A Restaurant with a View

Posted on: 6 May 2015

If you want to get together with your friends and casually watch the game in a fun environment, then heading to a sports bar might be a good choice. If you're inviting more than 3 or 4 people, however, your gathering is really more of a party, and thus you should follow these tips to make sure it goes smoothly and is enjoyable for everyone:

Tip 1: Call ahead to make sure there is space.

Most sports bars are spacious, but you never know how many other people decided to show up with groups of 15 on the same day as you. To make sure you don't end up on the street without a bar to visit, call your favorite sports bar ahead of time and let them know you're stopping in with a big group. Some sports bars may even rope off a separate area for you if you call ahead.

Tip 2: Decide at the beginning how you're going to pay.

Figuring out who is paying for the pizza and who ordered what drinks on whose tab is much more complicated after a few beers. Before anyone orders anything, decide how the bill is going to be split. A few options that tend to work well are:

• Having everyone order their own drinks at the bar on separate tabs, and ordering food for everyone to share and split evenly on a separate bill.
• Agreeing ahead of time that you're going to split the bill evenly, and then just ordering pitchers of beer and shared appetizers

Having everyone order separate dishes and put them on separate checks is fine if that's what you really want, but keep in mind that this is probably the most confusing way to handle ordering with a large group -- for both you and your servers.

Tip 3: Make plans for getting home safely.

For some reason, people tend not to plan as well for rides home when they go out to drink in the middle of the day as they do when drinking at night. Driving drunk is never safe -- even in the afternoon. Make sure someone in your group stays sober and can drive you all home, or plan on having friends who are not at the party come pick you up. Depending on where you live, riding public transit or walking to and from the sports bar may be the safest option, if not the most timely.

With the tips above, your sports bar gathering will be more enjoyable for all. Relax, have fun, and root for your favorite team. In a sports bar like Papa Rocco's, that's what it's all about.