Beer + Soccer + Fire = Good
By: Tom | April 4th, 2007As an Englishman accustomed to finding Association Football on television at almost any pub in my home country, it took me some time to adapt to the odd American bar custom of preferring to show games involving odd shaped and sized balls being thrown, hit and bounced but rarely kicked.
Chicago does, fortunately, have two or three of the best soccer pubs in the country. The excellent Globe Pub has a close relationship with Fire fans (a bus departs from the bar to Fire home games), and Ginger’s is excellent for European football. Smallbar in Wicker Park is a tiny delight, serving an insanely wide range of beer and good food, with walls plastered with soccer memorabilia. They are also kind enough to sponsor my men’s soccer team.
None of these bars, however, are easily accessible to downtown workers or south loop/south side residents. Sure, there is Fado’s downtown, but Irish chain pubs are just a little cliched. It is with pleasure, then, that I pass on the following announcement from a Fire fan about a bar in the south loop under new ownership that has been more than helpful to Fire and soccer fans looking for a place to drink and watch the games downtown.
Manhattan’s
415 S. Dearborn St.
312-957-0460In the next few months, they are adding a full kitchen and will be open on Sundays. Given this, the first road match watch party at Manhattan’s will be the May 12th match vs. Toronto FC. The bar will open one hour early to accommodate Fire Fans.
They are ordering:
Fox Soccer Channel
GolTV
DirectKick
(Depending on turnout, they will order Setanta)Just for that this place deserves our support.
They are happy to have people there for:
+ Section 8, Other Supporter Group Meetings (private room)
+ Post/Pre Game (FWFK Post-Lunch, too)
+ Any soccer match broadcast on any channel they carry!Owner is a soccer fan and seemed to overjoyed that soccer fans would want to come to his bar.
So if you’re ever in downtown Chicago and looking for somewhere to watch soccer, check out Manhattan’s. I haven’t been there yet myself, but will do so soon and report back.
Category: Off the field
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Comments
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What kind of beer do the Fire serve at the stadium? Do they have anything local or is it just Bud?
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United States
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I was at Manhattans’ last night, but I couldn’t beat those that dropped in at 3:00PM to watch Champions League. Noticing that an 8:30PM match involving DC United and Chivas at an untested downtown bar might not be the biggest draw, I was fully expecting to be the only person in attendance for the match. For the first 10 minutes of the match, my fears came true, however before the night was through three others showed up! Not a bad start for a match unrelated to the Fire! We received a tour of the place and the Section 8er took notice of the upstairs party room that was perfectly sized for pre and post game revelry or just a group meeting.
FYI – The Fire stadium does offer Tecate, Corona, Guinness and Oxcim Pils (in additino to the domestic brews) for fans of all stripes!
See you at Manhattans!
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United States -
Do you think Thursday nights will find a crowd for MLS on ESPNDeuce?
Posted from
United States -
Marc - once Beckham arrives, yes. The only real danger is that crowds in midweek MLS games are usually poor anyway, and with the games available to most people on TV on ESPN, it might not be much of a spectacle crowd-wise.
Posted from
United States
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