Two drinks: Shooters Sports Grill

The dry-rub seasoned wings at Shooter Sports Grill. (Credit: Leigh Taylor | Metromix)

Shooters has sports, specifically basketball, on the brain all of the time, and its name says it all. The bar has more than 20 TVs to catch every hot sporting event.

The mood: Shooters is laid- back and has two bars, plus a ton of tables and booths for those looking for a cozier seating experience.

My date and I dropped in on a Saturday around 4:30 p.m., during the conference tournaments, and the place was packed with people: bunches of guys tuned to the action, groups of women were having a beverage and bite to eat, and there were families enjoying an early dinner.

The food: Shooters has a large menu. Choice appetizers include Southern Style Bleu Cheese Chips ($3.99), Saratoga chips topped with real bleu cheese crumbles and dressing, and Finish Line Cheese Fries ($6.99) - a heap of fries covered in provolone, mozzarella and cheddar with crumbled bacon and served with ranch sauce. You can add chili for an extra dollar.

My date and I started off with the Potato Rags ($6.99): shredded potatoes, cheese, tomatoes, red onion and crumbled bacon with ranch dressing. This was one of the best appetizers I've ever eaten, like overloaded hash browns that you could eat any time of the day.

For an entrée, I tried the Hot Pepper Turkey Sandwich ($7.99), seasoned pepper turkey grilled with pepper jack cheese and a zesty sauce on toasted sourdough, with a cup of soup, which happened to be chicken and sausage gumbo. The sandwich was hot all around, hot because it just came off the grill and spicy because of the flavors. Between that and the gumbo I couldn't help but keep refilling my beverage.

My date had the "I'm All In" cheeseburger ($8.99), a half-pound of Angus beef cooked to order, with crispy bacon, cheese, red onion, lettuce, pickle and tomato, and a side of broccoli bacon salad. The burger was a little undercooked, but once we asked the waitress to cook another one, there was no problem at all; we even got an order of Saratoga chips when the burger came back.

The drinks: Shooters has 16 draft beers every day ranging from Miller Lite, Coors Lite and Blue Moon, to Killian's, New Castle, Samuel Adams Lager and Kentucky Bourbon Ale. There are also 28 bottled beer choices such as Foster's, Dos Equis, Landshark, Red Stripe and the local Mt. Carmel Amber Ale, plus Smirnoff malt beverages and Woodchuck Cider.

My date had a 16-ounce draft Dog Fish ($5.25) while I had a traditional margarita ($5.95). There's a stronger option too: The 14k has 1800 tequila and Grand Marnier.

The verdict: Shooters is the place to be during any large sporting event. With a wide selection of drinks and food to choose from, it will not disappoint.