Eat and drink your way through Husker game day: 2018

September 12, 2018

Update 8/12/19

Most everything in here holds up for the upcoming football season in 2019, Yeah! The biggest change is that Green Flash stopped serving food, which probably makes them a little too far out of the way for me to recommend making the long walk to get to. But besides that, use this as your 2019 guide to Husker game day.

Lincoln during football season is quite the place to be. Game day Lincoln is a city that is electric, full of life and truly one of a kind. So if you’re lucky enough to find yourself in Lincoln on a game day, take advantage. Do it the right way and you’ll have an experience you won’t find anywhere else.

The first thing that makes Lincoln Unique on game days are the fans. Nebraska fans are as passionate as you’ll find anywhere. They’re as dedicated as you’ll find anywhere. They care more than almost any fanbase out there. There are all sorts of things that back that up, but look no further than the fact that they’ve sold out Memorial stadium every game since 1962. Those fans give an atmosphere that is unique no matter where you go.

The fans are not all that makes game day in Lincoln different. While not completely unique, it’s not all that common to find a college town that is the size of Lincoln. I think it’s is a perfect size for game day: it’s larger than your typical college town so there’s more to do and explore. But it’s not so big that it still has that college town look and feel. Campus is located downtown and you are within walking distance to all of the best food and drink places in the downtown area. Think of a downtown professional sport stadium where you can make an entire day out of going downtown to eat and drink and then to a ball game.

The problem with adding all of those passionate fans into the downtown area is that it will to be hard to find anything but crowds wherever you go. You’re not going to avoid that, but hopefully I can help navigate your path to avoid the frustration and standing around and have a great experience eating and drinking your way through game day.

Friday Night

Friday before every home game, the Nebraska marching band and the cheerleaders head to Misty’s in Havelock for a pseudo pep rally. One option is to grab a drink and watch the show, it’s definitely worth it. If you go that route, plan on standing in a fairly crowded bar area. If you want to sit down and also eat while watching the festivities, get there early, like 4:00 or earlier. The band doesn’t get there until 7 or so, so you’ll have plenty of time to get a seat, but also some prime rib while you wait. I’ve seen plenty of opposing fans attend, so don’t worry about going if you’re not for Nebraska, they’ll treat you well and it’s something anyone who enjoys college football needs to do once. Misty’s is also known for the best prime rib in town, so if you go there and want to eat, make sure that’s what you’re ordering.

If you’ve already been to the pep rally, or don’t want to make the effort to get all the way out to the Havlock neighborhood for the pep rally, I would direct you to browse through my blog and find something that fits your style and situation. Friday night is a free night to explore what Lincoln has to offer, so all of my opinions I put into this blog are in play. Start with the blue marks on the map and work your way down. Need more direction? If you’re staying in the downtown area and enjoy wine, start with the Oven Cellar have a great glass of wine, share a nosh board and some Chicken Tikka Madras and go from there. If you have time Friday afternoon and enjoy beer, don’t miss one of ZipLine’s two locations.

Game day: where to eat

What I’m looking for in a place to eat before the game: a casual atmosphere with good food and drink list, TV’s to watch other games and enough people to be exciting, but not too many to make it frustrating. Here are my favorite places.

Crowded, but worth it (in order of most worth the wait):

Lazlos (.6 miles)
A classic Lincoln restaurant who’s been brewing good beer since before it was cool to do so. There is open seating in the bar area so wait for something to open up and take advantage.

Leadbelly (.4 miles)
A very large menu with enough over the top items that you’ll need a lead belly. Perfect for game day. Get the fully leaded jacket, or the breakfast leaded jacket if it’s a morning game.

Bourbon street (.5 miles)
A small restaurant on the south side of the railyard. So there’s not a lot of room, but get there early enough to get a table and it’s perfect pre-game for a group of people: dump a crawfish boil on the table and go to town.

Not as crowded and definitely worth it:

Yia Yia’s (.6 miles)
One of my favorite places in town with fantastic pizza and one of the best beer selections you’ll find. But it’s a bit away from the action in the Haymarket and they don’t have TVs, so it’s usually easier to find a spot here.

Honest Abe’s (.5 miles)
Everyone in Lincoln loves Honest Abe’s. I don’t know if I am as crazy about them as everyone else is, but they do an excellent job of giving you a fun experience and have some really fun burgers. Which is more than enough to make a game day visit worth it.

Green Flash (.7 miles)
The new kids on the block, Green Flash is in town from San Diego. They have only been open for a few months, but I’ve been multiple times and have been super impressed every time. They are also a bit away from downtown and the Haymarket which is why you should be able to get in without much hassle. 

Game day: where to drink


Crowded, but worth it (in order of most worth the wait):

Lazlo’s (beer)  (.6 miles)
They’ve been doing beer for a while and they do it well. They’re also at the top of the food section, so you they’re great for food and drink.

Boiler Brewing Co. (unique beer) (.5 miles)
Boiler has a lot of beer and they are all unique. It’s worth staying all day so you can try a few. You can also get food from the Single Barrel, which is an awesome bonus because the Single Barrel has some really good food. The first year or so they were opened, they would have fallen into the not as crowded category, but I think people have caught on to the secret.

Barrymore’s (coctails) (.5 miles)
A speakeasy format that is hidden in the allyway and set up as the backstage of the Rococo. I’ve always loved the atmosphere and if you like coctails over beer and wine, this is your stop. Plus I’ve seen Scott Frost and Matt Davison hanging out here before coach Frost came back to NU and could go out in public. So you know it’s a place endorsed by the head coach. Before the game, it isn’t as crowded, but after it will be quite busy.

Kinkaider Brewing (beer) (.5 miles)
Kinkaider is from my area of the state (central NE) so it’s fun to see them in town. Besides Lazlos and Boiler, they’re also the only brewery in the Haymarket area which is worth a visit by itself. Get the Devil’s Gap jalapeno ale.

The Railyard area (beer) (.5 miles)
If you go at the right time, the Railyard can be fun. There are a few places that have some good beer to choose from, there is a lot of seating and you can watch football on the (really) big screen. But it can get a little too crowded for my taste and … young so avoid it if you walk by and it’s not what you’re looking for.

Not as crowded and definitely worth it:

Jakes Cigars (beer) (.5 miles)
Jakes has one of my favorite tap selections in town and a cool atmosphere. There is a room where you can smoke cigars and a room where you can’t. Pick your poison.

The Oven Cellar (wine) (.5 miles)
The Oven Cellar is absolutely one of my favorite places in town, but probably doesn’t scream pre-game to me. That said, if wine is your drink of choice, this is where you should go. They even have a TV or two if you want to watch other games while there.

Happy Raven (beer) (.5 miles)
The Happy Raven has a really good beer selection on tap, a large space to accommodate a lot of people, are close to the stadium but not in the Haymarket so they’re not as crowded as the other bars.

Green Flash (beer) (.7 miles)
The San Diego Brewery has a national reputation for great beer and even has beer brewed in Lincoln, exclusively for Lincoln. Why did Green Flash pick Lincoln as their only other location in the US? Because Lincoln is an awesome place to be, that’s why.

Yia Yia’s (beer) (.6 miles)
The best, most expansive curated beer selection in town, and some good pizza. No TVs, but it’s far enough removed from the action that you can actually sit down and enjoy your drink.

Code Beer Co. (beer) (1 mile)
Code is the furthest away from the stadium on this list, but they are probably still within walking distance depending on where you park and your walking threshold. On game days they have big screens set up, and it’s distance away from the stadium helps avoid the crowd. So it’s a great place to watch other games and try out one of Lincoln’s local breweries.

Honest Abe’s (adult milkshakes) (.5 miles)
While it probably falls into the where you should eat category, the adult milkshakes are both good and unique. So it’s worth the stop.

During the game: Valentino’s & Runza

Two Lincoln (and Nebraska) must haves during your visit are a slice of Valentino’s pizza and a Runza. If you are visiting from out of town, the stadium is a great place to try them instead of needing to making a special trip. A Runza is sort of like a beef & cabbage hot pocket, which may sound weird if you haven’t had one. But people who grew up here absolutely love them, including me. They’re great and I won’t let you tell me otherwise. But there are few things better in this world than sitting in a cold stadium (while watching Nebraska score their 10th touchdown against Kansas) and getting that warm slice (or two) of Valentino’s pizza to warm you up. It’s a really simple slice of pizza and probably won’t make my list of the best slices of pizza in Lincoln but it just makes me happy every time I have one. It’s the small things. If it’s not cold outside, you should probably end with some awesome UNL Dairy Store ice cream too.

After the game

If you enjoy a more laid back bar, you may need to venture a little further away from the downtown area or check out the “not as crowded” places on my list above. But if you enjoy the college type-bar with a lot of people, O street is your gig. Each bar on O street has it’s own unique twist, so try to go to more than one, but if it’s up to me, go to Sandy’s to get some Elk Creek juice and then Duffy’s for a fish bowl. If the fish bowl makes you hungry, you can also get a great Ali Baba gyro through the window in the back of Duffy’s. There are also a few other awesome places to stop by on O street (one of them being Yia Yia’s that I talked about earlier). But when out on O street late, do as the college students do, get a slice of Lazari’s Pizza or go to Amigos for a crisp meat burrito, which if you ask the kids, somehow becomes magical at 2 in the morning. I typically avoid O street these days, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out.

Possible game day routes

Below is a map of routes that approach getting to the stadium from different directions. After that is a map of everything listed above if you’d like to create your own.

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