The University of Arizona Wildcats football team will play its first home game of the 2022 season at Arizona Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, and head coach Jedd Fisch is hoping to have a big crowd.
But if the good seats at Arizona Stadium — prices range from $11 to $183 — bust your budget and the thought of hiking up several flights of concrete steps to reach the bloody-nose section isn’t your idea of fun, we might have a solution for you.
Head on down to Main Gate Square on East University Boulevard where game day can get just as loud and chaotic as in the stadium.
But unlike the stadium, admission is free, although you will have to climb a few stairs to reach the patios at Gentle Ben’s and its across-the-boulevard neighbors Illegal Pete’s and No Anchovies.
Here’s the game plan for Main Gate.
Gentle Ben’s Brewing Company
865 E. University, 520-624-4177; gentlebens.com
Stop in on Saturday night and you will see the game on dozens of TV screens on the main floor and a gigantic screen upstairs. They also have a few set up on the patio overlooking the boulevard.
Employee Emily Bleier advises folks to arrive early.
“There will definitely be a lot of people,” she said, adding that a lot of fans like watching the game from the bar, where they are more free to socialize and eat and drink.
“I think it’s just a different atmosphere,” she said.
Gentle Ben’s, which has been a Main Gate institution since 1971, is known for its inventive burgers — we’re a bit smitten with the jalapeño double-dip on the Firestarter bacon cheeseburger — served on a heavenly toasted kaiser brioche bun and generous lineup of locally-brewed craft beers including a pair of IPAs from MotoSonora. Gentle Ben’s also serves Barrio Blonde, Citrazona IPA and Hipsterville Hazy IPA from Barrio Brewing Co., which was started by Gentle’s Ben’s former owner Dennis Arnold.
Arizona fans at Gentle Ben’s crowd the upper patio to watch the University of Arizona vs. Xavier in the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Illegal Pete’s
876 E. University, 520-352-0032; illegalpetes.com
The Mission-style burrito restaurant in the historic two-story Landmark building is more of a pre-game hangout spot than a watch-party go-to, says catering manager Sergio Molina.
The restaurant, which opened in 2015, is too small to accommodate large game-day crowds watching the action on four TVs upstairs and four on the main floor. So fans usually stop in and grab a burrito or bowl — think San Francisco’s Mission-style burritos popularized by Chipotle — and a cold brew or cocktail before either heading to the stadium or one of Illegal Pete’s larger neighbors.
And unlike its neighbors, who keep the doors open until the 2 a.m. last call on Saturdays, Illegal Pete’s closes at midnight.
No Anchovies
870 E. University, 520-623-3333; noanchoviesaz.com
If your idea of the perfect gameday munch is a cold brew and a slice, with a little bumping EDM groove in the background and a patio seat near the misters, you have probably been to University’s venerable by-the-slice pizzeria.
After its 2016 renovation that added a second floor and 6,000-square-feet to the original 4,000, No Anchovies split its personality from daytime go-to pizzeria to nighttime clubbing at The Spot. You can still get a slice there, as well.
But on Saturday, No Anchovies puts on its game face and flips the switch on its 50-plus big screens, including several on its boulevard-facing patio and upstairs patio on the backside of the building. They also have a ginormous screen upstairs that makes you feel like you’re on the sidelines of Arizona Stadium.
Frog & Firkin
874 E. University, 520-623-7507; frogandfirkin.com
Frog & Firkin’s staff have been gearing up for Saturday’s home-opener since mid-August, when the longtime University Boulevard restaurant/sports bar’s student employees returned to campus.
General Manager Jonathan Graham said Saturday will kick off with a party of 100 Mississippi State alums filling a back room of the 24-year-old restaurant for a pre-game private event.
By game time, Graham expects to see Wildcats fans, many dressed in UA gear and jerseys, crowding around the restaurant’s 30 TVs and 12-foot TV wall on the patio.
“It’s a real cool vibe and a real cool vibe for the older crowd,” said Graham, who has worked at Frog & Firkin 20 years. “You’d be surprised to know that our demographic is 25 to 55. We love having the families down here. The parents want to come out and bring their kids.”
The restaurant, housed in the oldest building on University — it was apparently built as a family home in 1904 — will have drink specials on game day and some food specials. Frog & Firkin has 30 beers on tap including several local craft brews, including Crooked Tooth Brewery and 100 brands in bottles, and serves a chefed-up menu of inventive burgers, salads, pizzas and sandwiches alongside contemporary takes on English pub fare, including fish and chips and a Bavarian-style pretzel served with a coarse mustard and rosemary garlic cheese sauce.
