As most Alabama fans sit around a table enjoying their Thanksgiving dinners, businesses in Tuscaloosa will be preparing for the crowds that flood into Tuscaloosa every year for the Iron Bowl.
With Auburn undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the BCS polls, and Alabama’s over three seasons of home game victories on the line, restaurants and bars are expecting crowds to be filled with both types of fans.
“It’s very exciting, everybody is on their toes and everybody is always talking about how badly they are going to beat each other,” said Blake Horton, general manager of The Bear Trap. “It’s a great atmosphere though; it’s usually pretty friendly for the most part.”
Bill Lloyd, the owner of Wilhagan’s, said being at the restaurant for the game is as close to being at the stadium as you can get. Everyone has shakers, they play the fight songs and no one is afraid to cheer. Horton said The Bear Trap is the same way, and they typically only have to prepare for fights once fans get intoxicated.
In order to maintain the peace, The Bear Trap has scheduled a full security staff, just as they do for every home game, a measure even places like Buffalo Phil’s are taking just to be safe.
“We try to eliminate problems before they occur,” said Craig Williams, general manager at Buffalo Phil’s.
At Wilhagan’s, Lloyd remembers a yelling match between a 50-year-old Alabama fan and an Auburn student. No one could remember any fights breaking out.
“With most people being from the state of Alabama, everybody knows what to expect with the rivalry and everyone is kind of together,” Horton said.
Despite the game being on a Friday instead of a Saturday, most restaurants and bars are preparing themselves just as they would for any SEC game.
“Everything is going to be exactly the same,” said Brian Ahmed, owner of Full Moon Barbeque in Tuscaloosa. “We’re here to support the team; we’re here to support the fans – whatever is better for them is better for us.”
Ahmed also said, however, that having the game early on a Friday is not necessarily the ideal. For businesses that make most of their gameday profits from catering, a 1:30 p.m. kickoff is not desirable because they expect most people to skip lunch and head straight to the game.
However, the restaurants and bars that do not rely heavily on catering benefit from a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. Lloyd said an afternoon kickoff allows for about four separate rushes at Wilhagan’s throughout the entire day.
“The optimum home game for us is at 2:30,” he said. “Friday is going to be just like a Saturday gameday for us.”
This biggest downside he sees in having the game on Friday is losing the crowds that come in the night before, a downside owners from bars such as The Bear Trap and The Houndstooth also recognize.
“We plan for people to stay for the whole weekend, and if they don’t stay then that’s okay too,” said Doug Nelson, owner of The Houndstooth. “We stock up with as much as we can for every game.”
Despite the expected losses in business, many of these places will be open on Thursday and are ordering the same amount of food and drink that they always do. Each said they have to fill their kitchens to capacity, schedule a full staff and be prepared for nonstop crowds for every SEC game. They said they know what to expect from this Iron Bowl based on their experiences in years past.
