A Guide to March Madness in Saratoga

*Guest Post from Tim Schmidt

The snow is finally melting as the weather is heating up, which can only mean one thing, it’s March. March is when spring officially begins and St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated. Oh right – Happy St. Patrick’s Day…

But this post is not about green grass and corned beef (although both sound great right now). No, no, this post is about something far more important, the backbone of America, the life blood of every sports fan. It’s March Madness!

It’s time for buzzer beaters, Cinderellas and Bracket Busters. The time of year when dreams can be realized or broken with a single shot, and you don’t want to miss a second of it.

So where should you go to watch the next Florida Gulf Coast explode onto the scene?

For me the there are several qualifications needed.

Multiple TVs is a must for the opening weekend of the tournament. Thursday through Sunday are full of exciting matchups on a nonstop loop, and if you only have one TV screen in front of you then you’re just being foolish.

A good beer menu is also crucial. Nothing takes away from an exciting game more than a limited choice of water downed beers; you need something as good as the action.

And my final need is food, but in this case I go with finger food. I can’t be stuck looking at my plate trying to cut my way through a chicken breast when there’s alley-hoops and last second half court shots going on around me. I need my hands free for high fives and celebrations.

With that being said, it leads me to the top spots to catch all the action.

Peabody’s on Phila is an ideal spot to watch all of the games. There are TV screens everywhere so you’ll never miss a game. With multiple areas to watch, you can go with a group or just a couple buddies and enjoy one of the larger beer selections in town.

The menu is perfect as well. Featuring your typical bar food like wings and burgers your focus can remain on where it should be, basketball. Oh, and they have free popcorn which might not sound like much but once you get a bowl of it in front of you, it’s an absolute game changer.

Another great place, if you get there early enough, is the first floor of City Tavern on the corner of Caroline and Maple.

The entire bar is great, but I specifically mention the first floor because that is home to my favorite beer menu in the city. They have something on tap for everyone.

Now, I say you need to get there early because you’re going to want a spot at the bar, which on the first floor does have limited seating. But, there are several TVs all around the bar, as well as a usually pretty great crowd. The food again is bar food, but for this list the things we are worried about are basketball and beer.

My final selection to watch the Madness ensue is Seven Horse Pub, also on Phila.

While the beer selection is not as strong as the other two bars, it does have the best food of the bunch, not to mention a great TV placement. This is not fine dining by any means, but it does have well above average bar food with some of the best wings in town. Seven Hoarse Pub has always been a fan favorite, so throw some College Basketball on the TVs order up some food, and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year (sorry Christmas).