Football season has arrived: Here are 4 Pueblo sports bars where you can catch a game

With the start of the fall season comes the best time of the year for many Puebloans — football season.

If you don't have tickets to the game or just want to celebrate — or commiserate — alongside like-minded fans, there are plenty of sports bars in Pueblo to choose from.

While not an exhaustive list of locally owned places to watch a game, CaT's Pourhouse, The City Bar and Grill, First Round Draft Pub and Restaurant, and ThunderZone Pizza and Tap House are four of the best local options.

CaT's Pour House in Pueblo West features game day raffles, touchdown shots

With 27 TV screens, CaT's Pourhouse, 147 Tiffany Drive, has served sports fans in Pueblo West for 21 years.

The business serves everything from blackened salmon to chicken tenders, chicken fried steak, sloppers with homemade green chile, hamburgers, pork tenderloin, margaritas and more. During Broncos games, CaT's Pour House raffles off items like jerseys, apparel, footballs, stuffed animals, gift baskets, fuzzy socks and blankets. Jell-O shots and pickle shots during Broncos touchdowns are another game-day attraction for visitors.

"If the Broncos don't have a touchdown, then we still just have to celebrate; that happens sometimes," owner Coleen Guidry said. "We have a lot of fun during games."

CaT's Pourhouse also hires designated drivers to transport patrons.

Guidry said she goes from table to table making sure everyone has rides home, and drinks are served responsibly so crowds don't get too rowdy. Her husband, Tim, is in charge of the restaurant's vast layout of TV screens and hooking up to livestreams during local high school games. In February, CaT's Pourhouse hosts a well-attended Super Bowl party.

"We probably have about $5,000 in halftime giveaways, which we almost have to give away during the game because there's so much stuff," Guidry said. "We can't even give it away during halftime. We just have to give it away ... People want to watch commercials and the fun stuff."

The City Bar and Grill, newcomer to the Mesa Junction, has a lot of Pueblo pride

Opened by owner Pete Soto in December 2021, The City Bar and Grill, 106 Colorado Ave., quickly became a go-to spot for many to watch the Colorado Avalanche win their way to a Stanley Cup title.

With football season just getting started, manager Morgan Mattarocci hopes to see crowds even bigger than those that came for hockey games earlier this year.

The menu at The City includes pizza, chicken wings, burgers, sloppers and daily drink specials. Happy hour is from 4 to 6 p.m., when all beers are $1 off. In addition to being open from 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Friday, the bar will be open on Mondays during the NFL season.

"We have NFL specials ... You can do 16 wings and a bucket (five beers) for $25 or a pizza and a bucket for $25," Mattarocci said. "You can do all three for $45."

The City will run similar specials during Colorado State University Pueblo football games. Support for the ThunderWolves and Pueblo high schools is echoed not only through the memorabilia on the bar's walls but also through its menu. Popular sandwiches and burgers include the Colt, the Hornet, the Cyclone, the Scorpion, the Bulldog Burger, the Wildcat Burger, the Eagle and the ThunderWolf.

"Just come for a good time and watch your favorite football team," Mattarocci said. "If somebody else wants to stream another game, we'll put it on another TV. We have 10 different TVs that we can play 10 different games on."

First Round Draft Pub and Restaurant provides a family-friendly environment

Street tacos, burgers, burritos, sloppers, pizza, Friday night prime rib dinners and outdoor cornhole are among the features at Mike O'Donnell's First Round Draft Pub and Restaurant, 611 S. McCulloch Blvd., in Pueblo West.

From 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, First Round Draft has a happy hour with $3 margaritas, Long Island iced tea, tequila sunrises and pina coladas, along with 50 cents off well liquors. Daily specials include $3 street tacos on Tuesday, $12 build-your-own burgers on Wednesday, $11 sloppers or burritos on Thursday, a $28 Prime Rib Dinner and Dessert on Friday and a $12 Steak Dip with fries on Saturday.

House specialties include calamari, nachos, queso dip and wings. While First Round Draft is typically closed on Sundays and Mondays, making it a better stop for college football than to catch an NFL game, the restaurant is considering opening for Sunday football this fall.

"We do have about five TVs," said Cole McCarthy, the restaurant's assistant manager. "We have a large outdoor patio with cornhole, a covered patio and then an uncovered patio. For colder months, we have heaters to keep it warm. Other than that, it's definitely a very family-friendly environment."

Additional information and updates about First Round Draft can be found on the restaurant's Facebook page.

ThunderZone Pizza and Tap House is a popular hangout for ThunderWolves football

Not far from the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl, ThunderZone Pizza and Tap House, 2270 Rawlings Blvd., streams every ThunderWolves game, home and away.

Pizza, burgers, wings, sloppers, fried cheese, plenty of appetizers and desserts are on the menu at ThunderZone. The business has a variety of drinks to choose from, including 32 beers on tap. The Tundra Limeade, an alcoholic cherry limeade named after the late ThunderWolf mascot, Tundra, and $5 Moscow mules also are popular among patrons.

"It's a rockin' environment," owner Ryan Howard said. "We do a lot on college game day, especially for CSU Pueblo because we're right across the street, but also on Sundays it's pretty full in here ... we show all the Broncos games, of course, with the sound on ... we can put pretty much any game on if they want to watch."

On Wednesday nights, ThunderZone is home to the Coach Wristen Show, an hourlong radio show featuring CSU Pueblo football head coach John Wristen. Outside of football, ThunderZone draws crowds for Nuggets, Avalanche and March Madness games.

When the first day of March Madness fell on St. Patrick's Day in 2021, ThunderZone saw consistent crowds from 10 a.m. to midnight, Howard said.

ThunderZone also has a second location, ThunderZone West, at 74 Component Drive, Suite 110, in Pueblo West.

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo sports bars where you can catch a football game this fall