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# Maria Rohloff: Sports bars win over a shoe lover with surprisingly good food
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/maria-rohloff-send-comments-to-editor-smdp-com-the-marinade-sports-bars-can-be-gourmet-too/
- Published: 2008-03-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:04:34.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

DURING MY 20S, I SPENT MANY DAYS AND NIGHTS hanging out with the boyfriend of choice at local sports bars. Come to find out, now that I’m in my late 30s and married I’m still hanging out at sports bars, but it’s my hubby I’m sacrificing prime shoe-shopping time for. I am not a sports fanatic by any means. I do occasionally enjoy going to a Lakers or Dodgers game, but watching televised games at a dark bar with a bunch of smelly men roaring and burping is not my cup-of-tea.

And then there’s the food. I’ve never equated gourmet cuisine, let alone good food, with sports bars because all I’ve ever ordered were drinks and bar appetizers — you know, your typical fried delectables like zucchini, French fries and mozzarella sticks. But over the past few years, I’ve stumbled upon some amazing dishes and was highly impressed. It even makes me excited to watch a football game with my husband. Now that’s a first.

At the top of my list for sports bars with delicious grub is Busby’s, located at 3110 Santa Monica Blvd. I’ve been there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The venue offers free valet parking and many rooms to claim for viewing. As you walk in there’s the main room with bistro tables and stools, leather banquettes and a sofa area with coffee table. To the right of the entrance is the actual bar with more banquettes and to the left of the entrance is the enclosed patio. Towards the back, there’s another small area for a more intimate setting adorned with cushy loveseats and ottomans and to the very back, a room with a huge, wall-sized flat screen where the main game of the day is usually featured.

Breakfast at Busby’s is always consistent with fresh ingredients that never leave me feeling overstuffed.

But enough about breakfast, check out these salads not typical of a sports bar menu: Chopped Caesar with shaved parmesan; spinach pear with Roquefort cheese and candied walnuts; and beef carpaccio with arugula, asiago cheese and rosemary vinaigrette.

You won’t go wrong ordering the grilled Kobe meatloaf with mashed potatoes, baby summer veggies and pancetta gravy, roasted jidori chicken with country barbecue corn glaze and baked potato, seared ahi tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes and vegetable tempura, or the filet mignon with baked potato, sour cream and sautéed spinach. Busby’s also has a section for the Italian food lover’s called “Little Italy” with entrees like gnocchi with Spanish chorizo, chicken, asparagus, peppers and spinach, homemade spinach and cheese ravioli in a light chablis cream sauce, and seared prawns in a spicy butter garlic broth with linguini and cia-batta.

If you happen to be at Busby’s watching a Dodgers game and feel like you’re missing out on the famous Dodgers Dogs … well not to worry because they actually have them on the menu and it comes with a side of peanuts. How cool is that?

From Busby’s to Barney’s Beanery located at 1351 Third Street Promenade where the menu never ends. I’m not kid-ding. The menu reads like a newspaper and is 12 pages. If you can’t find one or two things to enjoy off this menu, then you must be one picky eater. The menu even says at the top “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” They serve breakfast all day benefiting the afternoon and evening risers. Everything on the menu is pretty much made to order your way. Page 3 of the menu consists of potato skins and stuffed potato variations, page 4 is dedicated to chili, page 5 is the burger and hot dog menu, page 9 consists of salads, page 10 is dedicated to “South of the border” entrées, and page 11 is all about pizza. I have tried so many different dishes at Barney’s and really enjoy the stuffed potato menu, any dish that’s with barbecue sauce, chili items for sure and the pizza.

From Santa Monica to Marina del Rey, I will pop into Tony P’s Dockside Grill located at 4445 Admiralty Way. Its huge bar, named the Tavern, is dedicated for viewing sports. You can order anything off the dining menu in the Tavern while watching your favorite teams. The lunch menu offers a good variety from Chef Bill’s lemon chicken breast marinated in fresh garlic and lemon juice, slow roasted then char-broiled, served side by side with fire roasted vegetable penne pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic & fresh basil to Tony’s Special Pasta — with sweet Italian sausage, cappacola, meat-balls, mushrooms, spinach, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses tossed with a little — marinara & pasta rigatoni.

A favorite on the menu is Tony P’s favorite flat iron steak, an 8 oz. prime steak with the tenderness of a filet but the flavor and texture of a New York strip. If you get a chance, order something off the Smoke House Barbecue menu or the Fresh Fish and Seafood. Both menus have creations with punches of flavor for one’s gourmet palate. Save room to top off your meal with a dessert. If you’re a chocolate lover like myself, try either the Chocolate Lovers Dream a double rich chocolate cobbler or the Tuxedo Truffle Mousse, a layer each of creamy dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse floating between three layers of marbled white and dark chocolate cake, topped off with dark chocolate ganáche swirled with white chocolate.

Now here’s Maria’s last minute wrap up: College sports aficionados are welcome to take in all the excitement and comforts of their very own signature poolside cabana at Viceroy hotel on Ocean Avenue. Decked out with LCD flat screens, gourmet-game-day-bites from the hotel’s restaurant Whist, and an unmatched selection of beer, wine and cocktails from the Cameo Bar. Poolside cabanas are available on game days on March 29, 30 and April 5 and 7.

That’s a wrap!

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032908.pdf?ref=smdp.com)