Beijing Boyce

Cheering with hundreds of football fans, sipping an early morning Bloody Mary, spotting a half-eaten chunk of toast floating in a trough of baked beans—it seems like just yesterday that I was in the Goose and Duck watching my first Super Bowl in Beijing. Seven years later, catching the game is an ingrained annual tradition. Here is this year’s wrap, with visits to 13 bars in our fair city.

Pre-game

I wake to find no running water or electricity in my apartment. Happy New Year! It turns out the entire building is without utilities though I have plenty of extra water on hand and thus am able to wash my Polamalu-like locks–I speak in terms of quality, not quantity–with the use of a flashlight and a coffee mug. Happy New Year!

Anyway,  given the elevators are not working, I walk down 16 flights of stairs. And since the emergency lights are not on, I do it in near darkness and maneuver around bicycles parked in the landings. Then I head off into the morning chill, wondering why the NFL can’t be more considerate and schedule this game for later in the day…

First half

Danger Doyle’s: There is a certain comfort in knowing what to expect from a bar and this one does not disappoint. Once again, it is closed for the Super Bowl. Finding it open would confuse me as much as would a team making the playoffs with a losing record. Oh wait, that second scenario happened this year.

Hooters: Quiet as a mouse, with only a half-dozen customers, watching a BTV feed, and no visible Hooters hostesses. I imagine they are home for Chinese New Year and entertaining their relatives with “You Are My Sunshine” dances and explanations of the dual meaning of the restaurant’s name.

The Den: RMB50 buffet breakfast + RMB15 draft beers = packed. The Den is like that Hall of Fame candidate who might not be pretty but delivers year in, year out.

Blue Frog: Closed, which is a bummer because I had written that it would be open and told some people to stop by and try the Bloody Marys. Penalty flag: false start.

Stumble Inn: Crowded upstairs and downstairs as this version of the place holds its first Super Bowl party.

Union Bar & Grille: Also crowded, with nearly every seat taken, as it follows up on its success from last year.

The Saddle Cantina: Closed. I figured a place like this could have worked a Tex-Mex angle since the Super Bowl is being held in Dallas…

Luga’s Villa: Given the big crowd and performances by New England Patriots cheerleaders last year, not to mention it sports the NFL logo outside, it is a bit of a shocker to find this place… closed. I hope this is not the equivalent of a career-altering injury. By the way, I can’t help but think Luga’s Villa would have been better off if had not expanded into that basement and instead The Stumble Inn had taken the space as originally planned.

Paddy O’Shea’s: The busiest spot of the day. There is more space between Polamalu’s hair follicles than between the patrons on the main floor while the situation at Kamat’s upstairs is a bit looser though it is somewhat a challenge to reconcile an Indian restaurant vibe with the Super Bowl.

Second half

The Irish Volunteer: Most closely approximates hanging out in a rec room rigged with a bar. This place is crowded, although everyone has a seat, and the RMB35 breakfast crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast re-energizes me. So does the bottomless Tim Horton’s coffee for RMB15. Let’s call this a touchdown with a two-point conversion.

Eudora Station: Eight patrons…

Parkside: Ten patrons…

Frank’s Place: This place is also busy, with both the main bar and the deck out back full, and the atmosphere is good. I go to the Goose and Duck every year for the second half of the Super Bowl: since it is under renovations Frank’s Place is the next best thing given the two spots share ownership.

All in all, The Den, Union, Stumble Inn, Paddy O’Shea’s, Irish Volunteer and Frank’s Place came out as winners, at least in terms of drawing crowds, and I hear from others that Tim’s Texas BBQ and Grinders did well, too.

And the celery stick in the Bloody Mary? The Packers won…