Join us for our first New Year's Eve party!

With all of our focus on the holidays, New Year's Eve seems to sneak up on us every year. Inevitably, the evening comes and we haven't made plans. At that point our options are usually limited--many restaurants, bars and clubs are reservation-only on New Year's Eve. As a result, we often stay home on New Year's Eve. This year, Tobacco Road is hosting its first New Year's Eve party, with all of our fellow procrastinators in mind. Here are a few reasons why our New Year's Eve party might appeal to you:

1. No cover charge and no reservations. So, if the evening comes and you haven't made plans but want to go out and celebrate, stop by Tobacco Road!
   
2. New Year's Eve drink specials. Not only do you not have to pay just to get in the door, you can also take advantage of our great New Year's Eve drink specials.
   
3. Party favors! It is a party, after all. Join us for great music and party favors (including noise makers) to help welcome 2010.
   
4. You can't miss the ball drop. We'll have it on our 40+ flat screen HD TVs.

Order Tobacco Road Gift Cards Online

Click here to order Tobacco Road gift cards online. We do not charge shipping or any other fees. For a limited time we are also offering to send your gift card to its recipient enclosed in a beautiful holiday card, at no extra cost (see image of card below). We will address the card by hand and include a handwritten message of your choosing on the inside of the card. The cards are guaranteed to be in the mail within two business days (or we can hold them and mail on a date that you choose). What better gift for the sports fanatic in your life?

We Need a Kids Menu! Help Design It and You Can Win...

We consider ourselves very lucky to attract a large number of families, including kids of all ages. Our list of kids menu items is printed on our main menu but we'd like to offer a kids menu that kids can write, draw and play games on (tic tac toe, sudoku...). Rather than purchasing a generic kids menu online, we'd like to invite area artists of ALL ages to submit designs for the Tobacco Road kids menu. We'll select a winning design for each month. Each winner can choose one of the following gifts: a $50 Tobacco Road Sports Cafe gift card OR a kids party for up to 10 kids, including kids lunches and video game competitions on both a Wii and XBox.

So, start sketching out your ideas for a Tobacco Road kids menu. We'll accept submissions on an ongoing basis but the first winner will be selected at the end of this month. Here are the guidelines:

1. The kids menu should be black text/ink on white paper.
2. Paper size can be either 8.5x11 inches (letter), 8.5x14 inches (legal) or 11x17 inches (tabloid).
3. The menu can be sketched by hand or created in a design program (Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop, InDesign...).
4. There is no limit on how many menu designs you can submit.
5. The only thing that HAS to be included somewhere on the menu is, of course, the kids menu. All items are $4.95 and include a side.
6. We suggest including games as well as drawings that can be colored in. Depictions of Tobacco Road sports teams, moments, historic landmarks, etc. might be a good place to start.
7. Email your submission as a pdf attachment to amy@tobaccoroadsportscafe.com.
   

Don't Miss the Veterans Day Parade on Saturday

The NC Veterans Day Parade is next Saturday, November 7 in downtown Raleigh. The parade will start around 9:15 a.m. and will end around 10:50 a.m. The formal observance ceremony will be held on the north side of the capitol building by the World War Monument, starting at 11 a.m. with a flyover by F-15E-Strike Eagle aircraft of the 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC.

The parade will begin at the intersection of Davies and Fayetteville Streets, proceed north on Fayetteville Street to the state capitol, turn left onto Morgan Street, turn right onto Salisbury Street, right at Edenton Street, and end at the intersection of Edenton and Wilmington Streets.

Join us after the festivities for lunch at Tobacco Road. A portion of lunch sales will be donated to the Wake County Council of Veterans Organizations.

New Daily Specials & Events

Saturday
$9 Pitcher of Yuengling and 
$12 pitcher of Blue Moon

Sunday

$9 Pitcher Miller Light & $2 MGD 64 Bottle

$6 Bombs & $15 Margarita Pitchers

Monday
NFL Jersey Giveaway
$2 Coors Light & $4 Mojitos

$2.50 Miller Light Draft

Tuesday
Pint Night—All Pints $2.50

Kids Eat Free

Wednesday
Trivia and Pitcher Night—Domestics ($9), 
Imports ($12) & Microbrews ($12)

Thursday
All Wine ½ Off (By the Glass)

Margarita Pitchers $15

Friday
$2 Coors Light, $2.50 Corona & $6 Bombs

Video Game Tournament Tonight, World's Longest Football Preview Radio Show Tomorrow

Join us tonight for XBox and Wii game tournaments, starting at 8 p.m.

Also, tomorrow Tobacco Road is home to 99.9 The Fan ESPN Radio's World's Longest College Football Preview Show. The show kicks off at 9 a.m. We're offering breakfast items just for this occasion. The entire Fan crew will be at Tobacco Road Sports Cafe from 9 a.m. to midnight.

They'll cover every Triangle team, every conference, take your calls and questions plus have interviews with coaches and players. 

Also, stop by and register to win tickets to the biggest games of the season, including:

* South Carolina vs. NC State

* Florida State vs. North Carolina

* East Carolina vs. North Carolina

* North Carolina vs. NC State



Catch UFC Saturday, August 8 at Tobacco Road

Stop by Tobacco Road this Saturday for UFC 101: Declaration. The two best 155-pound fighters in the world meet when UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn defends his crown against number one contender Kenny Florian. Viewing starts at 10 p.m.

Rickshaws, Marbles and More on Downtown

I have to say that although I loved Raleigh before, I am developing some serious city pride. Last Friday I ate dinner at Tobacco Road with my nephew (4 years old) and little sister (12 years old) and then called Raleigh Rickshaw to pick us up and take us to Marbles. The rickshaw driver (whose name I can't remember) arrived on time and did a great job of making the ride fun for the kids, wrapping up the trip by speeding around the Marbles outdoor water area, stopping and then literally rolling out a red "carpet" for us to step on as we exited the rickshaw. The kids loved it and the rickshaw drivers don't even charge a rate for the trips (it is tips-only).

Now, on to Marbles. When my sister was a toddler I took her to Playspace in downtown Raleigh (first the one located where Edge Office is now on Glenwood and then the one in the Creamery, behind Sullivan's). Playspace was great. She loved it. But Marbles (which merged with Playspace, I believe) is on another level. On Friday they had a special event where we went and saw "Night at the Museum" in the IMAX theater and then from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. they opened up Marbles Museum for the kids and had the staff dress up as museum characters that came to life. We walked in to toy helicopters flying over our heads and remote controlled cars winding around our feet. The staff did an incredible job with this event. 

I lived in Kansas City when I was in elementary school and was lucky enough to spend many days at Kaleidoscope in downtown KC. I'm so glad that kids in our area have a place that is just as cool (or cooler!) to learn and play at. 

Bar Golf This Saturday

Join us for bar golf this Saturday in downtown Raleigh. Tobacco Road is one of 9 holes along the R line (Raleigh's free bus serving downtown). Holes can be played in any order between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Purchase a scorecard for $5 from Tobacco Road. Each scorecard has a raffle number. All players will win a prize but will not know at which hole. Check with the caddy (bartender) when playing each hole.

Participating bars: Tobacco Road, Oxford, Hibernian, Blue Martini, The Pourch, Flying Saucer, Ugly Monkey, Napper Tandy's.

All money from scorecards go directly to LLS.

Try Our $5.95 Lunch Special

We are offering a new lunch special, seven days a week. For $5.95 you get a beverage and two of the following:

• 1/2 Tomato Sandwich or 1/2 Roast Beef Sandwich
• Cup of Soup
  
• House Salad 
  

Beverage includes any fountain drink or tea. No substitutions please.

Tobacco Road Featured in the N&O

The New and Observer's Greg Cox posted a review on Tobacco Road in the Food and Fitness section. Click here to read the article. The photo above, taken by N&O's Juli Leonard, is of our Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Collard Greens.

Miss North Carolina at Tobacco Road on April 22

Miss North Carolina, Amanda Watson, will be at Tobacco Road on Wednesday, April 22 during the 99.9 "The Fan" lunch broadcast. Stop by between noon and 1 p.m. to meet Amanda. Amanda is an advocate for the ALS Association and will be discussing upcoming ALS events & fundraisers. In addition, Tobacco Road will donate 10% of sales that day to the ALS Association. 

Click here to learn more about the local chapter of the ALS Association.

Networking Event at Tobacco Road This Thursday

Capture Carolina, a social/business networking site "connecting creative, intelligent and passionate individuals across North and South Carolina" has reached the 200 member mark and will be celebrating at Tobacco Road this Thursday, starting at 5 p.m. There is no cost to attend and the event is open to non-members. Tobacco Road will provide light appetizers for attendees.

This will be a great chance to meet other members face-to-face, exchange business cards, make actual connections and perhaps make a new friend or two. Come out and enjoy yourselves! Melissa Chambers, Miss North Carolina International 2008, will be helping check people in. You really have no excuse to miss the event (especially since it is $15 margarita pitcher night)!

Our Daily Features-Beer, Martinis, Mojitos and More!

The following features are available on the days listed from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.!

Sunday
Margarita Pitchers $15

Monday
Trivia Night
$4 Mojitos
$2.50 Pints—Bartender’s Choice

Tuesday
Pint Night—All Pints $2.50
Kids Eat Free

Wednesday
Pitcher Night—Domestics ($9), Imports ($12) and Microbrews ($12)

Thursday
Margarita Pitchers $15
$5 Appletinis & $5 Cosmopolitans

Friday
$2 Coors Light & $2.50 Corona
$6 Bombs

Tobacco Road is featuring Sloppy Joes this week!

Stop by for lunch or dinner to try our Sloppy Joe's! Let us know what you think.

Alex on WRAL Last Weekend Discussing Smoking Ban

WRAL's news crew stopped by Tobacco Road on Saturday afternoon to inverview Alex. They wanted to know his position on whether or not the government should require restaurants to be non-smoking. In the interview Alex discusses his view that businesses should be able to make the decision to allow/ban smoking. Tobacco Road is non-smoking and we have received tons of positive feedback about this. Amra's, located just up the street, is smoking (and very popular with cigar smokers). In reality, consumers drive the decision for business owners to allow/ban smoking, which is how we think it should be. 

Watch the Jackson-Jardine UFC Fight at Tobacco Road

Don't miss the Ultimate Fighting Championship fight at Tobacco Road this Saturday night. The fight starts at 10 p.m. No cover charge.

Also, enjoy the beautiful weather that we're supposed to have this Saturday from the newly finished patio at Tobacco Road.

Stop by Tobacco Road for Happy Hour

We launched our happy hour menu today. The following menu items and prices are now available Monday thru Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. with a $2.50 minimum drink order.

$1.95

• Chopped Salad
• Tobacco Road Nachos
• Jumbo Black Eyed Pea Cakes (with choice of side)
• Grilled Hot Dog (with choice of side)
• Fresh Salsa

$2.95

• Wolfpack Wings
• East Carolina BBQ Sandwich (with choice of side)
• Half Pound Burger (with choice of side)
• Southwest Grilled Chicken Sandwich (with choice of side)
• Mac & Cheese

Catch Super Bowl XLIII at Tobacco Road

Join us on Sunday, Feb. 1, for Super Bowl XLIII as the Arizona Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa Bay. Super Bowl drink specials include:

• $2 Coors Light
• $2.50 Corona
• $6 Jager Bombs
• $2 Jim Bean

We are taking reservations for all of the tables and recliners in the bar area. There is a $25 per person minimum for table reservations in the viewing area. Call us at 919-832-3688 for more information or email events@tobaccoroadsportscafe.com.

First come, first serve seating is available at the bar itself and you can call-ahead (832-3688) 30 minutes before for a table in the main dining room.

Watching the game from your recliner at home? We're offering 20% off of to-go food orders on Super Bowl Sunday.

We're on Facebook! Plus, new photos.

Tobacco Road now has a Facebook page where we'll post photos, event information and more. The "and more" will be determined when I figure out the whole Facebook thing... I had resisted setting up a page for Tobacco Road because I didn't want to confuse anyone by having too many ways to access the same information. But, I suppose that this allows our guests to access the information via the channel that they prefer. Really, one of our star employees set up the Facebook page so now I am forced to finally give in to the Facebook phenomenon. With that said, I haven't figured everything out yet. For instance, can I give you a link to our page? I can't seem to find a way to do that, so I guess you can just search for Tobacco Road and you'll find it.

I posted a photo album on there from a busy night a couple weekends ago (Panthers game). The photos were taken by Brian Mullins, who is also our wedding photographer.

99.9 The Fan Live Broadcasts This Week

Stop by Tobacco Road for live broadcasts by the local ESPN station, 99.9 "The Fan."
The Sports Lunch, hosted by Mike Maniscalco, is from noon to 1 p.m.
Insiders, hosted by Scott Jackson and Mark Thomas, is from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The schedule for the next month is:
Tues. Jan 20—Insiders
Wed. Jan. 21—Sports Lunch
Tues. Jan 27—Insiders
Mon Feb 2—Sports Lunch
Tues. Feb 3—Insiders
Fri. Feb 6—Sports Lunch
Mon.Feb.9—Sports Lunch
Tues Feb 10—Insiders
Fri Feb 13—Insiders
Tuesday Feb. 16—Sports Lunch
Thurs. Feb.18—Insiders

Watch the Inauguration at Tobacco Road

Stop by Tobacco Road this Tuesday for lunch and watch the inauguration. Make it a working lunch by taking advantage of our free wireless. Just ask an employee for the access info.

Thanks for the excellent feedback. We've been making changes based on your input. One of the improvements we've already made is increasing the size of our wings.

Win Carolina Panther Playoff Tickets

Want to see the Panthers in the Playoffs? The Insiders have your tickets to the game on Saturday! Stop by Tobacco Road Sports Cafe TODAY beginning at 3 p.m. and register. 99.9 "The Fan" will draw a winner at 5:50 p.m. You and a guest could be on your way to Charlotte.

* You MUST be 18 years or older to win.
* You MUST be present to win at 5:50pm on Thursday, January 8 or another name will be drawn.
* Prize includes two (2) tickets only. Transportation will be the responsibility of the winner.

Photos: ESPN's Tirico, Food and More

Thanks to everyone that made it out on Tuesday to meet ESPN's Mike Tirico as he hosted the Mike Tirico Show from the remote broadcast booth at Tobacco Road.
We finally had a chance to set up a photo shoot with Brian Mullins, our photographer. He took the photo below and we have also updated tobaccoroadsportscafe.com with some new photos, including a few shots of some Tobacco Road menu items.

On Weddings & Smoking

Let me introduce myself. My name is Amy and I work at Tobacco Road as a hostess. I also help the Amra boys with advertising and marketing for Tobacco Road. In addition, as of next month, I’ll be the newest member of the Amra family. I am engaged to Rommie Amra, the youngest (and also the handsomest, kindest, etc.—but that is for another post) of the Amra brothers.

Given the recent opening of Tobacco Road and the impending nuptials it has been a stressful time for all of us, but for me there has been a common theme. Compromise. Or, really, the complete inability to make everyone happy no matter how hard you try. As wedding planning and online commentary on Tobacco Road escalate this week I can’t help but ask myself—which is more challenging: a) Trying to plan a multicultural wedding in such a way that both families are happy or b) Trying to open a non-smoking restaurant called Tobacco Road in the heart of tobacco country in such a way that smokers and non-smokers are happy. The jury is still out.

But, communication is always the key to compromise, right? And I feel partly to blame for not previously doing a better job of communicating on this subject. So, let me try to clarify a few things, divided into the following topics and actual steps that led to the decision to be a non-smoking restaurant and bar.
· Step 1: The Name
· Step 2: The Logo
· Step 3: The Poll

I know that this explanation certainly won't silence the critics. That is not the goal. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It is just that, an explanation.

Step 1: The Name

This one is pretty easy. Many months ago the boys (Amra brothers) were enthusiastically throwing out name ideas for the new restaurant that they were planning to open on Glenwood in downtown Raleigh. Let’s just say that many lame name ideas thankfully bit the dust. Then one of them suggested Tobacco Road Sports Café (Rommie claims it was his idea). It struck a chord with all of them and it was agreed upon. The fact that the three of them agreed upon something with little debate is not to be taken lightly and called for post-haste development of a logo before one of them realized that they had all agreed upon something with no argument.

I remember that when they told me about the name I liked the sound of it but didn’t know what it meant. Rommie explained that Tobacco Road is a term usually used to describe the incredible college sports (and basketball specifically) tradition in North Carolina, with the Tobacco Road universities being Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and Wake Forest.

The name signifies two important things to us: a focus on sports and, more importantly, a passion for sports in North Carolina. When we think Tobacco Road we think of amazing young athletes and die-hard North Carolina fans.

Step 2: The Logo

With that said about the name, we then needed to create a logo. We hired Jon Cain, a freelance designer with extensive logo design experience, to create our logo. We DID suggest putting Tobacco Leaves in the logo, although it wasn’t a requirement. Why? Because the tobacco industry played a large part in enabling our state to establish some of the best universities in the country. Jon was asked to design a logo that conveyed a balance between the traditions and energy associated with Tobacco Road sports.

Thus, a logo was born. Actually, there were many versions prior to the winner. I think he did a great job. I tend to lean towards very simple and, quite frankly, pretty boring logo designs but this logo was just what we wanted and, I think, needed. At the very least it has sparked some healthy debate.

Step 3: The Poll

So, with a name and a logo we could start getting the word out about the Tobacco Road Sports Café concept. We started this blog and also sent an email campaign to the Amra’s email subscriber list asking them if they’d like to opt-in to a Tobacco Road email list. Over 300 people opted in right away.

At this point construction was already underway and the guys brought up the possibility of making the restaurant non-smoking. It is certainly a risky move in tobacco country. So, we decided to post a poll on our blog and we sent an email to the 300+ Tobacco Road email list subscribers. We left the poll open for a few weeks and the results were clear. Over 80% voted for non-smoking in both the bar and main dining room.

I saw a commenter on another blog suggest that the poll was rigged. While I understand that consumers can be a bit jaded, the suggestion is ridiculous and insulting, to be quite honest. If anything, we were leaning towards smoking because it certainly is the “safer” option.
In conclusion, we are happy that Tobacco Road is a place where our guests and employees can enjoy a smoke-free atmosphere.