The Super Bowl is practically a national holiday and with the Giants in it this year local football fans are anxiously awaiting this Sunday’s big game. For bars and restaurants it’s a mixed bag of business. Some saying it will be a banner day while others are not so upbeat.
“I’m hoping it will make the month,” said Ben Saraydarian, owner of The Country Corner in East Setauket. “January and February are two of the slowest months of the year.”
Mike Paino, the assistant manager at Eldorado American Grill in Port Jefferson Station, said that last year the restaurant was slow for the Super Bowl. Having the Giants in the big game this year might mean bigger business, but he’s not sure that will help.
“The regular Giant fans here tend be more homebodies for big games,” he said.
A bartender at Tommy’s Place in Port Jefferson agreed.
“It’s hit or miss,” she said. “People might prefer house parties.”
On the other side of the story, The Bench in Stony Brook is taking reservations for Super Bowl Sunday – not a new practice, manager Pat Aliperti said.
“So many people call us, we just want to know what to expect, and it just makes the whole flow of the day go better,” he said.
A hostess at Hurricane Grill & Wings in Port Jefferson Station said a large party reserves the back room every year but it’s not the in-house crowd they worried about.
“To go food is the craziest,” she said.
But along with the crowds comes at least one pitfall: food distributors increase their prices on certain items this time of year, according to Aliperti and Saraydarian. Specifically, the price of wings – essentially a staple of the sports bar food pyramid – drastically increases, they say.
“I lose money on the wings,” Saraydarian said. “The last month and a half, the price of wings has just ballooned.”
Mark Snyder, the Chief Operations Officer of Hurricane Grill & Wings says that wings are a seasonal item and are subject to fluctuations in price.
"It's a supply and demand issue," he said. "Prices have certainly gone up."
According to Snyder, the price of wings is at its lowest during the summer. Once the football season starts, the price creeps up every week until the last two weeks of January, when it hits its peak.
"It stays fairly high through March madness," he said. After that there is a steep drop off in the price.
Snyder said that he's seen the price double since its lowest point.
And now for the specials.
:
$5 burgers; 25 cent wings; $3 bottles of Bud and Bud Light; $2.50 Miller Light drafts.
:
$25 tailgate special (includes wings, nachos, and a pitcher of beer); $16 beer buckets; $4 drafts; 50 cent wings.
:
Buffet and unlimited domestic tap beer for $29.95.
:
5 bottles of Bud Light for $14.
:
5 free wings with every alcoholic beverage.
:
$12 pitchers of domestic beer; $5 appetizer menu items.
