Putting the good in good sport
For dinner, we headed to Chappell’s Restaurant & Sports Museum. Named after local, staunch sports enthusiast Jim Chappell, voted one of the Top 10 Restaurants and Sports Museums by USA Today, and named among the 25 Best Sports Bars in America by Sports Illustrated (and they would know!), “museum” is just as significant a description of the place as “restaurant.”
It took a few minutes for my brain to grasp the magnitude of the more than 10,000 objects here, recognized as the largest personal collection of sports artifacts in any bar in the country. From iconic black-and-white team and significant sports moment photographs to signed memorabilia from sports legends of today and yesteryear, as well as an abundance of pro and college football helmets hanging upside down from the ceiling. Jen pretty much freaked out seeing the Oakland A’s 1974 World Series trophy. And that was all before we’d received our menus. The food was good, too—lots of apps, sliders, burger, fish and chicken sandwiches and wraps, steaks and sides. But I most remembered the Snicker Bar Ice Cream Pie the table ordered as a celebratory birthday “cake.”
“Nice job picking this place for your birthday,” Theresa told me between hot fudge-covered bites.
“For sure,” Jen said. “But, we got so many recommendations from people we met—I feel like there’s a ton we missed.”
Good thing for birthday #27.
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