This is one my favorite times of year for sports. The NCAA Basketball Tournament is a three-week long orgy of college hoops, especially the first two days.
There are 16 games Thursday and Friday, starting at 9.30 a.m. and going through the mid-evening.
Some of the games are simultaneous, and there is nothing better than going to a sports bar and watching two or three games at the same time.
The food was almost secondary, but I was going to spend a good portion of the day at the place I chose, so I wanted to eat something that was going to be somewhat decent.
O’Connell’s Sports Pub and Grille is tucked in a little shopping center at Bushard Street and Garfield Avenue and is one of those neighborhood joints that cater mostly to locals.
That is far more preferable. I am not a fan at all of mega sports bars that have 100-foot screens that always look washed out to me. Besides, I can never seem to get a decent seat.
O’Connell’s has 21 42-inch high definition televisions, as well as three 50-inch HDTVs. They are all well positioned and the seating is a nice mix of tables and chairs as well as bar-high chairs and elevated tables and rails.
The room is a little dark, but that is good for the televisions, it brings out the colors.
I arrived at noon the first day of the tournament. The bar was filled with mostly regulars and the tables were about a quarter filled.
I grabbed one in the back and was extremely happy that they had wireless Internet access free of charge. I was able to check my brackets, errr, I mean do work, while enjoying my lunch.
I began with one of the 16 appetizers, the deep-fried mozzarella sticks. I was a little bit worried when I ordered them that they would be fried beyond recognition like a lot of places like to cook them, but my angst was unwarranted. The eight cheese sticks had a nice golden brown color and a slightly bumpy texture, which added to the crunchiness. The cheese was soft and flavorful and the accompanying marinara sauce tasted like it was out of a can, but worked.
On the plate with my cheese sticks were generous slices of carrots and cucumber. I asked for some ranch to dip them in and liked this touch. It was nice to throw a couple of vegetables in with my meal to subside my guilt, if only slightly.
While I was munching on the cheese sticks I was looking at the entrees and was seeing little out of the ordinary. Burgers, Reuben, club sandwich and roast beef sandwich dominated the menu, but there were a few things I found intriguing.
