Buffalo, NYSports Bars

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery pours its own beer alongside a menu that runs from lunch through late-night snacks, a downtown room that gets especially loud when the Sabres are playing. The brewery draws a mixed crowd of after-work drinkers and game-day regulars who stay through the third period. Order a beer brewed on site and a plate from the late-night menu, and expect the room to fill toward game time on a Sabres night.

Thirsty Buffalo runs 22 plasma screens around the room, an Elmwood Avenue stop built for catching a game with a clear view no matter where a seat lands. The kitchen serves its own beef on weck alongside the wings and burgers the room is known for. Order the beef on weck, a Buffalo original, and take a seat facing one of the screens for whichever game is on that day.

Bada Bing Sports Bar & Grill anchors the Chippewa Street entertainment district with 18 high-definition televisions spread through the room, Buffalo's original sports pub in the middle of the theater district. The kitchen's signature is its own Bing Sangwich alongside the rest of the bar menu. Order the Bing Sangwich and take a spot within sight of one of the screens on a game night downtown.

Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill is a downtown Delaware Avenue room built around wall-to-wall televisions and cold drinks for a laid-back Buffalo game-day crowd. The kitchen runs a fish fry of crispy battered haddock with homemade sides alongside the rest of the bar menu. Order the fish fry and take a seat somewhere within sight of the screens lining the walls for whatever game is on.

J.P. Fitzgerald's runs premium DIRECTV across 26 flat screens inside and out, its outdoor patio in Hamburg giving the room extra space for a game-day crowd. The kitchen serves a full array of appetizers, sandwiches, and salads alongside the screens. Order from the appetizer list and take a patio seat when the weather allows, or find a spot inside among the 26 screens for whichever game is on.