I kinda feel like everything I did on this blog led up to the weekend I had last weekend. From grilling to barhopping to going to a game, last weekend had everything I wised for. Except a win. Yup, I was in Waco for the sorta Big 12 Championship when Kansas State played Baylor. Continue reading Stadiumspotting (And So Much More) At McLane Stadium In Waco
Welllllll, lookie here! It’s an actual Barspotting! I gave up the game many moons ago but luck feel into place this last week. Yup Kansas State played West Virginia on a Thursday and I was having other things going on. That meant some time out and some time to review a bar. Sad to say no Football Feedings this week but I think y’all will enjoy what I saw last Thursday. Continue reading Barspotting 2014 Week 13: Black Sheep Lodge
Well, lookie here! It’s a barspotting post! Yup, unannounced too. I was up in Dallas, Texas (North Dallas specifically) and had some time to kill before I went and saw the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary show. So what with it being college football Saturday, what better chance would there be to hit up a good local bar in Dallas? That’s exactly what I did when I went to the Redrock Bar and Grill. Was it good? Was it bad? I’m not really sure. It’s been a long time so let me crack my knuckles and take a crack at this on more time. Continue reading Barspotting 2013 Week 13: Redrock Bar and Grill
It was a dreary last week of Barspotting but we forged ahead. It was also a wet day for Kansas State, so it was quite alright that we were late to Little Woodrow’s in Southpark Meadows. It was Championship Weekend and the cards played out, with the bowl season right at our front door now. Every game had a championship feel except for Farmageddon because when Kansas State and Iowa State get together, it means so much more. So how did we survive the first real wet weekend here in Austin, Texas?
As I mentioned we got in a little late but that was also because we thought Little Woodrow’s opened up at 11:30 AM. We lapped the place to finish our coffee and headed in, with the place being open shortly after 11. The 6th Street version of Little Woodrow’s was a little short ceiling wise and felt somewhat cramped. The Southpark Meadows variety was tall and open. That helped facilitate a giant projection screen in the middle of the bar. But there was so much more there.
Walking up to the joint, I could tell right away that there was a huge open patio area. I think South Austin reigns supreme in bringing not only a sports bar feel but a backyard feel to spectating. Although it was raining, I could tell that they had plenty of bags, horseshoe, and washer courts built in, not unlike Doc’s Backyard. Inside, there of course was the big projection screen television, but also large flat screen hd televisions. The bar section was wid open and had plenty of seats, the table area looked comfortable. I’m a little worried that the screens were too high. That’s fine, they had a bunch of other things to keep my attention at bay.
Wireless internet reigned supreme for me while I checked up on scores as well as email. The games inside were decent. Little Woodrow’s has Golden Tee, Silverstrike Bowling, and some Buck Hunter. I missed out on the shuffleboard table at first sight but caught it on the way out. I also caught their themed Christmas, which saw beer bottle trees, wrapping paper decor, peppermints, and hanging clothes. Apparently, it was part of their redneck Christmas celebration. Oh, also at the bar, there was Mega Touch. I haven’t seen that around these parts.
So speaking of the bar, the service was decent. The lady that tended to our needs most of the day was mildly attractive and kept calling us sweetheart. I dug her sense of humor so it wasn’t too much of an issue. What I did have an issue was that she messed up our order. The bar was fairly empty because Texas hadn’t started so it should’ve been easy to take down the correct order. I also had some issues getting the Kansas State game on television because she was convinced it wasn’t on there. Even after inspecting the line up sheet, she reluctantly changed the channel to the game. I didn’t make her eat crow on that, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
It turns out screwing up the food order helped me out. I opted for the their chicken sandwich with swiss cheese and bacon. Now I ordered the Little Woodrow’s homemade potato chips but they brought out fries instead. The bartender fixed the order and I got both. Both the fries and home-made potato chips were very delicious. I think it was the oil they cooked it with. The sandwich itself was okay, but nothing worth the price they were charging. I washed the thing down with a fairly tasty Fullers ESP. It tastes like a heifeweisen but was just a little more fruity. That light blend worked well with the chicken and juicy bacon.
Now on to the games. It was championship weekend and it should’ve been renamed blowout weekend. Most of the conference championship games were blowout snooze fests (sorry Big 10, I just don’t care about you). Southern Miss pulled the upset over Houston in the Conference USA game. LSU took care of business against Georgia in the SEC game. Clemson got revenge on Virginia Tech in the ACC game. The games themselves were not that exciting, but it did have some hefty effect in terms of BCS allotment. Especially that Houston and Virginia Tech loss. It helped make a case for Oklahoma State.
Yes, Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma for the first time in forever for Bedlam. Now, it wasn’t a conference championship game but it ended up being that way for the Big 12. Whoever won that game would have the title or at least the greatest share of it. The ghost of Sooner past didn’t scare the Cowboys away this time. They came out the gates firing and didn’t let up one bit. Oklahoma looked sloppy, especially on offense. I swear the defense might have scored more points than the offense in that game. Congratulations on the Big 12 Conference Championship Oklahoma State.
Kansas State was the team I came to Little Woodrow’s to see and they finished out the regular season like they do with every game this year: by nearly giving me a god damned heart attack. It was close, thanks to Paul Rhoads and his rag tag bunch of Iowa State Cyclones. Farmageddon always had a history of close and exciting games and this one came through. Now Collin Klein will get the rub for the victory, but John Hubert’s stiff arm from hell toward the end of the game made him the top performer for me. That last touchdown run sealed it after Iowa State had multiple winning gambles on the drive to tie the game.
So that was the last barspot. To tell the truth, I am still disappointed that I couldn’t get a game of washers in. I drowned my sorrows quickly with some homemade potato chips and malt vinegar, however. Little Woodrow’s was a decent time, but not the best. It could’ve been the rain or the sub par service, I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that if the sun is out and your favorite team is on, head out there to relax and enjoy the outdoor patio. It will most certainly be more relaxing than watching a Kansas State game or dealing with BCS math.
It’s the final week of Barspotting for the 2011 year! Yeah, I could go to some bowl games, but the way the BCS National Championship Game is turning out, I may just skip the whole shebang. But who knows, I may be doing a little Bowlspotting with the Kansas State Wildcats if they find their way down here in Texas again. In the meantime, Little Woodrow’s is on the list. I’m not doing the 6th Street variety, but the one out in south Austin. I’m ending the year the way I started it: Doing a family friendly sports bar and playing some backyard games. It should be fantastic.
Man I”m chilling here in the ole home office watching some old episodes of Doctor Who and reflecting on the long holiday weekend that was in college football. I didn’t go anywhere and opted to be completely lazy. Turkey day was a smash and I ended up falling asleep pretty fast on the couch. The NFL games were exciting for once. But there were two full days of college football that I had to watch. I’m not sure I remember much so I’ll be short and sweet on this.
Last week was rough. For lots of reasons. Tailgating as hard as I did last weekend has left some lingering effects. There’s also a sprinkle of great games from Thursday through Saturday. So I decided that this week, it will be some major home spectating. It’s a weird week for me anyway because this is the first Thanksgiving I’ve had away from home. Hopefully I won’t miss Mom’s stuffing too much. Let’s check out the games.
Continue reading Thankspotting: Home Away From Home For The Holidays
Oh man after a rough week, it was nice to get back to some simple pleasures. Beer, football, greasy food, and great looking service. Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill had it all and it was the perfect medicine. The games were bunched together nicely but the outcomes didn’t really matter with me so much. I was there just to get away from the week and enjoy some time away from the real world. Ah yes, barspotting has returned.
Alright, after kind of a dark week for me, it’s now time to brighten things up. Last week was an awesome bbq but my team lost in the better game of the century. Now this week we have Missouri leaving for the SEC and Penn State going up in flames. I need a pick me up. I need me some Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill. That’s right, just when you thought there couldn’t be another bar like Hooters, you get a Texas knock off with franchises sprouting up everywhere. I’m sure I’ll do another knock off some other time, but for this week’s barspot, it’s all North Austin and it’s all about football. No, really.
When: Saturday, November 12, 2011
Time: 2:00 pm
Where: Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill, 6901 North IH-35, Austin, TX (512) 454-2247
Games:
Notes: It’s kind of a let down week after the game fo the century, right? Nope. We have a couple of huge games on tap here as well. I’m looking square at the Stanford vs Oregon game. The one loss Oregon had this year was against LSU and Stanford needs to stay undefeated to matter. That game is massive. Meanwhile we have some interesting games between some top 25 teams. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech will see who will win the Tech title and possibly the ACC. Nebraska will more than likely walk over Penn State because of what has happened this week. Auburn and Georgia is no slouching matter when it comes to rivaries as well. Finally, I’ll be cheering on my Kansas State Wildcats as hopefully they help usher Texas A&M out of the Big 12.
You know, I was having so much fun Saturday night, I didn’t get a chance to really take any pictures. That’s a good thing, because I promptly stuffed my face full of sausage and pulled pork. Sure, there was some bread and other side dishes involved, but it was mostly meat. You don’t want to see the carnage laid down. But I do have a chance to talk about the carnage, or lack thereof, I saw on the field. Who knows, I may talk about the world’s worst carnal secret as well. It depends on how much I feel like regurgitating. Bring a bib.
It’s BBQ week for KC College GameDay! There’s plenty of sports bars out there, but every once in awhile you gotta go out and get some home cooking that only BBQ’s can provide. I think we are going to cook up the world famous BBQ cheesy corn not sure yet. But we are also going to cook up some college football. Now, we could run out to a bar earlier in the day, but games really suck. It’s all for the night time for me. So let us see what is so special about the night time as well as the other games for this weekend.
The weekend was very much filled with ups and downs as I had a great friend in town and was juggling college football, concerts, and quality time. That’s why some of you who were expecting a GameDay post Saturday came up empty. Never fear, my funky friends, I now get to talk about Champions Bar and Grill in downtown Austin. My bud and my lady took over the bar for a the brief amount of time and then we bolted on out for the rest of our adventure. That ended up being the best plan, too, because my team fell back down to earth and I missed the crash. Continue reading Up and Down at Champions
I’ve been going back and forth trying to figure out which place to go for this week’s barspot. It’s not that big of a weekend in terms of college football as #1 and #2 isn’t playing. My team is however and it’s kind of a championship weekend for them. So what better place to watch the game than Champions! They are smack dab downtown and offer up a tight little joint for some football watching. I was actually there 2 years ago for SXSW and stopped by there for lunch during the conference. It was my first stop at a sports bar in Austin. So I’m bringing out all the stops for this weekend’s games.
It’s been awhile since I had to get up for the early college football game. Last Saturday was the reprise and I’m thankful that the Lavaca Street Bar had a bloody mary bar to kick things off. There was alot of talk about Midwestern sensibilities in the last week and I was surprised at how the Lavaca catered to that. Speaking of the Midwest, it was Sunflower Showdown weekend and I had a front row seat, without actually being there. Did Lavaca Street Bar handle spectating well, or did I leave sucking on some cheese curds? Let’s find out.
Walking in, you wouldn’t suspect that Lavaca Street Bar was a big sports bar. It’s another in a long line of sports bar that look tiny up front but huge in the back. All around the bar, televisions lined the place. In the back room there is a huge projector screen television as well. The Direct TV made sure I was able to watch my team up on there. The wireless internet is free but they had some kind of weird sign up page that made things hard to login.
The best part of Lavaca Street Bar has to be the games. They have all the games that you need. They have Big Buck Safari, Golden Tee, a hard punch game, Pop-A-Shot, Skee Ball, and what I think could be a pool table. I see cue sticks but no table and I think it’s because of the bloody mary bar. At any rate, back to the Skee Ball. It’s a rare sight to see Skee Ball in any bar, let alone a sports bar. If you want to set yourself from the back, get a game like that in your bar.
The service was rather sparse. There was essentially two bartenders for the whole joint. The female one was rather cute and the guy, well, was a guy. We had to get up from the back a couple of times to order food and drinks. They did come out here and there though. The guy was nice enough to setup the whole back room for my games so I can’t dog them too much. He also turned the light on for me when I was getting my bloody mary because the place is real dark. Like go to sleep dark.
Now on to the beer pairing. Lavaca touted some Midwestern specials like cheese curds and brats. Guess what I got. The cheese curds were good but not northern Iowa good. I think the ones I make are better. I chose to have Wastach Brewery’s Pumpkin Seasonal Ale with the bratwurst. I wanted to do an Oktoberfest type ale but that was the closest thing they had on tap. I’m so glad I chose it. It has to be the best tasting pumpkin beer I’ve ever had. The brat itself was tasty but everything around it was average. The mustard, bun, sauerkraut, and even the basket was very low rent. But hey, that’s part of the appeal.
The Sunflower Showdown was the main event for the weekend for me. For some reason I was real scared about Kansas. Boy was I ever wrong. Kansas quarterback Jordan Webb has the 2nd highest passer rating in the Big 12. He did a good job, but the rest of the team was terrible. Meanwhile, on the other side, Kansas State’s Collin Klein put up all star numbers. He ran for 4 touchdowns and actually threw the ball pretty well. It helps when you are playing one of the worst defenses in FBS. Methinks Turner Gill’s job is in serious trouble right now.
The other games were a little more competitive. I got to watch was Missouri and Oklahoma State duke it out in Columbia. Seeing as Missouri no longer thinks they are Midwest material, it was nice that the Cowboys beat them down. Well, it wasn’t a beat down so to say, the Tigers kept it nice and close. I missed out on LSU vs Auburn because I was busy Halloween shopping. I also missed out on most of the action in the evening because I went and watched White Denim at Stubb’s. So the first big Hail Mary of the year that put Michigan State over Wisconsin was not to be had for me. Thanks to a lightning delay, however I watched the end of Texas Tech upsetting Oklahoma.
It has begun. The undefeated teams are starting to drop like flies. I still don’t know what to think about the weekend. I certainly didn’t expect Oklahoma being the team with losses going into this weekend’s game against Kansas State. Lavaca Street Bar had a super sweet setup, even though it was too dark and you had to try real hard to get service. The food is almost food truck level, which can be real tasty but lacking on the presentation side. I’d recommend this place to just about anyone if they want to duck in and see some great football. They have reserved areas for alumni groups like LSU and Wisconsin so be careful when you go.
It’s all downhill from here. We are halfway through the season and I’ve had some sweat bars to check out around the Austin area already. Now, I was real close to the big hoopla that is sixth street downtown, but I managed to stay just far away enough not to be in the heart of it. Well, this week I’m taking one step closer to some of the bars around the much hyped street way. Saturday, I’ll be heading to the Lavaca Street Bar. Now, I’ve been there before waiting for a band to got started across the way at Antone’s so I know what it’s like. I haven’t seen it on a college football Saturday, however.