Roeg's Picks for 2012: Best Sports Bar

Best Sports Bar: Lots of taps, great food (nachos are my favorite), and plenty of TVs.  All guys love a sports bar to go out and watch the game (or the waitresses), but for me, I’m always looking for a place that can provide you great beer.  Here are some of my favorites:

Gold: Yard House, Boston, MA and Nyack, NY – Jenn and I had visited a Yard House (http://www.yardhouse.com/MA/boston-restaurant/) in Vegas for dessert, that is I got some beer and she got some chocolate.  Their house beers are brewed by Firestone Walker (a big plus), and the chalkboard offers their new rotations to add to the 100 or so microbrew standards.  Stop by on a Sunday afternoon during football season and you’ll get to hear the crowd get rowdy.

Silver: Sunset Grill, Allston, MA – The Sunset Grill (http://www.allstonsfinest.com) also has over 100 taps, with a selection of local microbrews that is truly impressive.  Great food, TVs everywhere you look, this is the place to go if you don’t have a ticket to the game.  My friends and I tried a Boulevard/Pretty Things collaboration called Stingo, a Lost Abbey bourbon barrel Angel’s Share (a rare beer that is even rarer on draft), and a Jack’s Abby Ginger & Juice.  The bartenders were also great, loving beer and knowing the different spots around town. 

Bronze: Fat Head’s, Pittsburgh, PA – Fat Head’s (http://www.fatheads.com/)  has a great tap selection, their own brewery in Cleveland, a selection of bottles to go, and GIANT Headwich sandwiches, this is a favorite dinner spot of mine on South Side.  And with dozens of TVs, I often stop in to watch a hockey or baseball game when on travel.  Fat Head’s is a great place to hang out for an evening.

Honorable Mention: I’d been to the World of Beer (http://wobusa.com/) on my previous trips to Tampa and Orlando, and only saw that they had hit the DC area by sheer luck (and Jenn’s good eyesight).  I got a Blue Mountain Mandolin, a Belgian Tripel from a wonderful new VA brewery that is putting out top notch microbrews.  WOB would be a great place to catch a game, and their limited food menu would even keep you going when you get the munchies.  And is there any better place to be on game day when the Red Sox are in town than the Boston Beer Works?

"There is only one game at the heart of America and that is baseball, and only one beverage to be found sloshing at the depths of our national soul, and that is beer." – Peter Richmond