A combination of events led us to the grand
opening of Duffy's latest franchise offering. It has been the location
of 2 other restaurants that didn't succeed in a new shopping area that
has many, too many restaurants of which many have failed.

Allen couldn't get it together all morning
and, in fact, missed his bowling. I had thought of trying the new
Duffy's for our Wednesday lunch and checking out their web site saw that
the Wednesday lunch special was chicken pot pie which in one of Allen's
favorite dishes so we decided to go.

Okay, just having sports grill in their name you
know you will be surrounded by televisions but  thirty--30---, at least,
of them with 6 almost as big as theatre screens. Along with that there
are football helmets from every team in the USA! The busboys wear
referee stripes while the servers were in black, yellow and green. There
were 'cheerleaders' all over the place but I think that is/was just for
the opening.

There are many 'gimmicks' such as a MVP card
that gives you credits and discounts, 40% off lunch prices during 2-4 PM
and a different 'special' each day for lunch and dinner and on the way
out we got special cards for a free hanburger for each of us.

Let's get to the
food. Allen had his diet soda ($2.49) and I had my coffee ($1.99.) He
had the chicken pot pie ($6.99) and didn't really say much about it
except that it was too soupy and used my coffee spoon to eat it. I had
my usual 'test' cheeseburger ($8.50) which was served at the temperature
I had ordered it. We both had a choice of a side and had the cole slaw which was fine. We were
given $5 off so with tax and tip the total came to $22. Our waitress,
Amber, did a good job until the end when she sat down with us--as a
waiter I would never sit at a customer's table unless they asked me to
and even then I would hesitate--and told us a little too much.

With all the specials, and MVP card giving us
so many discounts, we might go there a few more times but there was
nothing that made Duffy's Sports Grill different from any other
food/restaurant franchise except for those 30+ TVs which I can do
without.

On the way out we were
'bombarded' by the 'cheerleaders' to spin a wheel for freebies which is
how we got the free cheeseburgers and I am already getting coupons in
the mail!

The
Quarterdeck, which is a couple of blocks away, has basically the same
menu and specials but the ambiance is brighter and friendlier.