World Cup Final at BJs

Yesterday we made a last minute decision to watch the world cup final at The Londoner, a restaurant I've been wanting to try. Except everyone else had that decision, and theirs wasn't last minute. But the time we arrived shortly before kick-off we were told they're be a 2 hour wait. Meaning really everyone there was staying for the game. But since we were out already we decided instead to head to BJ's Brewhouse.

We are big fans of the restaurant, except for the fact their service is pretty awful. But knowing that we were planning on being there for two hours service wasn't really an issue.

Now before I get to the food, because that's almost the most exciting part of this post considering how the game went down, let's do a little comparison. When we pulled up to the Londoner the parking lot was full. We walked in behind a group of college guys, with one even dressed up in American Revolution ware complete with a tri-cornered hat. Clearly if you were a soccer fan in B.R. this is where you wanted to go for the atmosphere.

And then at BJ's there was only a 5 or 10 minute wait. And while they did have the game on TV, they had screen on various other games a well. A baseball game or two, but even replays of old football and hockey games. And then of course there was the fact they were playing music and didn't have the game commentary on. There were other people in the restaurant watching the game, easily told by who cheered after a goal, but I'd guess maybe only a quarter and that's being generous. It's an interesting comparison to what BJ's would look like if there was an LSU football game on, no matter who they were playing. Clearly Baton Rouge is not a soccer town.

But on to the food! BJ's has these small plates, that I'm growing found up. They're almost like a mini-appetizer, in that they're prize for only a few dollars. But the amount of food is just enough for me, and I like being able to order an appetizer without almost doubling the cost of my meal.
So for my mini-plate I went with frie artichokes. I thought they were really good, and a ton for the price. I didn't even try the sauce, in general I'm not a fan of creamy sauces, so can't even tell you what kind it was.
Then I went with a small Mediterranean pizza which I know I've had before. Even though its a small, I still only ate about half which means it's waiting in the fridge for dinner tonight.
And for dessert, we were there for almost 2 hours after all, I went with their white chocolate macadamia nut pizookie. They did have a red velvet pizookie which I thought about, but wasn't sure how red velvet would work in this form. Although next time I might have to take the plunge.

While we did have a good meal, with the US loss it wound up not being the greatest time. But I guess there's always the next one!

Did you watch the women's world cup final? And would you consider your town a soccer town?