Come February 2, Super Bowl XLVIII will commence, and no matter which team you are rooting for, the most important thing is to find a great place to watch the game. Surprisingly, in New York City a sports bar isn’t the first place we would recommend — though, those are fine and we did include a couple. Rather, take advantage of the special parties and screenings being hosted at some of the city’s hottest restaurants and bars.
In Harlem, at celebrity chef and Forbes Travel Guide Tastemaker Marcus Samuelsson’s underground eatery, a killer tailgate and viewing party awaits. For only $25, you can participate in the all-you-can-eat Rooster Tailgate Buffet, which includes game-day eats such as yard bird with pickles, hot sauce and mace gravy; Red Line burger sliders; barbecue pork sliders; shrimp and dirty rice; loaded baked potatoes; and chili-orange glazed chicken wings. Of course, Ginny’s will also be serving Samuelsson’s famous Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, a recipe he takes from his grandmother Helga that helps give this American-style smorgasbord a Scandinavian twist.
For a more intimate party with all the class, head to the East Village and catch the game at this cozy Austrian tavern. Here, chefs Eduard Frauneder and Wolfgang Ban will be projecting the 2014 Super Bowl on the 110-inch screen, and each guest gets a complimentary Radeberger beer to start the party off right. Though everything here has an Austrian twist, they do offer game-day appropriate eats including a juicy schnitzel burger on brioche, pork belly sliders with kale and crispy onions, Austrian-style chicken wings with elderflower mustard, and fingerling fries with paprika aioli. Edi & the Wolf will also serve an array of Viennese-inspired cocktails and, of course, tons of beer.
Loreley Restaurant & Biergarten
Drinking is almost paramount to watching the Super Bowl, but what if a bar added even more boozy incentives to your team scoring? At Loreley in the Lower East Side, this hip German beer bar will pick one beer each for the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, and every time either team scores a touchdown, they lower the price by $1. You know what that means — the higher the score, the cheaper the beer becomes. Loreley will also offer German-style hot wings made with housemade curry sauce, spicy mustard and housemade hot sauce, as well as the usual fare of German sausages, schnitzel and giant fresh-baked pretzels with gouda infused in the dough. Get into the spirit of football with these treats, and with the 10-foot-by-10-foot television in the dining room and flat-screens in the bar area.
Celebrate Super Bowl Sunday with an Italian-style tailgate party at this charming Flatiron restaurant. For $125 per person, from 5 until the 6:25 p.m. kickoff, guests can enjoy open bar, followed by drink specials from Zonin Prosecco, Peroni and Maestro Dobel. While the drinks might not flow free all day, the food will, and SD26 will offer unlimited access to an extravagant buffet of tailgating and Italian nibbles. Of course, watching the game is part of the adventure, too, and there are numerous viewing screens around the space, perfect for catching every moment of the big game. On top of that, raffles and prizes will happen throughout, and one lucky person will win a prize from Vespa Brooklyn. The entire raffle proceeds go to benefit Susan G. Komen Greater New York City, a charity for breast cancer, so in the end, everyone wins. You can buy your tickets here.
Finally, a real sports bar worth heading to if you want to catch the Super Bowl. This large venue is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and features dozens of televisions lining the bar and hanging from the ceiling over the comfy booths. Game-day revelers can expect 40 beers on tap, as well as a fully stocked bar and plenty of Super Bowl-ready snacks including homemade guacamole, St. Louis-style ribs, truffle blue cheese fries, six types of wings and various homemade personal-sized pizzas. The sports bar also has plenty of salads, burgers and entrée-sized options, so there is no way you could go hungry — after all, watching football can sure work up an appetite. With all these choices of seating, food and drink, whether you want to cheer with the crowd or have your own private nook to celebrate with friends, this is the perfect place for catching all the action.
Photos Courtesy of Ginny’s Supper Club, Edi & the Wolf and SD26
