Best places to watch college football around the U

by bradLL99 on Jul 2, 2010 10:52 AM MDT

Hey Utes,

I'm a Duck fan moving to Salt lake in a couple weeks, I'm looking for recommendations of good sports bars near campus so I can follow the Pac-10. Any other bar or restaurant recommendations near campus would be greatly appreciated.

Also I want to catch a game at the stadium, would it be worth the price of going to a BYU game to experience the rivalry or should I just try to get good seats to less interesting game?

Cheers,

Brad

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Not quite sure about the bar...

if you are looking for a family friendly sports bar then Iggy’s is probably the best…followed by the Skybox. There are quite a few other establishments downtown which is only about 4 miles from the campus. As a student you will have a trax (light rail) pass that will take you to the heart of it all.

As a Utah fan and Alum, I hope the rivalry is worth you $. I would go if I were in Oregon for the civil war, just because I love college FB.

Do us a favor, go to the game and report back. Let us know how it compares.
Welcome to Utah Brad.

by civilute on Jul 2, 2010 12:52 PM MDT reply actions

Will do! thanks

by bradLL99 on Jul 6, 2010 10:57 AM MDT up reply actions

Worth it.

The BYU-Utah game is worth going to for anything less than $100. (And some seasons more than that). I would just buy some season tickets in one of the endzones for $200 or so, and sell one (or more) of the big ticket games and you would probably be able to pay off a large portion of the ticket-price.

I’m not sure though. If I have tickets to a Utah game, I just go.

by jim2 on Jul 2, 2010 3:26 PM MDT reply actions

You can find tickets on Stubhub...

by JazzyUte on Jul 2, 2010 5:52 PM MDT up reply actions

Suggestions

Hey Brad,

First let me welcome you to SLC! It’s a great town.

Most of the bars and restaurants are not right next to the stadium, rather they are just down the hill in downtown SLC—a very short light rail ride away.

When I lived downtown I tended to go watch football games occasionally at either Lumpy’s or Green Street. They are both decent bars that have a lot of TVs and can have a good game day atmosphere. There is a newer bar downtown called Gracie’s that’s nice and looks like it would be good for watching sports. There’s also a place I like to go in Sugarhouse (not too far from the U) called the Fiddler’s Elbow that is a nice pub with good beer, good food, and lots of TVs.

I would echo the previous two posts—if you can get tickets to the Utah/BYU game, I would highly recommend it. In the past decade it has almost always been a nail biter (that or Utah blowing BYU out :) ) and the atmosphere is electric. If you can’t get your hands on a BYU game ticket, the TCU game should be your backup plan—they should be awfully strong this year with the team they brought back.

Just FYI: here are a few of my favorite places to eat in SLC to get you acclimated (not for watching games, just for great food/atmosphere):

• Red Iguana – Great Mexican food… mole is outstanding
• Pat’s BBQ / Sugarhouse BBQ – I like both of these places equally well, great BBQ
• Ruth’s Diner – Good diner food and nice atmosphere up Emmigration Canyon
• Mazza – If you like middle eastern cuisine, you should check it out

If you tell us what you like, we can cater the suggestions accordingly—Salt Lake really has a pretty good range of restaurants.

by la tortuga on Jul 2, 2010 5:30 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

Hey Brad

Best place to wtach a game is at home or at Rice Eccles. The bar scene in Utah is not that hot and most restaraunts are not equipped with TVs for the games.

It is a beautiful stadium and well worth the ticket, especially the games that start as the sun is just going down—beautiful!

by Aardvark on Jul 2, 2010 5:54 PM MDT reply actions

Na'. There are plenty of places to watch Utah football at bars...

Iggy’s as listed above. They’ve got locations throughout the valley and downtown.

Skybox is located at the Gateway, which is just five miles from the campus.

The Pie, though not a bar (a pizza place), is a good place to watch the games. A little cramped at times, though. That’s actually essentially located on the U campus – just a jog from the main President’s Circle.

There is Lumpy’s, which is located in the SugarHouse neighborhood of Salt Lake. This is the neighborhood just south of University.

Fiddler’s Elbow is another good place to catch games. It’s located in downtown SugarHouse, again, just south of the U.

The Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta is a good place too. It’s located in the same building as Fiddler’s.

Green Street is another good place to catch games. That’s located at Trolley Square, which is really close to campus.

Gracie’s, which I’ve never been to, looks promising, as well. It’s downtown.

Other than those, there are dive bars throughout Salt Lake that you could probably catch a game at.

My favorite is the Bar in SugarHouse. Again, located in SugarHouse. Big-time Ute supporters!

And since you’re probably not familiar, here’s a small explanation of what SugarHouse actually is:

It’s part of Salt Lake City (so it’s not its own city) and is a neighborhood just south-east of downtown Salt Lake. It’s home to Westminster College and its borders virtually touch that of the University (only a few blocks fill in the gap).

It’s basically a five minute drive from Rice-Eccles Stadium into the heart of SugarHouse (unless it’s gameday, then it’s a pain, since 1300 East cuts right through SuHo and connects to the stadium – the stadium is right off 13th).

Hopefully that helped!

by JazzyUte on Jul 2, 2010 7:31 PM MDT up reply actions