It can very easily be argued that STATS Bar and Grille is the best sports bar within five minutes of campus. Located on Dorchester St. in South Boston, an unassuming brick building houses one of the best atmospheres around, with some great food and drink to match.
A stark contrast from the downtown sports bars with old paintings of athletes or autographed boxing gloves adorning their walls, STATS takes a much more simplistic approach with an outside that looks like a firehouse more than anything else and an interior that seems to put cramming people in, doubling as a museum. There are TVs, tables, a bar, and not much else.
The real stars of the show at STATS are their 22 flat screen TVs, which pump in sports at any hour, as they recently proved when they opened at 7 a.m. for the USA-Russia hockey game in the preliminary round of the Olympics. This is one place where fun has no curfew.
The steak quesadillas are definitely the standout starter, and it’s stuffed full of peppers, mushrooms, and onions. If you’re in the mood for something lighter, the buffalo chicken dip with pita chips is equally delightful.
For an entrée, the steak and blue sandwich, with crispy onions, horseradish sauce, and a pile of blue cheese, is the clear winner. The spinach and goat cheese pizza is a sneaky good choice, with caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes. The food is pretty reasonably priced, with entrées ranging in price from $9-15.
If you’re on campus, there’s a huge game on, and you’re in need of a great place to take it all in, STATS is a great option. Just a five minute drive from campus, STATS is a fantastic oasis in what can be a sports bar-wasteland in Dorchester and South Boston.