Arriving: As you walk in, Scoreboard Grill splits in two. The smaller side is more of a sit-down restaurant, slightly quieter than the rest of the place. The larger side also has tables, but focus is on the large island of a bar that can probably seat 40.
You've got a couple pool tables, digital jukebox, two versions of video golf, video bowling (huh?), and flat-panel TVs along the walls. One screen was so green it hurt, but it was fixed by my next visit.
Scoping: For a sports bar, I'm surprised how many college-age drinkers I saw, and often, in packs of four and six. I get the feeling they were friends with the bartenders and bussers. Thursday night is kickball night. Unfortunately, teams don't play on site. Thursday is just when lots of grown-up boys and girls in matching T shirts come by all sweaty after playing somewhere else.
Drinking: That island of a bar has 10 beers on tap and at least 10 flavors of Three Olives vodka. A pint of Guinness is $4, as is a pint of Yuengling. There's also a 200-ounce, pint glass-shaped plastic thingy with a spigot at the bottom. Filling it with a domestic lager runs $20.99.
Chewing: Cheesy sausage and spinach dip with tortilla chips ($5.95) is a decent place to start mixing food into your belly of beer and liquor. It's your basic hot spinach cheese dip with, yes, bits of sausage mixed in. The meat doesn't add as much flavor as you might think, but doesn't screw it up either. As an alternative, 10 wings will set you back $6.99 with no extra charge for the dressing and celery.
A half-pound burger and fries is $6.99. Adding bacon, cheese and barbecue sauce and switching over to onion rings raises the total to $8.99. The sirloin patty is pre-formed, but thick and flavorful with just enough "juice" to start moistening the bun without going all soggy.
The $6.95 personal cheese pizza ($7.95 with pepperoni and sausage) is a great value. It's big enough to cover a dinner plate, which makes up for the slightly limp, pre-made crust. The steak salad ($7.95) comes topped with slices of a small but tender hunk of beef. Bonus points for the tomato slices that actually tasted like something.
Scoreboard Grill's menu also offers a few items you wouldn't expect in a sports bar. (Like I said at the start, the new owners inherited a full kitchen.) For example, broiled tilapia on a bed of cornbread stuffing with andouille at $12.95. Apparently, it's new to the menu because my bartender first gave me a blank stare.
The tilapia is mild and tender. The stuffing is crumbly, almost like couscous, and peppered with bits of spicy Cajun sausage. Together, the stuffing overpowers the fish, so I ate the tilapia first and then polished off the rest. The side of Creole vegetables is clearly doctored-up from a frozen bag of mixed veggies. They wouldn't pass muster in a fancy four-star place, but for a sports bar, they're a nice change of pace.
Going: The men's room has two urinals and two toilets, so even after your group goes through a couple of those spigot pitchers, there should be no waiting. For some odd reason, the lights near the sink are on a dimmer switch mood lighting for washing your hands.
Departing: It's nice to see a sports bar give you a few options that aren't battered and deep-fried, but I must admit, the burger and the beer are what's most likely to bring me back. That doesn't mean I won't check the to see if there are any new experiments on the menu.
