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Along with all-nighters and crazy roommates, every college kid needs a sports bar. It’s a place to bond over your home team and learn to develop a taste for deep fried cheese, all in the name of putting off the report for one more day. Rivals Sports Bar and Grille at 3100 N. Alafaya Trail near UCF, has a wide selection of food, cheap beer, and lots of shiny TVs that top off a fairly ungritty, but comfy, sports bar.
Décor: There’s a weird island motif going on at Rivals, with its straw-covered stage and bamboo umbrella holders, but while strange it’s not entirely distracting, especially with the copious flatscreen televisions and projectors flashing everywhere and filling the place. However, Rivals is surprisingly lacking in games for a sports bar - they have Strike and some table space to play cards, but that’s about it. It’s surprisingly bright inside (but hey, now you can see your bar tab), so if your eyes hurt head out to the back patio where smoking is okay and you can still see some of the TVs.
The Bar: Rivals isn’t that big of a spot, and the bar itself reflects that, as it’s kind of small and in the middle of the action, making it a tight squeeze to get from one side to the other. However, once you are able to belly up the prices make the wait well worth it. Domestic drafts are $2, and Yuengling is recognized as the quasi-domestic it is for $2.50. With that kind of record going you’d expect them to make up the difference with heftier prices out of their specialties (like Tucher, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams), but when you shell out a mere $4 for a Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA you realize Rivals wants to keep you around, not milk you in a single shot (hooray business sense!). In addition to beer there’s also tons of liquor and wine ($5 a glass). Mondays have $10.99 all you can eat wings from 5 - 10 p.m. and Martini Madness ($3.75 specialty martinis) and trivia from 10 p.m. to close. Tuesdays are for all things ‘80s from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. Wednesdays have free Texas Hold ‘Em poker starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays combine women and terrible singing with ladies night and karaoke, going from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays are dedicated to live music, with acts changing out regularly. Happy hour is every weekday from 4 - 7 p.m. with 99-cent Bud, Bud Light, and Michelob Ultra drafts, $5 of the same in pitchers, and $8 domestic buckets. The big downfall of the “and Grille” part of Rivals Sports Bar is that tax is added to your drinks, so bring pockets for all that loose change you’ll soon have.
Service: There are worse things than waiting forever to get served. Sure, it feels like an eternity, your eyes desperately searching for contact with another human, preferably one that will hand you a drink. But hey, you could be on fire. Once they get to you you’ll be taken care of, so keep your shirt on.
Sounds: If there isn’t a local act on stage the touchscreen jukebox rules the roost at a volume that is somewhere between tolerable and shrill.
Crowd: A lot of UCF students and alums travel up the road a little ways to come to Rivals, perhaps because of the great prices but more likely because it’s comfortable enough to be a regular hangout.
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