Whether on the gridiron, hardwood, diamond, or ice, athletes raise our expectations, and in crucial moments, dash our hopes or fulfill our dreams. Some of them cement fame and glory by following through on guarantees. Others fall, get backpage bullied, and live accepting that they never won a ring. Whatever their success in the record books, many gridiron heroes and ballpark messiahs have splashed their names on dining establishments that also serve as a shrine to their athletic glory. But there's not necessarily any correlation between winning and the ability to open a great restaurant.
For the last two years, The Daily Meal has evaluated the best athlete-owned restaurants in America, looking at restaurants owned or invested in by boxers, golfers, skateboarders, hockey players, quarterbacks, and basketball legends. For most, the formula is pretty standard: generic pub food, lots of TVs, even more memorabilia covering the walls, and always, always, spinach artichoke dip. The only thing usually missing is the athlete himself.
Don't expect to spot Brett Favre greeting guests at his steakhouse in Green Bay. And what about say, for instance, Michael Jordan's The Steak House N.Y.C.? The website may claim that the restaurant was "designed to reflect Michael's sense of taste and style," but the way its representatives respond to the most innocent of questions about His Airness' basic involvement lead you to the conclusion that the only connection to him is a licensing one.
THE DAILY MEAL: 15 best stadiums for food
THE DAILY MEAL: 15 craziest stadium foods
But the reality is that whether or not the athlete is there, or even regularly involved, there are athlete-owned restaurants that put out popular food — and some of it's even good. On the West Coast, skateboarder Tony Hawk has invested in a restaurant that's kitchen is run by a James Beard Foundation "California Chef of the Year." Meanwhile, NFL quarterback Vince Young not only has a steakhouse in Austin, but also supplies his own brand of smoked meat to area grocery stores.
To determine this year's champs we investigated reader suggestions, evaluated local reviews, tallied popular rating sites, and scoured menus for more than 35 athlete-owned restaurants across the country to narrow the list to just the 20 best. This year's list includes steakhouses, Southern specialists, barbecue joints, sports grills, high-end dining, and Chinese restaurants that are owned, or partially owned, by athletes. Check out the slideshow for all the details. And if you think that there are any we left out, feel free to let us know in the comments.
THE DAILY MEAL: 20 best athlete-owned restaurants for 2013
THE DAILY MEAL: America's best sports bars
1) Elway's — John Elway (Denver)
In Denver, John Elway is God. The former Broncos quarterback did what few legends have done: won his second Super Bowl in 1999, retired on top, and then stayed retired. His foray into fine dining has been equally successful. He co-owns three eponymous restaurants, one in the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Denver, one in Denver's Cherry Creek neighborhood, and a third in Vail, Colo. The steakhouse menu will please carnivores with a caveman's appetite, but skirt the standards to find the creative apps and sides, like lamb chops dipped in green-chile fondue, crunchy calamari tossed with stuffed olives and cherry peppers, and truffled beet and mozzarella salad.
2) Tresca — Ray Bourque (Boston)
Twenty-one seasons with the Boston Bruins made Ray Bourque a legend in Boston. Even though it wasn't until joining the Colorado Avalanche that he won the Stanley Cup, Bourque chose Boston as the place to open his Italian restaurant, Tresca. There's a four-course tasting menu to help you navigate choosing between crespelle, vongoline, cioppino, osso bucco, maiale Abbruzzese, and other promising and authentic dishes.
3) The Kingfish Café — Gary Payton (Seattle)
While playing for the Seattle Supersonics in the late 1990s, former NBA point guard Gary Payton became a co-owner of this authentic Southern spot. The menu is as fun to read as the food is to eat: Sho'Nuff Fried Green Tomatoes, Hoppin' John Griddlejacks, and Down Home Mac and Cheese. Save room for dessert — the red-velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting is a winner.
4) Arnold Palmer's Restaurant — Arnold Palmer (La Quinta, Calif.)
"Taste the good life" is the tagline of Arnold Palmer's Restaurant in La Quinta, Calif. Makes sense. If anyone's living the good life, you'd think it would have to be Palmer. He won 92 national and international championships (61 of them on the regular PGA Tour), he's designed golf courses, and hey, he even invented a famous drink. Menu highlights include date and strawberry salad, honey-soy glazed Chilean sea bass, rack of lamb, and pan-seared sea scallops.
5) Short's Burger and Shine — Nate Kaeding (Iowa City, Iowa)
Though he kicked clutch field goals for the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins, Nate Kaeding has maintained a connection to his hometown of Iowa City, Iowa, by buying a stake in this bare-knuckle burger and beer joint. The corn-fed beef comes from Ed Smith's Farm, just 26 miles down the road, and the craft beer comes from breweries around the state, like Old Man River. If you ever find yourself in Iowa, stop here for the Popejoy burger, a messy medley of patty meat, capicola, provolone, and muffaletta sauce.
6) Yao Restaurant Bar — Yao Ming (Houston)
Yao Restaurant Bar was good enough to be featured at number 19 on The Daily Meal's list of 25 Best Celebrity-Owned Restaurants. Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and his wife joined with friends and local restaurant owners to create a large space serving Chinese and Chinese-American food. Lettuce wraps, Peking dumplings, Kung Pao (Yao?) beef — it's all there.
USA TODAY: 10 great places in Lyle Lovett's Houston
7) Greg Norman's Australian Grille — Greg Norman (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
An Australian grille in South Carolina? It might not be the first thing that comes to mind for the Southern state's cuisine, but it's there, set along the Intracoastal Waterway in the golfer's paradise of North Myrtle Beach. From the open kitchen comes tuna sashimi crusted with sesame seeds served over a cucumber seaweed salad tossed in a plum vinaigrette, oven-roasted half duckling served with black-pepper fettuccine and garnished with asparagus tips and a cherry ginger sauce, and slow-roasted 28-day aged prime rib. The link's legends' signature chardonnays, rieslings, and cabernets round out the Wine Spectator Award for Excellence-recognized list of spirits.
8) Bubba's Q — Al "Bubba" Baker (Avon, Ohio)
After retiring from professional football, defensive lineman Al "Bubba" Baker and his wife Sabrina opened a catering business featuring "Southern-style barbecue cuisine." Bubba's Q has since done pretty well, at least according to the accolades they list (among them Cleveland Magazine and Silver Spoon Awards for "Best Ribs" and "Best Barbecue Restaurant" from 2009 to 2011).
9) Vince Young Steakhouse — Vince Young (Austin, Texas)
Though he now plays in the NFL, quarterback Vince Young remains king in Austin for leading the University of Texas football team to the NCAA national championship in 2005. A few years ago he returned to his college stomping grounds to open his first restaurant downtown. The menu specializes in beef, from short-rib chili to locally sourced Texas prime-grade steaks and a rich Wagyu-brisket burger balanced out by briny house-made pickles.
10) Island Way Grill — Mike "A-Train" Alstott and Dave Moore (Clearwater Beach, Fla.)
The creation of businessman and restaurant-owner Frank Chivas, who partnered with former Buccaneers running back Mike "A-Train" Alstott and tight end Dave Moore, Island Way Grill boasts that it's "all about fresh fish." The site says the restaurant has its own boats, which "make daily trips to the middle grounds to bring back fresh tuna, mahi, snapper, and other local species... If it's any fresher, it is still in the Gulf." Fish is cooked around an oak- and citrus-fired open pit.
USA TODAY: Clearwater Beach voted Florida's best beach town by readers
11) Ditka's — Mike Ditka (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Oakbrook, Ill.)
The menus at all three locations of Da Coach's steakhouses are sprinkled with references to him, but if that's not enough, take a little bit of Ditka home by buying Da Coach's clothing and accessories, specialty wines, and cigars.
Menu highlights include the "Fullback Size" filet mignon with spinach and onion rings, and "Da Pork Chop." The restaurant was good enough to reach the ninth spot on our list of the 25 Best Celebrity-Owned Restaurants.
12) Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine — Clyde Frazier (New York City)
Walt "Clyde" Frazier opened his sprawling eponymous restaurant on the far west side of Manhattan in March of 2012, and it's a floor to- ceiling paean to the gregarious Knicks legend and broadcaster, with wall-to-wall photo murals and portraits, and oftentimes the man himself on hand. The bar boasts three-dozen TVs; there's an oak-paneled half basketball court (in all odds the city's only one in a restaurant), and portion sizes are generous. Menu items are all over the map, from wild mushroom ravioli to blackened salmon in vanilla-bourbon butter.
13) Brett Favre's Steakhouse — Brett Favre (Green Bay, Wis.)
Packers replacement Aaron Rodgers has already cemented his reputation among cheeseheads, but Brett Favre's Steakhouse still continues to pull in the regulars. The restaurant is filled with Packers memorabilia, trophies, and personal items of the peripatetic quarterback. It's "the one place on Earth that captures the spirit of #4," notes the restaurant's website, reflecting "Brett's Southern upbringing in its menu and warm, welcoming atmosphere."
Largest cuts include the 32-ounce porterhouse, Brett's Signature Steak (a 20-ounce portion of London broil seasoned with cracked pepper, and garnished with sautéed button mushrooms), and Brett's Cut (20 ounces) of Titletown's Best Prime Rib. That Southern upbringing shows itself on the menu, with items like Bayou pasta, blackened grouper, and jambalaya. And Friday nights feature perch, walleye, and all-you-can-eat cod.
14) Fred Steve's Steakhouse — Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie (Lincoln, R.I.)
Fred Smerlas (nose tackle with the Bills, 49ers, and Patriots) and Steve DeOssie (linebacker, long snapper, and former Cowboy, Giant, and Patriot) opened their steakhouse, Fred Steve's Steakhouse, in the Twin River Casino in 2007. House specialties on the self-described "wicked good menu" include sweet creamed corn off the cob with pancetta, smothered cubanelle peppers, lobster mac and cheese with truffle oil, and "tobacco onions."
15) Randy White's Hall of Fame Barbeque — Randy White (Frisco, Texas)
The former defensive lineman and linebacker serves up "Dallas-style" Texas barbecue on the outskirts of the city (in Frisco), via a wood-burning pit. Opened in 1994, the restaurant is well-known for its all-you-can-eat Friday special and $6-plate lunches.
16) Majerle's — Dan Majerle (Phoenix)
Former Phoenix Suns guard "Thunder Dan" Majerle was renowned for his ability to shoot from downtown. His restaurant, a little more than a block from US Airways Arena, is situated squarely in the downtown district. (Actually, there are four locations, with another opening soon in Flagstaff.) The menu features references to former players like the Sir Charles Chicken Sandwich, and includes burgers, sandwiches, salads, and wraps, along with the traditional sports-bar appetizers (nachos, wings, sliders, and quesadillas).
17) Wayne Gretzky's — Wayne Gretzky (Toronto, Ontario)
The namesake restaurant of Canada's most beloved hockey player and NHL Hall of Famer is strategically located a block and a half from the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite being closer to the ballpark than the hockey arena, Gretzky's recently-renovated dining room pulls in fans with local delicacies like poutine, a heart-clogging mash-up of skin-on fries, cheese curds, and a pool of gravy. There are also pan-fried pierogies stuffed with bacon, potato, and Cheddar, inspired by "The Great One's" grandmother. For oenophiles, Gretzky produces his own brand of wine, No. 99: its grapes are grown on a peninsula in Vineland, Ontario, considered to be the "Napa of the North."
18) Billy Sims Barbecue — Billy Sims (Various Locations)
After a brief but sparkling professional career as running back for the Detroit Lions, Sims turned his attention to his other passion: barbecue. There are currently a whopping 30 locations of Billy Sims Barbecue throughout Oklahoma, Missouri, and Michigan (with a 31st opening soon), with traditional barbecue favorites like pulled pork, brisket, and smoked chicken joined by regional specialties including Frito Chili Pie and smoked bologna. He also, of course, offers tailgate-friendly "super packs."
19) Joe Theismann's — Joe Theismann (Alexandria, Va.)
Many dishes at Joe Theismann's sound pretty run-of-the-mill — wedge salad, seared ahi tuna,— but you have to be doing something right to have the staying power this former Redskins' quarterback's restaurant does, since it opened more than 35 years ago. Of greatest interest perhaps is the steakhouse-cut pork chop with a "secret rub," a longtime customer favorite.
20) 8-Twelve MVP Bar Grill — Aaron Rodgers and Ryan Braun (Brookfield, Wis.)
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers teamed with Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun to open this farm-to-table bar and restaurant in 2012. The restaurant gets its beef from nearby Hidden Creek Farm, and the comfort food-heavy menu includes items like Cheddar and Gouda tater tots, fried cheese curds, pastrami-spiced pork chop, and surf and turf.
Contributing: Dan Myers, TheDailyMeal.com
THE DAILY MEAL: Best college-stadium eats
Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2013/03/25/the-20-best-athlete-owned-restaurants/
0 comments:
Post a Comment