Reed: Beef O'Brady's connects with the family sports experience

Mike Whiteside and Heath Helton hang out with a couple of cold ones at Beef O'Brady's.

Mike Whiteside and Heath Helton hang out with a couple of cold ones at Beef O'Brady's.

Beef O'Brady's is a great place to kick back for, from left, Mitch Kolodi, Mike Peacock, Laura Salem and Linda Peacock.

With Spring Break in full swing for UT students this past week, downtown Knoxville and the surrounding area was all but dead on the bar scene. It dawned on me that I hadn't made much of an effort to get back out west lately. This led me on a search to find a sports bar to catch some of the NCAA Championship's second round this past weekend.

After perusing the internet for ideas, I came to one conclusion. The further out west you go, the harder it is to find a bar that isn't equally as much a restaurant as it is a bar.

I decided that Beef O' Brady's Family Sports Pub in Turkey Creek was my best bet to find a traditional sports bar amidst all the shopping and eating that goes on in West Knoxville.

First off, Beef O' Brady's - or Beef's, as I will try to call it with a straight face - is a chain restaurant and pub that can be found all over the eastern United States. For me, this is usually a strike against such spots, but Beef's Irish themed food and design offer a charm of its own.

The inside of Beef's looks like most other sports bars. There are an enormous amount of TVs positioned over the dining area and bar for your sports-viewing pleasure. You are literally within viewing distance of six or seven different games from nearly every seat in the house, making Beef's a great place to gather for a food and drinks during the game.

The bar is located adjacent to the general seating area and the entire restaurant is smoke-free, keeping with the more family-friendly atmosphere that Beef's tries to uphold.

Beef's has a surprisingly large selection of beer on draft, offering 25 different varieties. You will find all of your usual domestic drafts for a pretty average $2.95. Imports will run you slightly more, but at Beef's they are certainly worth it. Beef's is currently one of ten pubs that offer the new Yuengling Bock. They also have plenty of other delicious favorites like New Castle, Harp and rotating seasonals.

If wine is more your thing, they offer a full selection of the, notoriously cheap by the bottle, Barefoot Wine for around $5. Monday nights are home to $2 pints at Beef's as well.

On my visit we decided to split an appetizer and an entree to get a good feel of the menu. They were unfortunately out of queso dip, forfeiting our first choices. We decided on the fried mushrooms instead for $4.99. They were fairly average pub fare, but their spicy sauce made up for it.

We also ordered a roast beef garlic melt for $7.49 that came with fries and was large enough to easily feed two people. Beef's has quite a few "signature" dishes, all of which sound pretty tasty over a couple of beers and some basketball.

The service at Beef O' Brady's was great and we enjoyed our food. If you are having a hard time finding a more family friendly bar atmosphere, you won't go wrong with Beef's.

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