MSU Fan - Tailgate / Bar Recommendations?

[kluegs17]

Hey, everyone...I'm an MSU fan making the trip to Rutgers for the game this year with a few buddies. We are staying in a hotel a few miles from the stadium.

What are some good watering holes to check out on Friday night?

What's the tailgate scene like on game day? Is it more of an actual tailgate or bar scene? Any recommendations on what we should do?


Looking forward to it, thanks for your input.

 

[MrsScrew]

Lots of bars to choose from and if you are staying in downtown New Brunswick at the Hyatt or the Heldrich they are all walking distance:

Tumultys
George Street Ale House
Mikes Courtside
Old Queens Tavern
Corner Tavern
Brother Jimmys
Harvest Moon
Olive Branch


Rutgers is ALL about the tailgate on game day. there are a few that set up the night before but most will start arriving early Saturday morning (7-8am), even for the 8pm game. Flags,Tents, tables, games, food and alcohol is everywhere.

link to New Brunswick bars:

http://nj.bar-hoppers.com/new-brunswick

 

[PatrickRU92]

Which hotel are you staying at? In Piscataway or New Brunswick?

 

[sharmoota]

olive branch got the friendliest staff and patrons

 

[eceres]

Surprised stuff your face is not on the list above...Besides that seems good.

 

[kluegs17]

We are staying at the Double Tree in Somerset...looks like 5 miles or so from the stadium. My buddy is a manager for Hilton Hotels so he got us a pretty good rate there. Bad location?????????

 

[kluegs17]

Lots of bars to choose from and if you are staying in downtown New Brunswick at the Hyatt or the Heldrich they are all walking distance:

Tumultys
George Street Ale House
Mikes Courtside
Old Queens Tavern
Corner Tavern
Brother Jimmys
Harvest Moon
Olive Branch


Rutgers is ALL about the tailgate on game day. there are a few that set up the night before but most will start arriving early Saturday morning (7-8am), even for the 8pm game. Flags,Tents, tables, games, food and alcohol is everywhere.

link to New Brunswick bars:

http://nj.bar-hoppers.com/new-brunswick

Thanks for the info! Do you need to preorder a pass to tailgate in the lots or do you just show up and pay a fee or something?

 

[SouthJerseyRU]

We are staying at the Double Tree in Somerset...looks like 5 miles or so from the stadium. My buddy is a manager for Hilton Hotels so he got us a pretty good rate there. Bad location?????????

Depends on what you want. There really is nothing within walking distance from that hotel other than a couple of hotel bars. It is about a 10 minute drive to New Brunswick, the city with a lot of bars and the college town type feel. You could always cab or uber it to NB. There are a couple of other bars in the area, but nothing with the Rutgers game day/night before feel like the bars in New Brunswick.

 

[pnbsoup22]

http://btn.com/2015/07/20/hungry-heres-your-big-ten-schools-top-gameday-restaurant/

Stuff Yer Face has an outside bar, hope it does not rain that weekend!

 

[MrsScrew]

Thanks for the info! Do you need to preorder a pass to tailgate in the lots or do you just show up and pay a fee or something?

there are no tailgate passes sold through Rutgers to anyone other than season ticket holders . There are always parking passes available on ebay or Craigslist for a premium.

there are a few areas around the stadium that you can drive in and park for a fee: Johnson Park, across from the stadium is one; St. George Greek Church is another. A lot of visitors from other teams end up parking at the church...and the fee is tax deductible!

as stated above, you will want to uber to the bars in NB on Friday night from Somerset

 

[PatrickRU92]

We are staying at the Double Tree in Somerset...looks like 5 miles or so from the stadium. My buddy is a manager for Hilton Hotels so he got us a pretty good rate there. Bad location?????????

It's not a bad location like being a dicey neighborhood or anything, its just a basic generic corporate area and as noted above you're a few miles outside of New Brunswick, which is where the best bars/restaurants are and where the RU college scene is located. No problem, just have a designated driver. go to New Brunswick Friday night. For gameday head to the tailgate area around the stadium.

 

[PhilaPhans]

Extremely comprehensive guide for Rutgers game-day parking:

http://www.scarletknights.com/facilities/parking.html

As for bars, my favorite was definitely the Olive Branch, behind the College Ave student center.

I would definitely do the whole "Man v. Food" trio in the area if you have time when you're here (Season 2, Episode 19: New Brunswick, NJ). Here's the synopsis from Wikipedia:

"Richman visited several locations in New Brunswick, New Jersey, home of Rutgers University. His first stop was at Harold's New York Deli Restaurant in nearby Edison, where he tried a 10-lb., 1-foot-tall (0.30 m) Triple Decker Sandwich, which features 3 pounds each of pastrami, corned beef and turkey. Richman's second stop was at Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick itself. Stuff Yer Face (where Mario Batali got his first job in the culinary industry as a dishwasher) is known for its several varieties of Stromboli, including the option to make your own Stromboli. Richman picked a "huge"-size (18 in.) Stromboli with the following: Cheddar and Brie cheeses, beef sirloin, grilled chicken, caramelized onions, fresh onions, tomatoes, spinach, Ancho-Chipotle sauce and roasted garlic spread. Altogether, Richman's Stromboli weighed in at roughly 2 pounds. On October 10, Richman was seen filming at Rutgers University Homecoming. There, he went up against the Fat Sandwich Challenge at R.U. Hungry?, one of Rutgers' famed Grease Trucks. His challenge was to eat five of their stuffed Fat Sandwiches in 45 minutes or less; doing so would allow Richman to create and name his very own Fat Sandwich as well as earn him a spot on the Grease Trucks' Wall of Fame. Richman picked a Chicken Fat Cat (grilled chicken strips, cheese, French fries, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and mayonnaise), a Veggie Fat Cat (same as the Chicken Fat Cat, except using deep-fried veggie burger patties instead of chicken), a Fat Romano (thin steak slices, over-easy egg, Taylor pork roll, French fries, lettuce and tomatoes), and two Fat Kokos (steak, marinara sauce, mozzarella sticks and French fries). Altogether, the 5 sandwiches weighed over 7 pounds. Prior to Richman, around 250 people had tried the challenge, and 16 had succeeded. In the challenge, Richman ate 41⁄2 sandwiches before he ran out of time: he ate the two Fat Kokos in the first 13 minutes, but struggled with the Fat Romano and Chicken Fat Cat, causing him to run out of time when he was halfway through the Veggie Fat Cat. The Fat Romano, named after Belleville, New Jersey native Rich Romano, a Rutgers student in the mid-1990s (making it one of the first sandwiches to be named after a student), was Richman's ultimate undoing. During the "Greatest Moments" episode (which aired after the conclusion of the second season), Richman expressed his disappointment with not finishing this challenge, noting that he would have finished it if the time limit were an hour, and feeling like he had let the entire school down by failing the challenge."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_v._Food_(season_2)

 

[CornerTavern]

If you want to buy a game day pass that does not require you to take the bus over from the basketball stadium, get there early and park at the Greek orthodox church off of River Road. I've seen people tailgate there, it's not the classic packed crowded blue lot, but you can definitely tailgate there. And it's walkable to the stadium easily.

 

[CornerTavern]

Also, just past the Greek church there on that side street are a few residences that take cash for parking on some pretty big grassy areas. Again, I've seen people tailgate there, it's a little quiet but you'll probably find other visiting team fans there as well.

 

[CornerTavern]

Lastly, don't forget the bar "world of beer" they have an amazing beer selection.

My namesake bar, however, is worth a stop for the ambience, there's a bunch of WWII era graduation mugs lining the ceiling of the whole bar… Come in and get a bottle, not a draft! And then continue on your way!

 

[FlintTown]

Someone here posted a great breakdown for visiting fans about a year ago, which included detailed maps of the area, hotels and bars. It's disappointing that such a thorough post wouldn't be pinned to the top for at least a couple years.

 

[Knight Shift]

Lots of bars to choose from and if you are staying in downtown New Brunswick at the Hyatt or the Heldrich they are all walking distance:

Tumultys
George Street Ale House
Mikes Courtside
Old Queens Tavern
Corner Tavern
Brother Jimmys
Harvest Moon
Olive Branch


Rutgers is ALL about the tailgate on game day. there are a few that set up the night before but most will start arriving early Saturday morning (7-8am), even for the 8pm game. Flags,Tents, tables, games, food and alcohol is everywhere.

link to New Brunswick bars:

http://nj.bar-hoppers.com/new-brunswick

This is one of several posts that are linked to the pinned thread at the top of the Football Board. Some updates needed:

Tumulty's is no more-now Tavern on the George
Mikes Courtside is permanently closed.
Brother Jimmys is permanently closed.

Add:
Stuff Yer Face
Redds Biergarten

@DJ Spanky - maybe it would be easier to update the pinned thread:

Game Day and Travel Advice for Visiting Fans

So we are getting a lot of interest from visitors who are coming out for some of our home games, particularly the one against Iowa. So I thought it would be good to aggregate links to these threads as a kind of one stop shop for them. If you know of others, PM the links to me. Question from an...

rutgers.forums.rivals.com

 

[DJ Spanky]

Sounds like someone's bored tonight.

 

[Knight Shift]

Sounds like someone's bored tonight.

Bored? I'm preparing for the season! Maybe, nobody cares, but the links are seriously outdated and a disservice to our visitors. Don't you care about the traveling Wagner fanbase?