Football Frenzy #14 at Lopez and Lefty's

Lopez and Lefty's

1759 S. Claudina Way

Anaheim, CA 92805

It's been a long while since we have been out to find the best place in OC to watch football. I looked it up, and we have not been out to watch football for close to three years. Yikes. Yes, we have been out on Sundays, but we usually try to stay pretty close to home, so the day is not a total waste after our game is over, and we can still get some things done around the house.

Of course, the real reason that we have not been as passionate about football recently is that my beloved Jaguars have been atrocious in the last three years. Not to turn this into a sports blog, but they have 12 wins and 36 losses in the last three years and have not finished higher than third, in a four-team division during that time. Yes, I can admit, my team stinks, and that's probably why I'm not as gung-ho about leaving my comfy apartment to watch them lose yet another game. This particular week I felt a little more confident about my Jags, and I wanted to give a sports bar that I have heard a lot of good things about a chance. So we headed up the 5 Freeway to Lopez and Lefty's.

I had heard about Lopez and Lefty's when it was written up in the OC Register as having one of the better burgers in OC, along with a nice piece on some of the best fries around. That was good enough for me to put this on our restaurant wish list.

We decided to meet my parents at this kind of odd location, which straddles the 5 Freeway and is just isolated enough, that tourists from the nearby Disney Resort District would have a hard time finding this restaurant in this largely industrial area. We arrived a few minutes before kickoff and were met with about a half-full restaurant. They definitely passed my first test when coming to a sports bar on a Sunday morning, when they asked which game we wanted to watch, and turned it on for us. Very organized, and made us feel very welcome.

The inside of Lopez and Lefty's reminded me of a more rustic Island's, with a surf vibe definitely going on here, with the numerous surfboards hanging on the walls, the lifeguard chair in the front of the restaurant, and the use of a VW half bus used as their logo. The setup here is pretty good, with numerous TVs hanging throughout the restaurant, and five TVs centered over their 15 seat bar. From our table, it was easy to watch numerous games at once. All this football had made me pretty hungry, so let's take a look at what had the guys over at the OC Register all excited about this place.

During Sundays for football, Lopez and Lefty's has a Bloody Mary Special ($5) going on. This was a pretty solid version, which I ordered spicy. They definitely made this with a little kick to it. For those who prefer, they also offer $10 Bottomless Mimosa's during football games as well. This bloody mary was a great way for me to drink my sorrows away, as the Jags continued their pathetic play on the field.

On Sundays, Lopez and Lefty's have a small breakfast menu, which runs from 10 to 1 pm. This Breakfast Burrito ($8.99) was one of six items on it. Katie selected this pretty basic version, which comes with eggs, bacon, cheese, and potatoes. They have a salsa bar in the back of the restaurant so you can add a little spice if you like. Katie liked this burrito, but it did have some temperature issues. The bite I had was fine, but this breakfast burrito was pretty pedestrian and needed some onions, hotter salsa, or avocado to jazz things up.

No breakfast for either my dad or I, as we went straight to the burger section of the menu. My dad swiped the burger I was going to have, the A.B.B.A. Burger ($13.44). No, this burger was not inspired by the 70's Swedish band, the initials stand for avocado, blue cheese, bacon, and aioli. This burger also came with plenty of lettuce, red onion, tomato, and a homemade pickle placed on top of the bun. My dad really enjoyed this pretty good sized burger, and he did manage to finish it all. The insides of the burger, especially the blue cheese, provided big-time flavor in his opinion, and he'd definitely get this one again. He subbed out the fries that usually come with their burgers and paid the one dollar up-charge for the onion rings. He's happy that he did.  These were a heavily breaded onion ring, which was made with red onions. I love it when restaurants use red onions instead of regular old brown or white ones. These are sweeter and provide for a better flavor. Get the onion rings for sure here, well worth the dollar.

Since my first burger choice was taken by my dad, I was left with my second selection, the Wake N Bacon Burger ($12.44). I'm a sucker for a fried egg on a burger, and it was included on this one, along with bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. I really enjoyed the inside of this burger, especially after I asked for some aioli to bring everything together. The beef was very good, and the other toppings really shined. The bun left a lot to be desired. It did a good job keeping things together, but it was too bready, and really detracted from the otherwise very solid burger. The fries were as advertised, they were very good. They had a nice crunchy outer shell and were pillowy soft inside. Just the right amount of salt and their ranch dressing was a great choice for dipping.

I really enjoyed our time at Lopez and Lefty's, and feel this is one of the better spots we have been to for Sunday football. I'm of course not ready to anoint them as the best place to watch football because I have lots of other spots that I want to check out before I make that claim. The burgers here were very solid, and the rings and fries were even better than that. I wish they had more in the way of a breakfast menu, and maybe some better drinks specials, but that's not enough to keep us from not coming back here. Yes, my Jags ended up losing the game we were watching here, but it's no fault of Lopez and Lefty's. We'll still come back for those rings, fries, and burgers.

Out of five golf tees, (because my father-in-law's favorite golfer is Phil Mickelson, who is left-handed, and thus has the nickname Lefty), five being best to zero being worst, Lopez and Lefty's gets 3 golf tees.

For more information about Lopez and Lefty's, head to their website here: https://lopezandleftys.com/

Football Frenzy #13 at Signature Sports Bar - CLOSED

Signature Sports Bar

30100 Town Center Dr. 

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

So all I have to do is continue my quest for the best place to watch football on Sunday mornings, and my team starts winning games. I should have done this in September to save myself some grief. Yes, it is true; my favorite NFL team, the Jaguars, is on a winning streak. Four out of the last five weeks, they have won, and although the playoffs are out of reach, they are no longer football's laughingstock. That honor now goes to the Houston Texans, losers of eleven in a row, and the owners of the league's worst record as of this writing. Enough football talk. Let's get to what we thought of Signature Sports Bar.

For sharp-eyed readers of this blog, this place might seem familiar. We visited here three years ago when this was the location of Draft Choice Sports Grill. South OC is not known for its sports bars, so when we heard that Draft Choice had closed, we were a little sad, only because it took away an option in an already depleted area for finding places to watch football on Sunday mornings. The food at Draft Choice was pretty average, but we liked the service and atmosphere enough to return a few other times. Now, under new ownership, we were excited to see what Signature Sports Bar had in store for us.

We got to the bar, which is located in a pretty sleepy little strip mall just off Crown Valley Parkway, before the 10 AM kickoff. The space is bigger than it appears from the outside. We found a table quickly and settled in. The appearance of Signature Sports Bar is much brighter with its decor. It's lighter than it was when this was Draft Choice. It also appears cleaner too. They have TVs on every wall, many of which are plasma, and you can see the game you want no matter where you sit. The crowd was diverse on this particular Sunday morning. All ages were represented, from kids to seniors, many wearing the jerseys of their favorite teams. With such a large crowd, it only got noisy in spurts, but for the most part, people were quietly watching their games. Let's see what came out of the kitchen for us.

Let's start with Katie's breakfast selection, the Breakfast Sandwich ($5.99). As you can tell from the pictures, this was a pretty average breakfast. The hash browns were way too underdone and really plain-tasting. The breakfast sandwich was good, but nothing really made it remarkable. The bacon was crisp, the egg slightly overcooked, and the cheddar cheese was plentiful. It was definitely better than an Egg McMuffin, but that's not saying much.

My friend Riley was with us at Signature Sports Bar to support his Jets and decided to try their Buttermilk Pancakes ($4.99) and a Side of Bacon ($2.00). Again, he thought the pancakes were pretty average, as he compared them to the ones Riley had had after a big night of drinking when he tried to sober up at Denny's. The bacon was straightforward and cooked crisp.

I got the most liked item here, the Breakfast Burrito ($7.99 with avocado added.). This burrito came with my breakfast meats, so I naturally chose bacon. Joining the bacon in this flour tortilla was scrambled eggs and a blend of cheeses, with salsa on the side. This was a good-sized burrito, stretching nearly across the plate. The three eggs were pretty buttery, while cheese and avocado added some smoothness. The bacon got lost here, as there was not nearly enough. This burrito was missing some potato, which would have made it even better. The salsa served on the side of this is made here but needs a little more spice.

As you can probably guess, Signature Sports Bar will not be crowned as our ultimate sports bar for watching football. The food could have been better. Nothing we had was horrible, but we were not excited about it. Maybe their lunch and dinner items are better, but Jacksonville has no afternoon games for the rest of this season, so that visit will have to wait until next year. We did enjoy the setup here, and with so few choices for watching football in South OC, we will probably be back at some point. The prices were fair, and I did not mention it, but the beer and cocktails were also reasonable. A pint of Shock Top goes for $3.95, while a pint of Coors goes for the same. Get the Shock Top for sure. If the Jaguars keep winning like this, we will have more to drink, too.

Out of five theaters (because the most expensive signature in the world is the six remaining playwrights William Shakespeare, which is estimated to be worth a staggering $5 Million each), five being best to zero being worst, Signature Sports Bar gets 2.5 theaters.

For more information about Signature Sports Bar, go to their website here: http://signaturesportbar.com/

Football Frenzy #12 at Clancy's American Grill - CLOSED

Clancy's American Grill

2191 S. Harbor Blvd.

Anaheim, CA 92802

I have been pretty lax about trying to find the best spots to watch football this year. It is not that I do not love the sport, but it is hard to get motivated when you know that your team is going to lose every week. My beloved Jaguars started off the season miserable, and as the year has gone on, they have become even worse than that. Before our recent one-game winning streak, we had lost eight games in a row, and thirteen overall games through the last two seasons. Not enough to get me motivated to roll out of bed on Sunday mornings.

There is, of course, fantasy football, which is my saving grace this year. For the first time in recent memory, all three of my teams are pretty competitive, and one of my teams is actually in the lead this late into the season. Very rare for me, as I usually do not even have to check my teams past October because they are usually decimated by injuries. So we headed to a sports bar that we have wanted to try for some time now. I went to Clancy's knowing that my Jaguars would lose, but I was just hoping my fantasy players would put up some good numbers.

Clancy's American Grill is located in the middle of the Anaheim resort district, just a couple blocks away from Disneyland. Some might think this is an odd place for a sports bar, but after dealing with the long lines, horrible food, and all those tourists at Disneyland, park-goers might just want to unwind from the happiest place on earth by having a few cocktails and watching some sports. I know I'd rather avoid Disneyland, even if I had to watch my horrible Jaguars play.

We got to Clancy's right around 9:45 on a recent Sunday. One problem, they don't open until 10. This is a pet peeve of mine because we like to watch the pregame shows, and scout out the best seats to view the games. Luckily when they did open the doors, we had our pick of places in the dining room, as most people headed straight to the bar. We grabbed a seat in the middle of the room, which had a good view of about seven TVs. Clancy's was never more than half full during our three-hour stay here, and they were very accommodating about switching games on for people, including the one guy that wanted to watch NASCAR. The atmosphere was pretty quiet, which can probably be attributed to the restaurant is only half full. About halfway through the first quarter of the games, we ordered food. I was hoping that Clancy's food could be a distraction from watching my team throw another interception. Let's see how it all worked out for us.

Katie wanted to start out with something light, so she had the Hot Pretzel ($5), which she shared with Richard. This pretzel was served with a cheese sauce for dipping. I'm not into pretzels, but both Richard and Katie liked this pretzel enough that it was gone in a matter of seconds. Katie actually thought this tasted pretty fresh, and it was baked recently.

If there's one thing I have learned while taking pictures for this blog, it's very hard to get a great shot of a burrito. This was the case at Clancy's as well, but at least they cut it in half, so I could photograph what everyone always cares about while eating a burrito, the insides. Both Katie and Richard ordered this Breakfast Burrito ($10) which starts with a base of eggs, potato and cheese, then you choose between bacon, sausage, or chorizo. They both went for bacon. Is there something I should know about you two? They both thought this was a pretty average burrito, which was filling but did not knock their socks off. Richard felt it was kind of boring, which is funny since he loves flavorless Chipotle burritos so much. You would think he would be used to boring burritos by now. Sorry big guy, could not resist taking a shot at your Chipotle fanaticism.

Not content with the breakfast burrito, Richard attempted to awaken his taste buds with the Half Pound Clubhouse Wings ($5). At Clancy's, they offer eight styles of wings, and Richard tried the Mango Habanero version. He seemed pretty pleased with his choice. These started out sweet, but then the habanero kicked in to provide some heat. Not overwhelming, but just enough to make its presence felt. The wings were pretty good-sized, and the fact that these are sold by the weight, you get about four wings per half a pound. Keep that in mind when ordering these wings at Clancy's.

You probably thought I was too disgusted watching my Jaguars to eat, but you would be wrong. I used this Farmhouse Burger ($12) to distract me from the onslaught that the Colts were giving us. This burger came with a lot of my favorites on it; fried egg, bacon, tomato, and mayo. I ended up really liking this burger. The fried egg had a good amount of yolk, which always makes every burger better. The bacon was nice and crisp, the meat was seasoned well, and the bun was pretty soft while maintaining its structural integrity. I would have liked some cheddar incorporated on his burger, but it was a pretty good hamburger. The fries were your average run of the mill style fast-food fries. Nothing too great.

So how does Clancy's rate when it comes to becoming our ultimate Sunday football hangout? If you remember from our other football-related posts, we have three criteria that we look at when judging places for the Sunday football experience; ambiance, service, and food. Clancy's did a great job with service. Our waitress was right on top of everything, and even though she left midway through the games, her replacement filled in admirably for the remainder of our visit. The food was pretty good, but nothing that really rocked our world. My burger was above average, but the breakfast burrito needed help here. They do have a pretty extensive menu, so it might be worth exploring it in depth on future visits. The atmosphere was just okay here as well.  The restaurant was half full, but no one was really making a sound, other than what appeared to be the regulars at the bar. I'm not saying that I want other bar patrons yelling in my ear, but I'd like to have more of a stadium vibe going on. This was almost like watching the game at home. So it's off to another sports bar to see if they can become our ultimate Sunday football hangout. First, though, I need some time to recover from watching my woeful Jaguars.

Out of five police badges, (because of the Simpson's, Chief Wiggum's first name is Clancy), five being best to zero being worst, Clancy's American Grill gets 2.5 police badges.

For more information about Clancy's American Grill, go to their web site here: http://clancysamericangrill.com/home.html

Football Frenzy #11 at Daily's Sports Grill

Daily's Sports Grill

29881 Aventura

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

I know I have been pretty lax on finding the best sports bars to watch football on Sunday mornings for you. This year has been another bummer for my beloved Jacksonville Jaguars. They have won only one game all year going into this late November tilt with the hated Tennessee Titans. It has been hard to get up and go watch the many fumbles and interceptions ruin a great Sunday off of work. We were at Katie's apartment, and of course, they were not showing our game on TV at home, so we decided to make the mile trip over to a sports bar I have been to before, but haven't blogged about, Daily's Sports Grill.

Daily's is kind of an iconic sports bar in these parts. They opened their doors seven years before the city of Rancho Santa Margarita was even incorporated. To say that the bar scene in RSM is limited, would be an understatement. Sure some of the restaurants in this city have bars, but those are not bars that people go to hang out in. According to a quick search of bars in the city, besides a couple of wine bars, RSM has one other stand-alone bar, (Tapas and Beer). I have not been to that bar, but when I lived in this inland city, I visited Daily's from time to time during my five-year residency here.

Daily's is located well off of the main street of Santa Margarita Parkway, in the back of the same plaza that houses a KFC and the post office of this fine city. From the outside, this sports bar does not look so big, but once inside, it really is a pretty spacious place. The front area is dominated by a long bar and booths, the cavernous back room has plenty of high top tables and some smaller booths. Of course, a wide array of sports memorabilia is plastered to every wall you glance at.

We got to Daily's ten minutes before kickoff. We had no problem getting a table. It always seems that as the season moves along, the bars get a little more empty as teams drop off the playoff chase. There was a group of boisterous Steeler's fans near one of the TVs, but Daily's also caters to families as well. When we sat down we were surrounded by two families that had children ranging in age from seven to newborn. The waitress made sure that we sat at a table where we could see the game of our choosing, which was very nice of her. Now we just had to sit back, hope for the best with our team, and have some breakfast. This is how it came out for us.

Katie had the French Toast and Eggs ($6.95) for breakfast. Okay, not the most picturesque bacon and egg picture, but Katie felt these over hard eggs and bacon were pretty standard. What really woke up her taste buds was the French toast. Daily's french toast comes with sliced strawberries and bananas, then topped with a thin caramel sauce. Katie liked this different take on French toast and felt that this version was a little less sweet than if she would have had this with maple syrup. She claims she would get this again.

I saw that they had this Montana Skillet ($7.95) on the menu, and it said it was made for someone with a lineman's appetite, so of course, I had to get it. I love skillet breakfasts because you get all of the breakfast food rolled into one plate. This skillet came with two scrambled eggs, bell peppers, onions, and choice of breakfast meat, (I went with bacon), all topped with cheddar cheese. The menu said that this was going to have hash browns in it also, but the plate came out with baby red potatoes on the side. The potatoes were cooked fine, but I did miss the crunchiness of the hash browns. To be honest I thought this was going to be a little bigger. I had no problem polishing off this breakfast. The eggs were a little too diced up, and there was not enough bacon in this. The gravy served with this was very thin, so I used this sparingly. I did enjoy that the sourdough came with more than enough butter for the two slices that was served with this.

In case you have forgotten our criteria for judging places to watch football on Sundays, we base it on ambiance, service, and food. Daily's definitely had the first two criteria met. Our server, Jules was very nice, kept great tabs on us, and really seemed to know almost everyone in this bar. Both Katie and I felt really comfortable here as well. Sometimes local bars can seem a little cliquey, but that was not the case at Daily's. Everyone was really nice, and even asked how we became Jaguar's fans. The area that Daily's needs to improve on if it wants to ascend to the ultimate football hangout spot, is its food. There was nothing too wrong with it, but it was nothing that made us clamor for more. The only thing the food really had going for it was that it was very reasonably priced. Looking through their menu, they only have one item that is above the ten dollar mark, and none above ten dollars for breakfast. They did have drink specials during football as well. I took advantage of their $4 Screwdriver special, which came in handy when Katie and I had to toast to the Jaguars second win of the season on this afternoon. Unfortunately, this would be the Jags last win of the season, and they would finish 2-14, but there is always next year.

Out of five newspapers, (because a daily could also refer to that thing that you used to have delivered to your house to get the news of the day), five being best to zero being worst,  Daily's Sports Grill gets 2.5 newspapers.

For more information on Daily's Sports Grill, check them out here: http://www.dailyssportsgrill.org/

Football Frenzy #10 at OC Tavern

OC Tavern 

2369 S. El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

Ugh! My football team is the worst! If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that my team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, or hopefully the soon to be Los Angeles Jaguars. That topic should be left to the sports blogs out there, but more relevant to our restaurant blog is the fact that we are trying to find the ultimate place to watch football on Sunday mornings. It has been increasingly difficult to get out and watch my team with their poor play, but I trudge out most Sunday mornings to help you find the ultimate football watching paradise. This Sunday's option is OC Tavern in San Clemente.

It has been well over a year since we have made it down to the most southern city in our great county. This is a shame because there are plenty of great places to try, and plenty that have been on our list for some time. Today though was all about football. The criteria for our ultimate football hangout is great food, great atmosphere, and great service. This holy trinity of standards has been met in parts by our other nine football haunts, but there is always room for improvement. Let's see if OC Tavern can meet all of these goals.

The Jaguars were playing an afternoon game on this particular Sunday. This meant that we would be arriving when almost everyone else was leaving. This is a good thing, less people to watch my crappy team. There was only one other game being played at the same times as ours, so I knew it would be a smaller than normal crowd here. We arrived at about 10 minutes until one, and had not trouble finding a seat. The door guy was very nice about making sure we would be able to see our game from our table, but of course that would be no trouble with only two NFL games going on.

OC Tavern kind of has a man cave vibe to it. There are giant TV's on every wall, along with sports and beer paraphernalia, and a laid back beach vibe. Even with this man cave atmosphere, there were plenty of families and kids eating in the room we were located. They even have a large arcade for the kids, so they will not interfere with you watching the games. Not into football but still want to bet on something? OC Tavern claims to be the only sports bar in California to offer satellite wagering on horse racing from around the country. They have dedicated a whole room, outfitted with 26 TV's and its own bar for this purpose. Of course this day was all about the pigskin, so I did not check out the betting room. Maybe on future visits. It was now time for kickoff and getting some food. Let's see how OC Tavern treated us.

It may have been one in the afternoon, but it would not be Sunday football without at least one Bloody Mary ($5.00). These were on special during football, and had a nice spice to the mix. Not enough heat so it overwhelms your taste buds, but you definitely get the little kick in it. Not the best Bloody Mary I have had, but not the worst by far. I had two of these during our stay here.

While we were waiting for our friend Riley to arrive fashionably late, both Katie and I wanted something to side track us from another turnover by the Jags, so I ordered this self proclaimed, Award Winning New England Clam Chowder ($3.50). This soup was very creamy, with big cuts of vegetables. The clam ratio could have been a little better, but the soup itself needed to be seasoned a little more for my taste. Not a bad chowder though.

The other item we got to nibble on was the Chips ($5.95). These tri-colored tortilla chips came with guacamole and a homemade salsa. The salsa was very chunky, with onion playing a prominent part in the chunk factor. It was a tad watery, but had a nice mellow flavor to it. The guacamole was very fresh, but it needed just a little more pop of something to bring it to life. The chips were pretty average.

After Riley arrived, well into the first quarter of the games, (way to support your team Riles!), we got the Nachos ($8.95) to share. Not exactly the most picturesque  plate of nachos ever. They used the same tri-colored tortilla chips as they served with the salsa, then dumped black beans, cheddar and jack cheeses, pico de gallo, jalapenos, sour cream and guacamole on top of the chips. Not a bad plate of nachos, but the chips did kind of get soggy because of an excessive amount of beans. This was enough for the three of us to pick at.

The Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich ($9.95) would of course be Katie's choice for lunch. She has really become pretty predictable when going out lately. This chicken breast sandwich came with onion, tomato, mayonnaise, and Swiss cheese. Katie thought that the bread held up pretty well with this sandwich, but she would have liked the chicken grilled a little longer. Not a bad sandwich, but nothing that made a lasting impression with her.

Riley had worked up quite an appetite rooting his Jet's on, so he selected the Tavern Burger ($10.95). This half pound burger came with all the usual toppings; pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Riley thought this was a pretty good burger. He liked the juiciness of the burger and the frssh porduce that came along with it. Not a burger that is going to blow you away, but a solid burger nonetheless.

I was also feeling the burger cravings, so I got the Blues at the OC Burger ($10.95). This one of course came with melted blue cheese crumbles and bacon. The burger patty was juicy, but I added some mayo to make my burger experience even more to my liking. I know most restaurants like to cross their bacon for a presentation effect, but this means about half the bites you take of a burger will not have bacon involved, which is a shame. I tore my bacon into three smaller strips, so I had maximum bacon coverage. The burger itself was pretty good, but nothing that wowed me. I did like that they grilled the bun just a tad. Very nice touch.

OC Tavern was a pretty good place to watch football. They really cater to the sports fan here. They were very prompt about getting games switched once they were over. The whole restaurant just exudes a comfortable, laid back vibe. Even though we were in the minority rooting for the Jaguars, we never felt like the Raider fans were going to get all crazy towards us. The service was pretty strong here as well. Our waitress was very out going, and kept checking on us regularly. The part of our criteria where OC Tavern misses the boat on being the ultimate football watchers paradise is with the food. Not that it was awful, but it was all pretty average. Nothing that really grabbed our attention, or anything that we have craved since we came here. Of course we just came here once, so there might be something on the menu that we might have missed. Even with the pretty standard food here, OC Tavern is definitely one of the better places to watch football on Sunday mornings. I just wish I would have had the opportunity to watch my team win while we were here. Oh well, maybe next week.

Out of five bougainvillea's, (the city flower of San Clemente), five being best to zero being worst, OC Tavern gets 3 bougainvillea's.

For more information about OC Tavern, click here: http://www.octavern.com/

Football Frenzy #9 at Classic Q

The Classic Q

4250 Martingale Way

Newport Beach, CA 92660

It has been awhile since we have reviewed a place to watch football. In fact it was just a little less than a year ago that we reviewed our last place to watch football on Sundays. Out of the eight places we have tried up to this point, we have liked Oggi's the best. You can read that review here. Just in case you have forgotten, our criteria for grading a place to watch football is great food, great atmosphere, and great service. In our other eight trips to watch football we have not hit our personal trifecta, so the search continues to The Classic Q.

Full disclosure, I had a pretty bad experience here about fifteen years ago or so. I remember it involved being charged for ranch dressing and iced tea and soda refills during Sunday football. Back then I vowed that I would not go back, and that vow stood until a few weeks ago. We were going to be meeting up with my parents at a nearby burger place, so we chose to give Classic Q another try.

My team was playing in the afternoon games, so we got to Classic Q at about ten minutes to one. Richard and Lindsay got there before us and grabbed a table too close to the screens, but we moved back a table after the fans of the morning games closed out their tabs. The setup at Classic Q is pretty solid. They have plenty of TVs, but they were a little slow turning the finished morning games off and turning on the just started one o'clock games. More about the service and ambiance later, for now let's see the food.

So like I said before we were going to be meeting up with my parents after the game, so we were just going to snack. We decided to start with the Spicy Chicken Drumettes ($10.00). I kind of like it when a place gives you all drums. They are a lot easier to eat than the wings. These drums had plenty of meat on them, but the sauce was a little less spicy than I usually like. The ranch dressing here was pretty good, but I kind of thought the price for these drumettes was a little on the high side. We got eight on this plate, so that makes each drumette $1.25. Too much, but not a bad drumette.

At Classic Q they do not have appetizer platters, they have the Awesome Colossome Party Platter. This is the Mini Colossome ($13.00). This platter came with onion rings, fried zucchini, chicken strips, calamari sticks, jalapeno poppers, and mozzarella sticks. With this mini version we got three of each item, which was fine because we had to save room for dinner later. They certainly did not put much thought into the preparation for this platter by trying to make it look good. They simply placed the appetizers on the plate, with no garnish or anything. This did come with three sauces; ranch, BBQ, and marinara, but all of the appetizers were pretty average. The favorites for us were the mozzarella sticks and the fried zucchini, but they were still pretty standard.

I consider myself a good judge of potato skins. I have loved this appetizer for as long as I can remember. I mean, what's not to love? Cheese, bacon, potato, all in an easy to handle package. These potato skins were fried right. Not too greasy, with a very crisp crunch to them. The problem I had with these potato skins was the lack of fillings. The bacon was plentiful, but they needed more cheese. I will give Classic Q some credit for some really good ranch dressing. Very good flavor, and the consistency was right on. It coated the items well, including these skins.

Our trip to Classic Q to watch football was pretty good, with only a few hiccups. The service we got was pretty solid. Our waitress checked on us frequently and made sure we were okay. The prices here were not so wallet friendly. There were no drink specials that we heard about. My well rum and Cokes were $6.50, and Katie got iced tea, and they did not charge her for refills. Glad that ploicy has changed. There were plenty of TVs all around this large venue. With 52 TVs there is a seat nearby with your game on it. They have an outside patio for smokers, and of more importance to us, free wifi, so you can see how your fantasy team is doing. We like places with free wifi. All in all this was a pretty solid restaurant to watch football in. The prices and food were not good enough to overtake our pick for best place to watch football, Oggi's, but if we were in the area again and wanted to catch a game, we wouldn't hesitate to come back to Classic Q.

Out of five u's, (because there are only 71 words in the English language that have a q in them not followed by a u), five being best to zero being worst, Classic Q gets 2.5 u's.

For more information about Classic Q, check there web site here: http://www.theclassicq.com/