Local bars, restaurants anticipate Sweet 16 business boom

The last time the Hoosiers faced the Kentucky Wildcats in a men’s basketball game, Bloomington erupted.

After junior forward Christian Watford secured a 73-72 win with a final 3-pointer Dec. 10, 2011, in Assembly Hall, fans poured onto Kirkwood Avenue in celebration.

Music blared from the windows of the Rubicon apartments as fans crowded near the intersection of Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street to rejoice about what many called the revival of IU basketball.

On Friday, the two teams will meet yet again in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, and Bloomington bars and restaurants are preparing for the influx of Hoosier fans that Nick’s English Hut co-owner Susan Bright said always accompanies a game of this magnitude.

“We’ve been fortunate enough with a big season this year,” Bright said. “Even for away games, we fill to capacity.”

But Bright said she anticipates that Nick’s will reach its 500-person capacity much earlier in the day Friday.

“We expect it to be a repeat of the last Kentucky game in December,” she said. “The difference is the amount of people downtown are going to grow.”

Fans will not only head to Nick’s, but other local businesses also expect to see an increase in customers as a result of the game.

“People are going to come in a lot earlier than they normally would,” said Joana Glasscott, general manager and co-owner of Yogi’s Grill and Bar.

For the first time, Yogi’s is allowing people to reserve tables until tip-off so they don’t have to show up before 5 p.m., when Glasscott said she expects the place to fill up. Yogi’s is charging $30 to reserve a four-person table or $40 for a six-person table.

“We’re actually losing money,” Glasscott said. “It’s helping people.”

Across town, bars and restaurants will load up on extra staff, extra food and extra caution.

“We’re expecting more people, staffing more people, bringing in more product,” BuffaLouie’s General Manager Janel Fifer said.

Nick’s is investing in additional security at the door to combat the expected increase of intoxicated and excited fans this Friday evening, Bright said.

“If people start coming to the game five to six hours before the game, and if they start drinking five to six hours before the game, they’ll be pretty toasty,” she said.

The staff at Nick’s might also start cutting people off and asking them to stop drinking earlier than they usually would.

But despite any hassles, the surge in business that accompanies a winning basketball season is good for downtown Bloomington bars and restaurants.

Nick’s, Yogi’s and BuffaLouie’s all expect full crowds hours before the game
begins at 9:45 p.m. in Atlanta, and the Sweet 16 game isn’t an anomaly in this respect. They’ve seen full houses for other big basketball away games, such as those against Purdue and Ohio State.

“They’re so used to coming here before a game,” Glasscott said. “Tables are such a hot commodity.”

Nick’s has even seen business grow by more than 10 percent during the season, Bright said.

“We haven’t had a team for 10 years,” she said. “There’s a lot of basketball momentum from the previous generations who came to IU.”

That momentum has brought Kirkwood and surrounding areas closer together, and Bright said this closeness is going to allow businesses — from giants such as Nick’s and Kilroy’s on Kirkwood to smaller venues — to see collective improvement.

“I think we’ll just see a lot of camaraderie downtown,” she said. “If we win, I think we’ll have like we did at the Kentucky game. It was like we won the NCAA Tournament.”