The 5 Best Football Bars in Saratoga
Where to watch this weekend's NFL Wild Card games, plus Saratoga bathroom news, Franklin Square Market's new cookbook club and more.
On a Thursday evening last spring, my friends and I convinced Bailey’s owner Matt Beecher to change the channel on one of the TVs at the patio bar from the NBA finals to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
That should tell you all you need to know about my sports-watching habits. (Playing sports, on the other hand, is a different story). But come NFL play-off season, even I can get onboard with crowding into a room to watch meatheads I’ve never met run around on a row of screens above a bar. Just put a beer in my hand, and I’m good.
For those of you like myself and Saratogian Spencer Sherry who, when asked if he was a Bills fan replied that he liked “5s and nice crisp 20s,” this weekend is the first round of the National Football League playoffs—also known as Wildcard Weekend. There will be six games between today and Monday, with the top three teams advancing to next weekend’s Divisional Round. Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing, and yes, Taylor Swift is expected to be in attendance.
Those of you who knew who Travis Kelsey was before he started dating the world’s biggest pop star already knew all that. But maybe you’ve been watching this NFL season from the confines of your own house—and are looking to get out into the world to eat a chicken wing while yelling at the screen alongside dozens of other angry fans. If that’s the case, here are the best five football bars in Saratoga—according to Saratogians who actually do watch football.
Harvey’s Restaurant and Bar
Harvey’s is one of two official Bills Backer Bars in Saratoga, and opens its second floor to fans on game days. “You’ll be sitting at the bar downstairs, and then suddenly a cacophony of drunken hooting and stomping will erupt from above you,” says Spencer, who it turns out does know the difference between the Buffalo Bills and a $20 bill. Actual football fan Megan Robinson is also a fan of Harvey’s because of how open the downstairs bar is—and the A+ mozzarella sticks.
“If a regular guest wants to come in, we don’t close to the public,” owner Matt Bagley says. “But the Bills games take over everything.” If you’re looking to watch one of the weekend’s other games, expect a much lower-key atmosphere.
Game Day Specials: $3 Labatt and Miller Lite drafts for every Bills game and a special mug club for Buffalo super-fans
PJ’s Bar-B-QSA
The other Bills Backer bar in town is PJ’s, which, if possible, is even more serious about Buffalo: You actually have to be a member to watch a Bill’s game there. (We wrote a whole story about it last year.) “Whereas traditional sports bars will have fans from both teams watching, PJ’s generally has only Bills fans,” says Buffalo native Dan De Federicis. “You won’t find any black and gold Steelers jerseys in there on Sunday.”
While the bar and BBQ joint will have all the weekend’s games on, bartender Tasha Marie tells me people will really only show up for the Bills game on Sunday at 1pm. And just because you’re not a member yet doesn’t mean you can’t be. You can text Tasha at 518-932-2866 to reserve a table for the big game, and pay your $30 membership fee when you arrive (you’ll get a free T-shirt, too).
Game Day Specials: $12 Miller Lite pitchers, $3.50 Miller Lite pints, Labatt Blue Light buckets (6 pints for $20), and food specials including chili cheese fries, buffalo chicken pizza and a snack basket.
West Side Sports Bar & Grill
When it comes to watching football, you certainly can’t go wrong with a bar with “sports” in its name. West Side is known for its great-tasting, reasonably priced pub food, and—get this—it has its own parking lot (PJ’s does too, but that’s further from downtown). Non-Bills fans are welcome, according to bartender Jillian Pagington. “We have a lot of Steelers fans,” she says. “But we have fans all over the board.” The bar and table areas are separated by a wall, but there are plenty of TVs on either side that’ll be showing football all weekend long.
Game Day Specials: $6 Bloody Marys on Saturdays and Sundays, $5 Heinekens on Sundays and food specials every day
Bailey’s
Don’t worry—there aren’t any televised spelling bees happening this weekend. That means you can catch all of this weekend’s games at Bailey’s, which draws fans of a wide range of teams. “You can have more of a crazy time on the patio where it tends to be more rowdy, or a more chill time inside,” says Bailey’s regular Matt Wink. “Regardless, there are tons of TVs both inside and out.”
Game Day Specials: $16 Miller Lite pitchers and a bucket of five Coronas for $30
Kings Tavern
If you’re looking to see Jalen Hurts throw the football on as many screens as possible, go directly to Kings. “You can’t beat the TV-to-capacity ratio,” says Saratogian Scotty Somerville. “And the Pistol Wings are the best.”
Kings, however, is also a decent spot for those of us who aren’t fully invested in what’s going on on the screens. “I don’t really watch the games,” says famously curmudgeonly Kings regular Max Oswald. “I’m too busy talking and goofing around. But I do take pleasure in making fun of super-fans and watching them suffer when things don’t go their way.” Molly McCormack, another local who’s a bigger fan of the bar than she is of the sport of football, recommends getting there early on game days to make sure you get a seat.
Game Day Specials: Specials for mug club members, including $1 off all mugs on Sundays
—Natalie
Reel of the Week
If you are a woman of a certain age (in your 30s), you’ve probably come across Erin Miller on social media. The West Coast-based TikTok and Instagram star is a self-proclaimed ’90s and ’00s historian, and creates content that resonates with women who wore jeans and going out tops and statement necklaces in college. If you caught her recent video about drunk girls becoming friends in college bathrooms, though, you may have noticed something besides Erin’s spot-on impersonations: The background of her video isn’t a college bathroom, but the Tap & Barrel bathroom. Yes, the bathroom that I rated #13 in our great Saratoga bathroom ranking of 2023, Common Roots poster and all. In fact, at first glance, the picture in the background looks like my very own photography work, but upon further inspection, it was taken from a slightly different angle. Is Erin a secret Tap & Barrel fan? I asked and, unfortunately, no—she found the photo on Google.
We’re Floored
In other Saratoga bathroom news, the floor of the third worst bathroom in Saratoga is getting retiled.
Save the Date
On Tuesday, Franklin Square Market will kick off its three-class Cookbook Club series with culinary instructor and historian Annette Tomei. Each class (January 16, February 13 and March 14) will cover a different cookbook, kicking off with Ever-Green Vietnamese by Andrea Nguyen, in which plant-based cooking meets the dynamic flavors of Vietnamese cuisine. Each class includes the cooking class itself, a copy of the featured cookbook, the tasting of cooked from the book, one drink, and more. Tickets are $99 for one class and $275 for all three. See you Tuesday, Saratoga!
On the Pod
Have you been keeping up with Seriously Catherine? On the latest episode of the podcast, host Catherine Hover chats with Dr. Rhiannon Clauss of Capital District Family Chiropractic about her grief after her husband’s suicide, the ways in which aligning your nervous system can transform your health, and the profound connection between emotional well-being and overall health. Listen closely for the Saratoga Living moment, which this episode focuses on our Dry January and Veganuary story!
Water, Water, Everywhere
Last Sunday, some of the biggest stars of today got a taste of Saratoga—Saratoga Water, that is. The blue-bottled brand was at the Golden Globes, evidently being paired with Nobu sushi. This moment in the spotlight comes a few weeks before the final event of Saratoga Supper Club, an exclusive, multi-city dining series hosted by the brand that began in NYC last fall and wraps up at Angler San Francisco on January 27. (And no, while the five-star events were inspired by the springs of Saratoga, the supper club did not make it to the actual…Saratoga Springs.)
ICYMI
Our “I Do!” Issue came out this week! Be sure to check out the digital version of the magazine, our behind the scenes look at what went into producing the issue, and our cover stories on a winter wedding at The Adelphi, a spring wedding at June Farms, a summer wedding at the 1863 Club and a fall wedding at the Inn at Erlowest.