Detroit, MISports Bars

Hockeytown Cafe is the room to root for the Red Wings, built around dozens of big screens that keep every angle of the game in view. The kitchen runs through staple sports bar snacks, soft pretzels, wings, and fried pickles, food built for sharing while a game plays out. More than thirty beers fill out the list, from Sam Adams to Detroit Pale Ale and Two Hearted Ale. Order the fried pickles and a Two Hearted, then find a seat facing any of the screens.

Thomas Magee's is a whiskey focused sporting house in Eastern Market, built around a list of every major sporting event it plans to show, posted on its own site. Flat screens around the room play every sport, every game, every fight, without much regard for which team the crowd came in rooting for. The whiskey list runs past a hundred different brands, deep enough to match the range of sports on the screens. Order a whiskey pour and let the room's screens cover whatever happens to be on.

Harry's Detroit runs as a pre game hub built to move fans toward all four of the major teams at once, with shuttles to and from Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers, and Lions games and free parking for anyone heading that way. It also keeps a weekend brunch going for a slower start before an afternoon game. Order at the bar before the shuttle leaves and let the room fill in around kickoff or puck drop.

Nemo's Detroit is known as a pre and post game sports bar, the kind of room that fills before kickoff and stays busy after the final whistle. Even fans without a ticket to that day's game come for the plenty of TVs, enough to rally around whichever team is playing. It keeps a simple, no frills sports bar setup built around watching together rather than mingling. Order a beer at the bar and settle in with the pre game or post game crowd.