Local pizzerias expect to do plenty of business on Super Bowl Sunday, but the same won’t necessarily be true for Elgin-area restaurants and pubs whose owners say pro football’s biggest game of the year doesn’t generate big bucks.
Yosi Albavera opened BG Pizzeria in Carpentersville only a few months before the championship game was held last year. He knew the Super Bowl was huge after spending 20 years working at Village Pizza in Carpentersville and Elgin, and the same proved true for his new business, he said.
“The Super Bowl is definitely good for business, especially delivery and carryout,” Albavera said.
In fact, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the busiest days of the year for pizzerias in general, media reports say. Domino’s proudly proclaims on its website that they’ll sell about 2.5 million pizzas nationally that day — about 51% more than on a normal Sunday.
BG’s makes a thin crust pizza with traditional toppings but they also boast Mexican-influenced pies with ingredients such as birria, al pastor or chorizo. But Albavera knows that if his customers aren’t ordering pizza, they will be asking for chicken wings instead.
According to the National Chicken Council, football fans are predicted to eat 1.48 billion chicken wings Sunday while watching the New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks for the Lombardi Trophy. If the council is correct, that’s an increase of about 10 million wings over last year.
Whatever the order, anyone calling in will want it delivered by 5 p.m. or so, about a half hour before the game kicks off, Albavera said.
“When the game starts, the phones are silent,” he said. “Orders pick up again at halftime.”
When it comes to people going out to watch the game, however, several restaurant and bar owners say they’re not counting on it.
“The game is too late in the day,” said Jamie Legner Mueller, who owns Rosie O’Hare’s Public House in East Dundee with husband. “Business will always be better if the game is earlier in the day on a Sunday. Better yet, Saturday would be perfect.”
With the game not starting until 5:30 p.m., the Muellers will try to lure customers in with half-price appetizers and discounted 24-ounce Miller Lite drafts but they know many people choose to hold or go to house parties rather than venturing out.
Unless people are still in the bar at closing time, they might even close up a litte earlier than usual, Legner Mueller said.
Bob Karas, who heads up Karas Restaurant Group, said he’s also not expecting to do great business Sunday night at his Village Squire locations in West Dundee and South Elgin, Rookies Sports Bar & Grill in Elgin or Old Republic in Elgin.
“People think the Super Bowl is a huge sports bar event, but in our time it’s always been just OK,” Karas said. “That’s unless the Bears or even the dreaded Green Bay Packers are playing in it.”
To draw football fans, Rookies will offer its usual assortment of Sunday game day food and drink specials and Old Republic will be holding a Super Bowl party in a heated igloo featuring 50 big TVs and quite a few specials.
Karas hopes those efforts spike business, but the teams vying for the title this aren’t the best draws for his establishments, he said.
“On top of that, people like to have home parties,” he said. “I really think Saturday night would be a better time for the game.”
While they may not be raking in big bucks Sunday, the business owners all noted that the Chicago Bears were very good for business this year, particularly with the team making the playoffs for the first time in five years.
“Every Bears playoff game this year felt like the Super Bowl,” Albavera said. “There was an energy and an increase in sales.”
Karas agreed.
“The Bears playoff games this year created such a buzz and great atmosphere at Rookies. We are excited and hope that they are there again soon. It looks like that will be the case,” he said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
