8 Philly spots to take in Super Bowl LI (and one to completely ignore it)

The New England Patriots will face off Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. And while the Eagles didn't make the cut this year (again), we Philadelphians can still enjoy the Big Game with some help from two of our oldest friends: food and booze.

A slew of Philadelphia bars and restaurants are celebrating Super Bowl LI with drink specials, special food menus, and viewing parties scheduled throughout the city. Some even focus on Puppy Bowl XIII, which will feature three Philly-area dogs.

Here, we've rounded up eight Philadelphia-area Super Bowl parties and specials worth checking out, especially if you still need to drink (or eat) away the pain of a less-than-stellar Eagles season while taking in what could have been. And don't worry, if you just need to ignore the whole thing and watch a Golden Girls marathon, we've got you covered, too.

Check out our picks for watch parties and specials for Super Bowl LI.

11 a.m., Brü Craft & Wurst (1316 Chestnut St.), pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

Midtown Village's Brü Craft & Wurst will offer $5 drafts of Harpoon and SweetWater brews, as well as eight varieties of wings ($8 per order) and 10 varieties of house-made sausages ($10 each). Be on the lookout for wing flavors, including cherry molasses and General Tso's, as well as sausages like spicy bacon and fennel, and turkey habanero. Brü will also have the Big Game on a large projection wall, complete with sound.
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6 p.m., Valley Forge Casino Resort (1160 First Ave., King of Prussia). Tickets: $25-$50.[/CAL_INFO]

Guests at Valley Forge Casino Resort can take in the game on a 15-foot screen while enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet and an open bar, all for $50 a person (or $25 for the buffet and a cash bar). This year's food lineup will feature stadium classics like buffalo wings, chili dogs, sliders, pretzels, and fries, among other favorites. Open-bar options include beer, wine, and soda, which ought to help drown out the sorrow of another Eagles-less Super Bowl.
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6 p.m., Nick's Bar & Grille (16 S. Second St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

Nick's annual Super Bowl party returns with drink specials, food specials, and giveaways. Domestic drafts (Bud, Yuengling) run $3 all day long, plus $10 five-beer buckets (Miller, Rolling Rock, Bud, and Yuengling), $5 city wides, $5 roast beef and roast pork sandwiches, and six varieties of hot wings (including garlic parmesan, Old Bay, and barbecue). Also on hand will be Bud Light promotional models, who will be at the restaurant to give away Bud Light aluminum bottles and other items. 
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6 p.m., Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St.). Tickets: $25.[/CAL_INFO]

A bottomless buffet ought to help the game go down a little easier, and Brauhaus Schmitz is here to help. Its Super Bowl party will feature a buffet with hot wings, cheese fries, sloppy joes, Hungarian sausages, and mac and cheese, along with snacks like cheese trays and chips with dip, all for $25 per person. Beer specials, meanwhile, run $4 for drafts. The party's kickoff will be about a half hour before the Super Bowl's 6 p.m. kickoff, so try to get there early.
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6 p.m., City Tap House University City (3925 Walnut St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

City Tap House in University City will air the Big Game on multiple televisions throughout the bar, along with sound. Couple that with drink specials like $25 buckets of Jack's Abby pounders and $5 drafts of Bud Light, and you've got the makings of fine (and drunken) Super Bowl evening. Plus, guests can enter to win a trip to Las Vegas for themselves and friend, but must enter the giveaway at City Tap House before halftime.
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[CAL_INFO]6 p.m., Varga Bar (941 Spruce St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

The Super Bowl isn't the Super Bowl without chicken wings, so Varga Bar's Super Fowl VII must be the most Super Bowl event of them all. This year, executive chef Mike Barnisan will defend his title against American Sardine Bar's Doreen DeMarco in a wing cook-off featuring three different styles of wings. The chefs will battle it out with hot wings, non-American wings, and a wild card wing, with judges Matt Satten (Shangy's beer distributor) and Jenny DeHuff (PhillyVoice). And, oh yeah, the game will be on.
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[CAL_INFO] 3 p.m., Dock Street Brewing Co. (701 S. 50th St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

West Philadelphia's Dock Street brewery will begin with a watch party for something that has nothing to do with the game: Puppy Bowl XIII. From there, the brewery will screen the Super Bowl, complete with wood-fired pizzas and wings, as well as hand-crafted beers. The brewery's Rye IPA and Bohemian Pilsner will run $3 a bottle, with other specials including $4 pints and $16 pitchers. The kitchen will be open until 9 p.m. and will serve wings and buffalo chicken pizza.
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2 p.m., Devil's Den (1148 S. 11th St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

South Philly's Devil's Den will also be showing the Puppy Bowl ahead of the Super Bowl, with proceeds from Dogfish Head beers sold that day going to the Morris Animal Refuge. Plus, don't miss your chance to meet Max, a Puppy Bowl participant, that will be at Devil's Den from 2 to 5 p.m. Dogfish Head beer specials and dog-themed foods (hush puppies, hot dogs) abound at this animal-friendly Super Bowl event, and will continue when the Super Bowl begins airing at 6 p.m.
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6 p.m., Whetstone Tavern (700 S. Fifth St.). Pay as you go.[/CAL_INFO]

The Whetstone Tavern is the place to be for anti-sports folks in Philadelphia, thanks to a planned Golden Girls marathon and bingo game that starts just as the Super Bowl kicks off. Bingo winners will receive cash prizes, which they would be wise to spend on the restaurant's drink specials ($3 drafts, $4 wines, $10 Golden Girls-themed cocktails). The bingo game will coincide with a Golden Girls marathon that will help fans relive all their favorite moments of the show, far removed from any potential Super Bowl action. Plus, there will be cheesecake.

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