While Athens residents enjoy the big game this Sunday, Uptown bartenders and managers will enjoy their big day of business.
Preparing everything from Buffalo wings to beer, managers are awaiting the throngs of people who will take to their bars and restaurants. The preparation process, though, starts well before the weekend begins, said Greg Donofrio, general manager of Wings Over Athens.
“It’s a five-day effort to get ready for Super Bowl Sunday,” Donofrio said. “We’re getting 50 cases of bones, and normally, we get 26. We normally go through two cases of ribs a week. This week, we’re getting nine just for the Super Bowl.”
By Wednesday, Wings Over Athens, 33 N. Court St., had already taken 10 pre-orders for Sunday, Donofrio said, adding that business will be the most hectic in the hours leading up to kickoff.
“It is one of our biggest days of the year, but it is just super concentrated before halftime, and then it falls off,” he said. “The first five or six hours of the day, we get slammed, and then after, we can just sit back and clean.”
Buffalo Wild Wings, 23 W. Union St., experiences a similar phenomenon every Super Bowl Sunday, Manager Kyle Dixon said.
“People rush here to get a spot, but once they’re watching, they’re just here for the next four hours, and there’s not a lot going on in that time,” Dixon said. “We don’t do specials around the times, because people are going to be coming in here to drink beer anyway.”
Take-out, though, is especially busy before and during the game, Dixon said, adding that he makes a spreadsheet every year to maximize the kitchen’s efficiency.
“Since we are super busy for the game, we have to do a setup thing where we stagger our wing drops so we’re not going to be overwhelmed with take-outs,” Dixon said. “We set a limit at 500 wings we cook per 15 minutes.”
While restaurants serve up pounds of food, bars such as Lucky’s Sports Tavern, 11 N. Court St., and Jackie O’s, 24 W. Union St., will be hosting potlucks during the game.
Jackie O’s will host its annual potluck at 6 p.m., said bartender Bruce Reede, a self-professed “die-hard” San Francisco 49ers fan.
“Anyone is welcome to our potluck, but you can still order off the menu,” Reede said. “We have a good turnout for it every Super Bowl Sunday.”
Though The Pigskin Bar and Grill, 38 N. Court St., won’t be hosting a potluck, the bar will offer food and drink specials starting at 6:30 p.m., said Allison Giehl,
event manager.
Starting at 6:30 p.m., The Pigskin will be offering $2.25 Bud and Bud Light pounders, $2.50 Miller Lite drafts and $4.99 1-lb. boneless wings. There will also be a half-off happy hour from 7–9 p.m.
“We are definitely expecting huge crowds,” Giehl said. “So we decided to combine our Wednesday and Sunday specials, both food and drink, because everyone likes to eat wings while watching football.”
sh335311@ohiou.edu
