TOLEDO, Ohio — The National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics’ 2023 Super Bowl survey reported 192.9 million U.S. adults planned to tune into the big game on Sunday with around 17.8 of them planning to watch the game at a bar or restaurant.
While it was the 57th Super Bowl on Saturday, some new spots in downtown Toledo were experiencing their first Super Bowl.
That was the case for Hannon's Garage and Wild Side Brewing Company, which both opened several months ago.
Hannon's Garage's owner, Mike Stancati said the purpose and idea of 'the Garage' is to create a more laid back, bar-like atmosphere compared to his other bar Hannon's Block which is just around the corner and offers a more urban restaurant feel.
Stancati said they had to place some extra orders of wings in preparation for the big game and they had beer bucket deals throughout the day.
"We've had a really busy weekend. So we've had to place a couple extra orders to make sure we had enough to go off the Super Bowl, all night," said Stancati.
Stancati said the space is utilized for special events, businesses, live entertainment and holidays. They recently just added Bingo nights on Thursdays.
Just a few blocks over, Wild Side Brewing took the place of the old Firefly bar in November. Their owner Nicholas Scott said they're known for their Detroit-style pizza and unique pig wings which he said places around here don't usually have.
While they did not have any specials for Super Bowl night nor consider themselves a sports bar, Scott said it's still a popular spot among fans and there was a steady turnout Sunday night.
"Halfway price pizza downtown every Sunday, which is our service-industry special, but it fell on the Super Bowl," said Scott. "So a lot of to-go orders, a lot of people coming in and enjoying that."
Karen Meredith is a customer who has been to Wild Side several times already and she said she appreciates the location and growing business in the downtown Toledo area.
"It's really been building up down here, I think it's a wonderful atmosphere," said Meredith. "You got the Walleye down there and you got the Mud Hen's right across here. Why not?"
Wild Side has their own pinball machines you can take a shot at as well.
