Complex City Guide: The Best Sports Bars In NYC

DOWN THE HATCH

179 W. 4th St.

212-627-9747

nycbestbar.com/downthehatch
Home to bespectacled college boys trading up on plastic cups for whisky tumblers, this West Village mainstay does not short on available HD TVs nor Atomic Wings. The latter are served by the basket for change leftover from your lunch money.

MULHOLLAND'S

312 Grand St. (Brooklyn)

718-486-3473

mulhollandsbklyn.com
A clean, well-lighted place to dispense your best trash-talking, this bar's rowdy crowd takes your best taunts and fires them right back. An oasis of athletic worship amidst the skin-and-bones set, this wood-meets-brick-meets-leather sports sanctuary broadcasts games all the way out to its comfy back patio.

THE AUSTRALIAN

20 W. 38th St.

212-869-8601

theaustraliannyc.com
Rugby is just Australian for football, especially after a few cans of Foster's. The brutal tackles and side tosses are a worthy salve to lonely NFL fans during the summer months, when baseball just won't do. Serving a full-on Aussie menu (including grilled cuts of meat and seafood) the rules may have changed, but the food and drink have not.

PROFESSOR THOM'S

219 Second Avenue

212-260-9480

professorthoms.com
Named for a 19th century pint dispenser who apparently suffered from bipolar disorder, this dual level pub balances its Red Sox raucous-ness downstairs with a more sedate and seated crowd up top. Owned by four former bartenders who bleed Boston red, the drinks come appropriately strong, and lobster is served on Mondays.

FIREFLY

54 Spring St.

212-966-8716

fireflynyc.com
Any bar boasting 16 HD screens would have us smitten, but Firefly's neon blue signage puts out a beacon call. Don't let the bottle service fool you, this watering hole attracts a co-ed sporting body of foul-mouths with its precocious food menu and heavy-handed bartenders.

THE AINSWORTH

122 W. 26th St.

212-741-0646

ainsworthnyc.com
No better way to up the ante on a wood-paneled sports venue than to invite your jock friends. Courtesy of the Danny Clark Foundation, bar revelers have shared arm space and maple syrup fondue with Giants legends during football season, a happening this bar hopes to mimic with the boys of summer.

123 BURGER SHOT BEER

738 Tenth Avenue

212-315-0123

123burgershotbeer.com
The place where NY sophistication went to die —with shot monikers like the Screaming Orgasm, DoMeAgain, and the Redheaded Slut—this kitschy fan haven serves up enough concession stand favorites to make you wanna skip the game for the tailgate. $1 sliders, $2 shots, and $3 beers is all the 'rithmetic they know.

IONA

180 Grand St. (Brooklyn)

718-384-5008

ionabrooklyn.com
With a grill out back advertising itself as BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat), this Irish pub more than compensates for skimping on screen space with a roster of international beers and its backyard patio. Substituting exposed brick for dingy tile, you're also likely to find soccer or rugby instead of football or basketball.

BLONDIE'S

212 W. 79th St.

212-362-4360

blondiessports.com
Like pulling a bar stool into the electronics department at Best Buy, Blondies' packs in the Big 10 NYC transplants like cattle, with a mother lode of shiny screens. But it's the wings that keep 'em coming back, enough to make tabletops look like a baby chick genocide.

STANDINGS

43 E. 7th St.

212-420-0671

standingsbar.com
Two things are holy on this sacred ground in the East Village—sports and beer. The crowd communes on 25 (count 'em) different kinds of beer, a roster the owners rotate regularly to keep services bright and lively. Now back to the eight plasma screens, where the message is about to be delivered.