SBXL Made Easy

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No doubt about it, the best seats in the house — inside or outside of Ford Field — will be in the 313 this Sunday.

Yes, it is going to be crowded, that’s a given. Yes, some of your favorite bars and restaurants will be closed for private functions, or charging an arm and a leg to get in. Yes, it is going to be more difficult than usual to get around this week — if you plan on driving.

But just think of the road closures and parking restrictions surrounding Super Bowl/Winter Blast/NFL Experience as a chance to experience a truly urban downtown —one that is difficult to speed through and one in which parking may not be available directly in front of your favorite watering hole. (For more on how to get around, click here.)

You can get in the game without the headaches, however. There are plenty of ways to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday in the ‘D,’ whether you want to watch the game in the shadow of Ford Field or in a nearby bar.

Eastern Market: Tailgating paradise

If you’ve got tickets for the game, Lions faithful will tell you Eastern Market is the place to spend your morning. Traditionally, most of the businesses are closed on Sundays, but several are opening their doors for the Super Bowl.

Try breakfasting at Farmer’s Restaurant, a local favorite, and then pick up some snacks for the game at Rocky Peanut Co. From there, it’s only about a 10-minute walk to Ford Field or the other festivities around town.

The market itself won’t be open Sunday. It’s going to serve as a parking lot for all the buses going to the game. But there will be a tailgate area sectioned off that revelers could enter for a fee.

If you don’t have tickets, check out Vivio’s Food & Spirits or Bert’s Marketplace to watch the game on TV. Berts, an institution for its late-night jazz and Cajun catfish is worth a visit regardless.

Gratiot will be blocked off and traffic will be a mess, but if you’re determined to drive in for the festivities, Eastern Market has a parking structure on Riopelle, and some street and lot parking as well. You can call (313) 833-7456 to get more information about the structure (hours, space available, etc.).

The market will be open on Saturday as usual, but you’ll need to get there from the east side entrance. The west side will be closed.

Downtown: The usual suspects

Lions fans know their favorite places to grab some grub and a beer before kickoff, and not surprisingly these will be some of the hottest spots on Sunday to settle in and watch the game. Here’s a run down of a few of them, all a close walk to the stadium:
• Harry’s will open at 9 a.m. Cover is first come, first served, so plan to make a day of it.
• The neon glow of the Elwood is in the “security zone,” so unless you have a ticket to the game, it’s off limits.
• Coaches Corner is open to the public from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., but a private party takes over from 5-10 p.m. For $200 a ticket that includes food and drink, you can join in. Or come back after the game till closing when the bar re-opens for the public.
• Cock and Bull opens at noon with a $50 cover pre-sale, $75 the day of game. Cover does not include drinks or food. They will have $3 Heinekens, 89-X DJs and giveaways.
• The Post Bar’s downtown location is charging a $3 cover, and opens at noon Sunday.

Downtown: D12 wuz here

Elsewhere downtown, folks can revisit where some of the biggest pre-SBXL went down. After entertaining and hob-knobbing with the likes of Eminem, Kid Rock and D12 at tonight’s Shady Records Kick-Off Bash, the staff of the 3-year-old Bookies Tavern will have plenty of time to recover and prepare for the week’s main event: Super Bowl Sunday.

Die-hard football fans can stake out a prime spot in front of the Book Tower bar’s four televisions – a 42-inch plasma, a brand-new 7-foot projection screen or one of two corner-mounted traditional 36-inchers – as early as 9 a.m.

Basket foods – sandwiches, burgers and appetizers – will be available throughout the day. There will be music in the afternoon, and special giveaways and promotions will be featured throughout the day.

Bookies is slightly west of Woodward, and two blocks from Motown Winter Blast, three blocks from Ford Field and four blocks from the NFL Experience at Cobo Hall. If it’s too cold to walk, hop on the People Mover at the Times Square stop just west of the bar’s entrance on Grand River.

Just make sure to get back to the bar before the game – after that, the no-cover policy dissolves.

Downtown: No muss, no fuss

No cover. No exorbitant prices. No gimmicks. Many downtown favorites are just a quick walk to Winter Blast, the NFL Experience of Ford Field.

Come the day of the Big Game and become part of the big, happy family at Detroit landmark, the Checker Bar.

The Kathy and Karen, the daughters of longtime proprietors Harry and Helen Munro, keep the legacy alive at the Cadillac Square bar.

The Checker will open at 9 a.m. on Sunday with coffee, hot chocolate, juice and the “Checker McMuffin,” a polish sausage delight cleverly disguised as a breakfast sandwich. When noon strikes though, out comes the Bloody Mary/Mimosa bar and anything your sports-loving heart desires from their full-service bar. Oh, and thanks to the wine fairies behind the bar, an amazing selection of the grape is in the house, too.

Fill up on chili, sloppy Joes, the “Checker Burger,” subs, polish sausage and the like. Jello shots are even on the menu for the big day. This is one party not to be missed. And if the sisters really like you, well then, they may just deem you (male or female) a “Checkerette” for life.

The Checker is surrounded on all sides by surface lots (likely to be charging up to 10 times normal rates), so consider taking a shuttle from outlying areas.

Another downtown classic is Beaubien Street, a long-time staple of Red Wings crowds, located near the Greektown Casino at 641 N. Beaubien at Congress. This strangely intimate sports-bar-meets-classic-dive-bar setting comes chock full of characters to entertain you all night, complete with a full-service bar and a staff that is as unpretentious and cool as they come.

The bar is open Sunday from noon to 2 a.m. with no cover. Owner Tommy Burelle will have the bar ready for an enthusiastic sports crowd with more TVs than normal and the usual Beaubien amusements like pool and darts. They won’t serve food on game day, but you will be able to wash down your drink of choice with the only snack that goes with everything, fresh-popped popcorn served up like you like it in plain, white coffee filters.

Midtown: Keeping you ‘Honest’

We should expect nothing less from the always-provocative John Thompson. The bar owner who claims he quit drinking after he woke up naked on Belle Isle with an empty bag of carrots and a fistful of deer fur is courting the world to join him at his Midtown bar, Honest? John’s, on Super Bowl Sunday. He expects Pittsburgh Steelers fans who can’t get tickets to the game to drift in to the bar, which has plenty of parking and is located just beyond the “no drive zone,” a few blocks north of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Thompson will be plugging the bar as a guest Friday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which will be broadcasting this week from the Gem Theatre. So what’s the hook? “We ain’t having no party,” says Thompson, who’s 52 and grew up in the neighborhood when it was known as the seedy Cass Corridor. “No extra televisions but the two we already have, no food or drink specials, the same music we always have on the jukebox, no cover. Business as usual and I expect to pack the place.”

Will he have shuttles to take people down to the game or to the Motown Winter Blast during the days leading up to the Super Bowl? “Hell no,” Thompson says. Instead, Honest? John’s will focus on what it does best, Thompson says, “being an everything bar for everybody. Black, white, gay, straight, everyone.”

The kitchen starts serving breakfast at the same time as the bartenders start pulling pints of John Courage or Motor City Brew’s Ghettoblaster: 7 a.m. The bar food is splendid at Honest? John’s, and includes beef and turkey burgers, club sandwiches and fish and chips.

Just in case anyone wants to make the walk to Ford Field, it can be done. The trek from the bar at Selden near Second Ave. to the stadium at the corner of Brush and Adams streets is about 12 long city blocks. You can also park at any of Wayne State’s main campus parking lots for $10 and take a city shuttle into the no drive zone.

Also in Midtown:
• Visiting Seattle fans longing for a taste of home will find organic baked goods and fancy coffees at Avalon Breads on Willis near Cass. They’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. game day, with a tent outside.
• Watch the game on the Magic Stick’s big screen. The Woodward Avenue bar will charge no cover, and will feature DJs, music and giveaways. Doors open at 3 p.m.

Corktown: The other bowl

What Super Bowl? Corktown is home to the Bud Bowl, set to be held at Tiger Stadium — and rumored to be its last dance before demolition. Those lucky enough to land a “golden ticket” for either Snoop Dogg on Friday or Three Doors Down on Saturday are getting an opportunity to enjoy one more unique memory at the “corner.”

For the rest of us, there’s Nemo’s on Michigan Avenue. Anyone who dares call himself or herself a sports fan must make a bee-line to Nemo’s, recently called the third-most-perfect sports bar in the nation by none other than Sports Illustrated. Nemo’s will offer shuttles (for a nominal fee) to and from the NFL Experience, Winter Blast and both Kid Rock shows in the days leading up to the big game.

Super Bowl Sunday, Nemo’s 13 TV screens will be broadcasting the big game and they will be serving food from a limited menu that will definitely include their famous burgers. Just like St. Patrick’s Parade day, Nemo’s sidelot will be tented and heated, and there’s no cover. If you’re looking for a group of true-blue football rowdies to watch the game with, Nemo’s is a sure bet.

Meanwhile, the Gaelic League is out to prove that at least one day a year, even the Irish can watch American football. The League will open its doors to the public—Seahawks fans beware, lots of folks from Pittsburgh are expected—and will provide a hearty steak dinner supplemented by coneys and pizza at half-time. The charge for this feast will be $50 at the door or $30 for club members. Pre-game entertainment will be provided by Benny and the Jets, and then settle in with a pint and enjoy the big game on the big screen.

Also in Corktown check out LJ’s Lounge, Slow’s Bar B Q, Baile Corcaigh or the Lager House. None of them are charging cover, and the game will be on.

Jennifer Andrews, Melissa Giannini, Jaime Halaas, Kelli B. Kavanaugh, Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey and Walter Wasacz contributed to this guide.

For more on getting around during Super Bowl week, click here.

John Thompson at Honest John’s

Coach’s Corner

Bookie’s Downtown

Checker Bar

Nemo’s

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