{"id":406433,"date":"2026-09-21T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/406433\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:46:08","slug":"five-st-pete-sports-bars-with-great-food-for-football-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/406433\/","title":{"rendered":"Five St. Pete sports bars with great food for football season"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Everyone else can have the holidays, but for football fans, this is the most wonderful time of the year. For the next few months, weekends revolve around football, friends, food and fizzy drinks. Along with a healthy dose of making fun of the Browns.<\/p>\n

If, like me, you tend to spend what borders on an entire gameday sitting in one spot at the bar, you want to make sure there\u2019s good food around. You\u2019re going to get hungry. To that end, we\u2019re working with N\u00dcTRL Vodka Seltzer to highlight some of the best local sports bars, specifically with football-appropriate food day and night. Like the Pop-Tarts Bowl or the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, we\u2019ll call this the N\u00dcTRL Sports Bar Guide, a roundup of local spots worth settling into for football, good food and a few cold drinks. And it\u2019s a natural fit, as the light seltzers leave more room for smoked meats and fried food, all at about half the price of a cocktail.<\/p>\n

Rather than just list every sports bar with food, we\u2019re breaking this down into four different categories with one pick for each. Upscale dining with sports bar vibes; classic bar food; elevated pub grub; and convenience with variety. We recommend pairing it all with N\u00dcTRL, and preferably a bucket, if you have a crowd. Ice cold drinks and hot food is our kind of dinner pairing.<\/p>\n

Classic bar food<\/p>\n

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Salty J\u2019s
<\/a>5625 4th St N
There may not be a more underrated spot in town to catch a game. It has, perhaps, the best ratio of affordability to quality in a deep menu that is just absolutely packed with classic sports bar grub. The most popular appetizer is pile of loaded potatoes called \u201cDrinker\u2019s Fries.\u201d This is the place for those who dream of burgers, wings, sandwiches, nachos, and every fried food possible. They have a dozen appetizers that are under $10, including loaded tater tots, fried mac and cheese, and corndog nuggets. Save room for the Reese\u2019s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie after the game. I will continue to beat the drum for Salty J\u2019s as a sneaky great spot. Underestimate at your own risk.<\/p>\n

Upscale dining<\/p>\n

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The Galley
<\/a>27 4th St N
My favorite thing about The Galley isn\u2019t that it\u2019s friendly, that it\u2019s relaxed, that the beers and N\u00dcTRLs are cheap, that it has a great location, or even that the nautical theme makes every visit feel a little like vacation, though those are all great qualities. My favorite thing is the food. Let me say this: if you haven\u2019t eaten at The Galley in a while, you\u2019ve missed on a transformation. The food at downtown\u2019s local pub has always been solid, but they have seriously elevated their game the last couple years, which you can both see and taste in the menu. Where else are you going to have yellowfin sashimi or filet mignon that you\u2019re also allowed to yell like a maniac when the Bucs score? You can also kick it with chicken wings and a N\u00dcTRL. It\u2019s your oyster. Point, Galley. <\/p>\n

Convenience and variety<\/p>\n

\"People\"People<\/p>\n

Ferg\u2019s Sports Bar & Grill
<\/a>1320 Central Ave
Let\u2019s start with three words: pizza vending machine. Three more: order by phone. And a final two: food trucks. Just like Ferg\u2019s has it all in terms of entertainment (a dog park and axe throwing and a concert venue\u2026), so too do the food options show real range. For convenience, my favorite thing about the expansive sports wonderland of Ferg\u2019s is that you can order food and drinks from your phone. You don\u2019t have to wait for a server or bartender. It\u2019s all on your time, when you\u2019re hungry or thirsty. Just tell the internet you want a basket of wings and a N\u00dcTRL bucket, and they will appear. Meanwhile, Ferg\u2019s is the rare spot that has its own kitchen and multiple food trucks and pop-ups. Vinnie\u2019s Pies and Maxi Empanadas are two of our favorites that set up shop outside. Ferg\u2019s is St. Pete\u2019s something-for-everyone spot, and they make it easy.<\/p>\n

Elevated pub grub<\/p>\n

\"Food\"Food<\/p>\n

Localz Sports Bar
<\/a>1 Beach Dr SE
Can a place be a hidden gem and be on Beach Drive at the same time? Localz pulls it off. What they also manage to pull is a fantastic scratch kitchen that churns out some legit and creative takes on pub grub. The pretzel bites have their own dry rub. There\u2019s a ghost pepper patty melt. There are individual sections of the menu just for their variety of loaded brussels sprouts and tater tots. There are a full 10 different housemade wing sauces, including peach mango habanero, maple bacon sriracha, and spicy Thai peanut. Localz doesn\u2019t settle for just coating your stomach while you drink. They make sure you enjoy the experience to its fullest. Stick with N\u00dcTRL, you\u2019ll want the room. <\/p>\n

A big thank you goes to N\u00dcTRL Vodka Seltzer for their support of local businesses and making stories like these possible. Eat well, drink up, and enjoy football season.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone else can have the holidays, but for football fans, this is the most wonderful time of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-406433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}