‘People are hungry’: UT Sugar Bowl appearance boosts buzz for new and long-time local businesses

Avery Travis
·2 min read
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — With just hours to go before his bar filled with football fans on Monday, J.V. Cook stood watch.

He has been serving Longhorns at Posse East, which sits just blocks away from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, since 1971. Since then, Cook has seen it all, but he said excitement and anticipate from Texas football’s appearance in the Sugar Bowl has been good for business.

Despite many fans flying to New Orleans for the game, Cook said he and his son, who co-owns the establishment, are bracing for a full house, or rather “a sardine can!”

“People are hungry,” he said, referring to his crew’s food and drink offerings — but also for a Texas win.

He went on to say, “It’ll be a later-coming crowd because the game’s not across the street, but once they start coming, they will keep coming and coming and coming. We should have a really good night tonight.”

During Posse East’s first few years in business, the Texas football team were fresh off championship wins in the 1969 and 1970 seasons. Cook’s favorite memories, however, come from the January 2006 win against the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl — and he said this Sugar Bowl buzz has a similar feel.

“And they got to drink a victory beer. So, hopefully, we will be in the same shape they were,” he said.

‘It’s going to be raucous’

Over at Haymaker on Manor Road, the excitement for the Longhorns started to build early Monday afternoon.

“It’s going to be raucous, there are going to be a lot of people in here,” Haymaker owner Keith Sandel said. “It is a good kickoff for the beginning of the year. Football has been good for us this whole season.”

Chris Birt and his family spent most of their afternoon at Haymaker in anticipation of the big game. They are starting the New Year focused on nothing but the Longhorns.

“We decided to make it an all Texas day. We’re really excited about the game, we watched Longhorns basketball earlier,” Birt said.

The excitement for the Sugar Bowl bringing a sizeable boost to new bars in the first quarter of 2024, putting them on a solid track for the year ahead.

Victory Lap opened last year and UT football has helped pack out its space the entire season.

“It has been amazing! The moment we found out we got this far, everyone started talking about watching it on our big screen,” said Kiki Banks, general manager of Victory Lap.

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