No doubt about it, the best seats in the house — inside or outside of Ford Field — will be in the 313 this Sunday.
Yes,
it is going to be crowded, that’s a given. Yes, some of your favorite
bars and restaurants will be closed for private functions, or charging
an arm and a leg to get in. Yes, it is going to be more difficult than
usual to get around this week — if you plan on driving.
But just think of the road closures and parking restrictions surrounding Super Bowl/
Winter Blast/
NFL Experience
as a chance to experience a truly urban downtown —one that is difficult
to speed through and one in which parking may not be available directly
in front of your favorite watering hole. (For more on how to get
around,
click here.)
You can get in the game without the
headaches, however. There are plenty of ways to celebrate Super Bowl
Sunday in the ‘D,’ whether you want to watch the game in the shadow of
Ford Field or in a nearby bar.
Eastern Market: Tailgating paradiseIf
you’ve got tickets for the game, Lions faithful will tell you Eastern
Market is the place to spend your morning. Traditionally, most of the
businesses are closed on Sundays, but several are opening their doors
for the Super Bowl.
Try breakfasting at
Farmer’s Restaurant, a local favorite, and then pick up some snacks for the game at
Rocky Peanut Co. From there, it’s only about a 10-minute walk to Ford Field or the other festivities around town.
The
market itself won’t be open Sunday. It’s going to serve as a parking
lot for all the buses going to the game. But there will be a tailgate
area sectioned off that revelers could enter for a fee. (For more on tailgating around town at public lots,
click here.)
If you don’t have tickets, check out
Vivio’s Food & Spirits or
Bert’s Marketplace to watch the game on TV. Berts, an institution for its late-night jazz and Cajun catfish is worth a visit regardless.
Also,
the market will be open on Saturday as usual, but you’ll need to get
there from the east side entrance. The west side will be closed.
Downtown: The usual suspects
Lions fans know their favorite places to grab some grub and a beer
before kickoff, and not surprisingly these will be some of the hottest
spots on Sunday to settle in and watch the game.
Here’s a few of them, all within a close walk to the stadium:
•
Harry’s will open at 9 a.m. Cover is $20, and seating is first come, first served, so plan to make a day of it.
• The neon glow of the
Elwood is in the “security zone,” so unless you have a ticket to the game, it’s off limits.
•
Coaches Corner
is open to the public from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., but a private party takes
over from 5-10 p.m. For $200 a ticket that includes food and drink, you
can join in. Or come back after the game till closing when the bar
re-opens for the public.
•
Cock-N-Bull
opens at noon with a $50 cover pre-sale, $75 the day of game.
Cover does not include drinks or food. They will have $3 Heinekens,
89-X DJs and giveaways.
• The
Post Bar’s downtown location is charging a $3 cover, and opens at noon Sunday.
Downtown: D12 wuz hereElsewhere
downtown, folks can revisit where some of the biggest pre-SBXL partying went
down earlier in the week. After entertaining and hob-knobbing with the likes of Eminem, Kid
Rock and D12 at tonight’s Shady Records Kick-Off Bash, the staff of the
3-year-old
Bookies Tavern will have plenty of time to recover and prepare for the week’s main event: Super Bowl Sunday.
Die-hard
football fans can stake out a prime spot in front of the Book Tower
bar’s four televisions – a 42-inch plasma, a brand-new 7-foot
projection screen or one of two corner-mounted traditional 36-inchers –
as early as 9 a.m. There's no cover until 4 p.m.
Basket foods – sandwiches, burgers and
appetizers – will be available throughout the day. There will be music
in the afternoon, and special giveaways and promotions will be featured
throughout the day.
Bookies is slightly west of Woodward, and two blocks from Motown Winter
Blast, three blocks from Ford Field and four blocks from the NFL
Experience at Cobo Hall. If it’s too cold to walk, hop on the People
Mover at the Times Square stop just west of the bar’s entrance on Grand
River.
Just make sure to get back to the bar before the game – after 4 p.m., 50 people will get in free, then cover goes up to $20.
Downtown: No muss, no fussNo
cover. No exorbitant prices. No gimmicks. Many downtown favorites are
just a quick walk to Winter Blast, the NFL Experience of Ford Field.
Come the day of the Big Game and become part of the big, happy family at Detroit landmark, the
Checker Bar.
Kathy and Karen, the daughters of longtime proprietors Harry and Helen
Munro, keep the legacy alive at the Cadillac Square bar.
The
Checker will open at 9 a.m. on Sunday with coffee, hot chocolate, juice
and the “Checker McMuffin,” a polish sausage delight cleverly disguised
as a breakfast sandwich. When noon strikes though, out comes the Bloody
Mary/Mimosa bar and anything your sports-loving heart desires from
their full-service bar. Oh, and thanks to the wine fairies behind the
bar, an amazing selection of the grape is in the house, too.
Fill up on chili, sloppy Joes, the “Checker Burger,” subs, polish
sausage and the like. Jello shots are even on the menu for the big day.
This is one party not to be missed. And if the sisters really like you,
well then, they may just deem you (male or female) a “Checkerette” for
life.
The Checker is surrounded on all sides by surface lots
(likely to be charging up to 10 times normal rates), so consider taking
a shuttle from outlying areas.
Another downtown classic is
Beaubien Street,
a long-time staple of Red Wings crowds, located near the Greektown
Casino at 641 N. Beaubien at Congress. This strangely intimate
sports-bar-meets-classic-dive-bar setting comes chock full of
characters to entertain you all night, complete with a full-service bar
and a staff that is as unpretentious and cool as they come.
The
bar is open Sunday from noon to 2 a.m. with no cover. Owner Tommy
Burelle will have the bar ready for an enthusiastic sports crowd with
more TVs than normal and the usual Beaubien amusements like pool and
darts. They won’t serve food on game day, but you will be able to wash
down your drink of choice with the only snack that goes with
everything, fresh-popped popcorn served up like you like it in plain,
white coffee filters.
Midtown: Keeping you ‘Honest’
We should expect nothing less from the always-provocative John
Thompson. The bar owner who claims he quit drinking after he woke up
naked on Belle Isle with an empty bag of carrots and a fistful of deer
fur is courting the world to join him at his Midtown bar,
Honest? John's,
on Super Bowl Sunday. He expects Pittsburgh Steelers fans who can't get
tickets to the game to drift in to the bar, which has plenty of parking
and is located just beyond the "no drive zone," a few blocks north of
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Thompson will be plugging the bar
as a guest Friday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which will be
broadcasting this week from the Gem Theatre. So what's the hook? "We
ain't having no party," says Thompson, who's 52 and grew up in the
neighborhood when it was known as the seedy Cass Corridor. "No extra
televisions but the two we already have, no food or drink specials, the
same music we always have on the jukebox, no cover. Business as usual
and I expect to pack the place."
Will he have shuttles to take
people down to the game or to the Motown Winter Blast during the days
leading up to the Super Bowl? "Hell no,” Thompson says. Instead,
Honest? John's will focus on what it does best, Thompson says, "being
an everything bar for everybody. Black, white, gay, straight, everyone."
The
kitchen starts serving breakfast at the same time as the bartenders
start pulling pints of John Courage or Motor City Brew's Ghettoblaster:
7 a.m. The bar food is splendid at Honest? John's, and includes beef
and turkey burgers, club sandwiches and fish and chips.
Just
in case anyone wants to make the walk to Ford Field, it can be done.
The trek from the bar at Selden near Second Ave. to the stadium at the
corner of Brush and Adams streets is about 12 long city blocks. You can
also park at any of Wayne State’s main campus parking lots for $10 and
take a city shuttle into the no drive zone.
Also in Midtown:
• Visiting Seattle fans longing for a taste of home will find organic baked goods and fancy coffees at
Avalon Breads on Willis near Cass. They’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. game day, with a tent outside.
• Watch the game on the
Magic Stick’s big screen. The Woodward Avenue bar will charge no cover, and will feature DJs, music and giveaways. Doors open at 3 p.m.
Corktown: The other bowlWhat Super Bowl? Corktown is home to the
Bud Bowl,
set to be held at Tiger Stadium — and rumors are flying that this could
be its last dance before demolition. Whatever the case, those lucky
enough to land a “golden ticket” for either Snoop Dogg on Friday or
Three Doors Down on Saturday are getting an opportunity to enjoy one
more unique memory at the “corner.”
For
the rest of us, there’s Nemo’s on Michigan Avenue. Anyone who dares
call himself or herself a sports fan must make a bee-line to
Nemo’s,
recently called the third-most-perfect sports bar in the nation by none
other than Sports Illustrated. Nemo’s will offer shuttles (for a
nominal fee) to and from the NFL Experience, Winter Blast and both Kid
Rock shows in the days leading up to the big game.
Super Bowl
Sunday, Nemo’s 13 TV screens will be broadcasting the big game and they
will be serving food from a limited menu that will definitely include
their famous burgers. Just like St. Patrick’s Parade day, Nemo’s
sidelot will be tented and heated, and there’s no cover. If you’re
looking for a group of true-blue football rowdies to watch the game
with, Nemo’s is a sure bet.
Meanwhile, the
Gaelic League
is out to prove that at least one day a year, even the Irish can watch
American football. The League will open its doors to the public — at
least one tour bus of Steelers fans driving in from Pittsburgh is
already confirmed — and will provide a hearty homemade food spread
along with a pre-game performance from Benny and the Jets. There is no
cover or charge for the food or music, although donations will be
accepted to defray costs. The big room has a big screen, so settle in
with a pint and enjoy the game!
Also in Corktown check out
LJ’s Lounge, Slow’s Bar B Q, Baile Corcaigh and Lager House. None of them are charging cover, and the game will be on.
Jennifer Andrews, Melissa Giannini,
Jaime Halaas, Kelli B. Kavanaugh, Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey and Walter
Wasacz contributed to this guide.
For more on getting around during Super Bowl week, click here.
John Thompson at Honest? John's
Coaches Corner
Bookies Downtown
Checker Bar
Nemo's
All Photographs Copyright Dave Krieger