where you’re clanging beers and splitting nachos-this is a traditional American pastime. And now it feels like it’s a part of something much bigger.”
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Kat Thompson is a senior staff writer of food & drink at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @katthompsonn.
If you’re a fan of the royal family (because “fan” is the more socially acceptable way of saying obsessive internet stalker), this is your year. Netflix’s The Crown has returned for its second season, the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant with her third child, Prince George and Princess Charlotte continue to be the cutest heirs to ever walk the face of the earth, and Prince Harry has finally been wrangled from his former wild ways to marry Meghan Markle this spring. All of this royal family news has us in a tizzy, and we need a stiff drink to calm our excitement back down to inside voices. Thankfully, the royal family are drinking icons. Here are the favorite drinks of all the main figures of the new Elizabethan era, so you can properly drink along with all the upcoming royal festivities.
Much has been written about the Queen’s legendary drinking habits , with many articles claiming she drinks as many as six glasses of booze a day. Insiders have disputed this rumor, saying that she “would be pickled” if she drank that much, but we all know that the queen is a creature of habit, and probably does enjoy these drinks fairly regularly. Her all-time favorite cocktail is the Dubonnet Cocktail with a lemon twist, which is gin mixed with the sweet French fortified wine the drink is named for. Her staff always carries the two bottles and lemons wherever the queen goes in case she gets thirsty. Additionally, Queen Elizabeth II is said to drink wine with lunch, the occasional Dry Martini in the afternoon, a glass or two of Champagne with dinner, and some port wine after dinner. For someone that looks 91 years young, this monarch seems to know a thing or two about the secret to a long life .
While his wife loves her gin tipples and wine, the Duke of Edinburgh just fancies beer-and none of that fancy craft stuff. His lifelong favorite brand was Boddington, a regional brewery in Manchester. Unfortunately, the brewery ceased operations in 2005, forcing Prince Philip to drink other, still unassuming, beers. He is even said to have muttered, “Get me a beer. I don’t care what kind it is. Just get me a beer!” when he was offered fine wine by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato while dining in Rome.
The long awaiting king-to-be enjoys a wide variety of stiff drinks. His favorite whisky is a peaty Islay single malt, Laphroaig 15-year. Prince Charles also helped produce his own whisky, Barrogill ; HRH personally selected the single malts for the blend, which was distilled by Inver House Distillers and North Highland Products. The bottle features a watercolor of Barrogill Castle that was painted by Prince Charles himself. Additionally, Prince Charles is said to enjoy plenty of wine with his wife Camilla, along with his go-to cocktail, a 50/50 Martini made with equal parts gin and dry vermouth .
Prince William seems to take after his grandfather when it comes to drink preferences, opting for straightforward beers over cocktails or rare wines; His two favorite beer brands are said to be Stella Artois and Guinness, but he occasionally also enjoys shots of Sambuca. He didn’t always have such simple tastes, though. In his youth, the Duke of Cambridge was said to have ordered (on more than one occasion) the “Treasure Chest” from Piccadilly club Mahiki, which is a $180 cocktail consisting of brandy , peach liqueur and a bottle of Champagne, served in a smoking treasure chest with tons of extra-long straws, flowers and ignited sparklers.
Nowadays, you’ll find the Duchess of Cambridge publically drinking whatever is served at the many events she attends with her husband (when she’s not pregnant, of course), from Guinness at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in London to wine at a vineyard in New Zealand-where she exclaimed she was “really enjoying being able to drink again” after the birth of Prince George. But in her pre-duchess days, according to sources, Kate enjoyed fruity cocktails like Piña Coladas and the “Crack Baby,” which was served at Prince Harry’s favorite (now-defunct) nightclub, Boujis, and consisted of vodka , raspberry liqueur, passion fruit and Champagne. Rumor has it the future queen also still enjoys her go-to whiskey, Jack Daniel’s, from time to time.
The once infamous party boy may be settling into married life soon, but we reckon he’ll still enjoy his favorite drink, Cîroc Ultra-Premium Vodka , from time to time. Hopefully his bride-to-be Meghan will curb his questionable cocktail of choice, a Red Bull Vodka , and encourage him to try her far more interesting drinks of choice.
The name on the tip of everyone’s tongue this year is Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s beautiful betrothed and an American former-actress to boot. Because Markle was famous prior to her engagement, she gave decidedly down-to-earth interviews, including one with The New Potato where she said, “God, do I love wine-a beautiful full red or a crisp white. But if it’s cocktails, I love a spicy tequila cocktail, Negroni or good scotch (neat).” Markle also named her former lifestyle website, The Tig , after Tignanello red wine. If that wasn’t enough to make her your new drinking hero, Markle also once told Delish , “French fries and vino are my vices,” going on to say that she’d “forgo a gooey, chocolate dessert for a ‘big, beautiful red’ just about any day. … In the summer, though, when I’m out with my friends, it’s rosé all day.” A future duchess after our own hearts.
The Duchess of Cornwall is said to be a big fan of wine, having once said she was “brought up as a child drinking wine like the French.” But Camilla was also rumored to have exasperatedly said, “I really need a Gin & Tonic ” after exiting a conversation with Prince William over the nature of her relationship with his father, Prince Charles, back in 1998.
Queen Elizabeth II gets her proclivity for Dubonnet from her mum. The late Queen Mother was much heavier a drinker than her husband King George VI, who didn’t imbibe much during wartime due to nationwide rations and his unfortunate love for cigarettes instead. Elizabeth would allegedly start at noon with a cocktail that was one part gin and two parts Dubonnet, garnished with a lemon or orange twist (some people actually refer to the Dubonnet Cocktail as the Queen Mother Cocktail). Then at lunch, she would drink red wine and a glass of port after the meal. A biographer wrote that if people asked for water, Elizabeth would ask, “How can you not have wine with your meal?” At around 6 p.m., the Queen Mother would enjoy a Martini , and at dinner she would have some Veuve Clicquot. Other drinking-related quotes attributed to her include: “I couldn’t get through all my engagements without a little something,” and, after being told by a host that they heard she liked gin, “I hadn’t realized I enjoyed that reputation. But as I do, perhaps you could make it a large one.”
Princess Margaret is enjoying a posthumous fan obsession, thanks to her fiery, scene-stealing portrayal in The Crown. The show never depicts Margaret without a cigarette in hand, but the princess loved scotch almost as dearly. Her favorite drinks were neat scotch with a drop of water and a Scotch & Soda , both made with The Famous Grouse and Highland Spring mineral water. Her staff instructed those within her circles to always keep bottles of both on hand, in case she stopped by for an informal visit. A staff member claimed that “if you didn’t serve Famous Grouse, she could identify exactly what was in its place.” Allegedly Princess Margaret even asked for the scotch while visiting The Macallan distillery in the 1980s. A decanter of The Famous Grouse was always present at Margaret’s apartment, and though she was “always a delight,” according to a friend , “there could be unpleasantness with staff if her glass wasn’t kept full or if the ice melted. That was one of her tiny weaknesses.” Today, the royal family continues to support the whisky brand; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge opened The Famous Grouse Experience at the Glenturret distillery in 2014.
The late, beloved Princess of Wales wasn’t much for imbibing; she opted to skip the booze in favor of maintaining her iconic radiant skin. But when she did drink, she preferred something light, like chilled white wine, Champagne or a peachy Bellini. She is said to have ordered a Bellini on her infamous night out on the town with Freddie Mercury when she disguised herself as a man.