Saturday update: Let’s talk Super Bowl food

Yesterday I was sitting at Bardog surfing Twitter, and I saw a retweet of an infographic @thekitchn did, listing the most popular Super Bowl food by state.

Really, Tennessee? CAKE? We are better than this. I blame Nashville and Knoxville. Here’s a list of my ten favorite Super Bowl pot luck foods, approximately in order:

  • Italian roast beef sandwiches
  • Buffalo chicken dip
  • Wings
  • Chili cheese dogs
  • Pizza, especially Mexican pizza and bacon cheeseburger pizza
  • Lil’ Smokies
  • Nachos *
  • Tamales
  • Chili **
  • 7 layer dip

Nachos: There is wide variance in types of nachos, which is why I say this list is in “approximate” order. Gas station nachos with the generic tortilla chips and the runny cheese sauce wouldn’t make my top ten at all. Now, if we’re talking brisket nachos with three kinds of melted cheeses, sour cream, pico, and guacamole, well then… now we’re getting up toward the top of the list (wouldn’t surpass Italian roast beef though).

Chili: Especially exotic chili. I’m going to paste in a comment from my friend Air Traffic Mike to illustrate. “Paul, I went to an Amish butcher shop and bought a huge “rope” of Italian sweet sausage. With it will be peppers, onions, Italian rolls, provolone, and marinara for sandwiches along with the black bean/filet chili.” Yep. That is how you do it.

Okay, time for another list. Let’s say you don’t cook at all, but you still want to be the rock star of your Super Bowl potluck. Here are some suggestions. These are not in a particular order; all are equally good.

  • Chicken from Gus’s, Uncle Lou’s, or Jack Pirtle’s
  • Wings from Kooky Canuck or New Wing Order
  • Nachos from Central BBQ or Huey’s (I’d include Maciel’s but they’re not open on Sundays and nachos don’t keep well for a day in the fridge)
  • Pan pizza from Wise Guys in Horn Lake (worth the drive and the extra long wait time, trust me on this)
  • Nikki’s Hot Chips with a dip that offsets the heat
  • A bag of weed
  • Or just pull a Trump and bring “hamberders”

And finally, here’s a list of things to bring to a Super Bowl potluck if you never want to be invited to a Super Bowl potluck again:

  • Baked kale chips, or really kale anything
  • Anything with tofu on or in it (I’ve heard that tofu nachos at RP Tracks are good enough that they might be given a pass)
  • Granola bars
  • Spam
  • Pizza with pineapple on it
  • I’m tempted to put Krystal burgers on here, but since I suggested “a bag of weed” above they would probably be appreciated.

Here’s a general rule of thumb: If you’re the type of person who goes, “There’s so much junk food at Super Bowl parties, I want to provide some healthy options,” you are to the Super Bowl as the person who gives socks and underwear as presents is to Christmas.

You know, it’s funny, we talk about things “going viral”… that’s how the Super Bowl got its name. When the first championship game was played in 1967, the AFL-NFL World Championship Game was what it was called. Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, started calling it the Super Bowl, and it got picked up by the media and the name went viral. By 1968 it was widely called the Super Bowl in the media although that was not the official title. The following year, the organizers of the game gave in and the game played that year became Super Bowl III, the previous two games back-named Super Bowl I and II.

If you’re not into football, Lifehacker has some great advice: Super Bowl Sunday is the best day to do anything else. Think about it: Short lines at the movies, you can get dinner at fine restaurants that normally require a reservation without one… lots of options when everyone else is busy watching the game.

I’ll throw in one additional inside tip: Because the Super Bowl doesn’t kick off until 5:30, the Downtown restaurants and bars are going to be dead as a doornail from 11 to 3 tomorrow as people conserve their energy for the game. So, if there’s someplace you’ve been meaning to try for brunch, tomorrow would be a good day to do it. I’ll even offer a suggestion: Go check out Rizzo’s pop-up restaurant in the 409 South Main food hall. They’ll be there until the 19th.

Max’s Sports Bar will be giving away a foldable tailgate grill, a tabletop football set, and many other great prizes during the Super Bowl. 1 drink = 1 entry into the drawing.

Local is having a Delta Sunshine tap takeover tomorrow with $3 drafts.

Huey’s is having 2 for 1 domestic drafts and well drinks all day tomorrow, starting at 11 AM. They will also have their regular brunch specials from 11 to 6, which are $3.50 Bloody Marys and mimosas. No live music tomorrow night, of course, since people will want to watch the game.

New Wing Order has a special Mud Island Jerk flavor as its February special:

They’ll have the truck on the Memphis Made parking lot from 3 to 8 today if you want to give the new wings a try. By the way, if you haven’t seen the forecast, it’s going to be patio weather this afternoon, with temperatures well into the 60s. This is the beginning of a warm spell with highs in the 60s or 70s through the middle of next week.

Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show with Brothers Osborne and Kendell Marvel has been announced for FedExForum on Saturday, October 5. Tickets are now on sale.

From Food & Wine: There’s a sports bar in Sacramento called Costanza’s that dedicates one TV to reruns of Seinfeld episodes. That is a great idea because there’s always one or two people in a group who want to hang out with their friends, but don’t care about sports, and this gives them something to watch. And a George-themed sports bar makes sense – after all, he worked for the New York Yankees.

Time to heat up a slice of leftover pizza, throw my PBR hoodie and shorts on, and head to Bardog. Yes it is shorts weather! My threshold for wearing shorts is “feels-like temperature not predicted to be lower than 48 all the hours I plan to be out.” That is the case today. I don’t know if I’m going to do a post tomorrow. Super Bowl Sunday is one of my lowest readership days of the year. If I get any timely news I’ll do a post, otherwise I will be back Monday.