Austin, TXSports Bars

Black Sheep Lodge is built for watching games on its patio, a dozen picnic tables under ceiling fans and heat lamps with enough screens scattered around that there is no bad seat. The kitchen runs nearly the same menu as its sister bar Haymaker, wings and a long draft list included. The fans and lamps keep the patio workable most of the year, so a fall Saturday and a January playoff game both hold up. Order the wings and grab a picnic table facing a screen.

Scholz Garten sits a block from the UT campus and has long served as one of the city's biggest tailgating stops before Longhorn games, a beer garden large enough to absorb a fall Saturday crowd. It pours the largest selection of German beer on draft in Austin alongside a full German kitchen. Order a stein of the German beer and settle into the beer garden ahead of kickoff, where the room fills fastest on a home game day.

Crown & Anchor Pub is a West Campus patio bar that has drawn grad students and campus regulars for decades, its tables spreading from a roofed section out under tarps and tents when a game pulls a crowd. Screens are limited, so an early arrival is the way to a clear view, though the kitchen and daily beer specials make the wait worthwhile. The cheeseburger is the standard order here, with the BLT a close second.

A giant football helmet with a Saints logo hangs outside Shoal Creek Saloon, and the room inside is built around watching Saints and LSU Tigers football with an Abita in hand. The creekside patio becomes the draw once the weather warms, with fried seafood carrying the kitchen alongside the beer. Order an Abita on draft and find a patio seat by the creek when a Saints or LSU game is on.

Lavaca Street Bar sits on Lavaca Street in the Warehouse District with plenty of screens playing the day's major games and a full wall of beers on tap. The kitchen inside runs as Turf N' Surf, serving po'boys and fish tacos alongside the games. It works as a downtown stop for a game and a meal in one visit. Order a po'boy or the fish tacos from Turf N' Surf and pick a seat facing one of the screens.