XL Center Sports Bar & Fanatics Sportsbook
Hartford
February 16, 2024
I love sports, and I love food, so checking out the newest sports bar in Hartford was a no-brainer. I went to the XL Center Sports Bar & Fanatics Sportsbook for a siesta after a busy work day.
The space is impressive, with large flat screen televisions ringing the upper walls. There are numerous brand new black sports betting machines that look like a cross between arcade machines and ATMs. It’s a large, open and bright space that looks like it could accommodate dozens of people on game day, and from the bar there’s a nice view of the interior arena of the XL Center. (The view was eventually blocked by black curtains that were put in place during my time there.)
It had been a long day, so before I started thinking about food I knew I wanted a drink. I grabbed the happy hour menu, and saw that it said, “$7 Well Drinks.” I’d never heard of that before. The bartender explained that it meant simple drinks like Tito’s and tonic or rum and coke.
There was a list of “signature” drinks as well, but those weren’t on the happy hour menu. I was surprised by that, as this was the first happy hour I’d been to that didn’t have some kind of premium cocktail on the happy hour menu.
Still, I had come out for more than a Tito’s and tonic, so I ordered the salted caramel apple martini. It was made of vodka, butterscotch schnapps, apple cider, caramel sauce and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
When I got the drink the first thing I noticed was that it smelled like a caramel apple even before the first sip. The glass was frosted with caramel drips on the outside. I was afraid the mix of flavors would be too much, but the drink tasted as good as it looked and smelled. The apple cider and schnapps masked the vodka well, and the drink went down as smooth as the caramel that adorned it.
As I began to unwind, I decided on what food to get.
The menu consisted of pretty typical bar food, so I went with the old standby of buffalo wings, fried hard with bleu cheese and ranch dressing. The fried ravioli did catch my attention though, so I went with that.
When the food arrived, the wings looked great, but the food next to them didn’t look like what I imagined fried ravioli would look like at all. They were large, breaded wedges instead of the slightly oblong balls I was expecting. The bartender explained to me that the chef told her they no longer had the fried ravioli, even though it was on the menu. They’d substituted mozzarella sticks instead, but the chef couldn’t make them the traditional way, so they came out as wedges.
I was disappointed by this because I wanted to try a new kind of food. I’d have to settle for a new shape of mozzarella sticks.
First I tried the chicken wings. They were fried perfectly, with a great crunch and buffalo flavor that was spicy but not overwhelming. The only problem was that they were cold. Not ice cold, but it was clear that they’d been sitting for a while after they’d been cooked, perhaps as the chef was trying to figure out what to make besides fried ravioli.
The mozzarella sticks were almost all breading, with only a thin layer of cheese on the bottom of what was otherwise a hollow wedge of breading.
After the disappointing meal, I wanted to try to end the trip on a high note, so I ordered a reliable drink with a twist: a cocoa Old Fashioned. It was made with bourbon, creme de cocoa, bitters, simple syrup, muddled orange and a black cherry. It was quite tasty. Old Fashioneds are usually what I order when I want to get drunk quickly, but the added cocoa gave the drink a dessert-like taste, which also got me drunk quickly.
I took a gamble by trying the food at a Sportsbook, and on that front I came up snake eyes. But the drinks were good, which I suppose is the most important part when drowning your sorrows after your parlay fails to hit.
NEXT
The XL Center Sports Bar & Fanatics Sportsbook is open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Jamil is taking the weekend off. See you next week!
