With warmer weather comes the chance to do a variety of outdoor activities.
One such activity is baseball. It’s the chance to play baseball, show your baseball pride, and cheer for your favorite baseball teams alongside family, friends and the baseball community.
Looking for a place to show your baseball team spirit for the Washington Nationals? Spend your game day at Tommy Joe’s Bar + Grill!
Alan Pohoryles is the owner/operator of Tommy Joe’s Bar + Grill in Bethesda, Maryland. Pohoryles talked about Tommy Joe’s origins and how it came to be.
Tommy Joe’s started in 1997 as an upscale restaurant on Montgomery Lane in Bethesda. Business was up and down for the first year and a half. In 1998, he was hired with a handful of others to turn Tommy Joe’s into a bar and gathering place. In 2001, he bought 51% of TJ’s and continued its path of being a great neighborhood gathering place. He added TVs to make it also a great place to watch sporting events.
“I can’t take any credit without recognizing Pete Haley, may he rest in peace, for hiring a bunch of great bartenders, including me, to build up the business at the bar,” he said. “The reason for our longevity is we controlled the chaos, managed the crowd, kept underage kids out, and maintained a fun and safe environment. Also, we have had great success with having bands and DJs playing on the weekends.”
Pohoryles said they are a great place to visit because whether you are from the area or from out of town, a repeat customer or a first timer, you are treated as family. They go out of their way to make sure you are enjoying your time spent with them.
Pohoryles listed a few things that people should look for while choosing restaurants and bars to view their favorite sports and games. He says that people should look for friendly staff, plenty of shareable appetizers and finger foods for groups of any size. Also, good sightlines to multiple televisions when watching sports.
Game day can not be watched on an empty stomach. One of the must-haves on game day is food to enjoy, as well as ways to make game days something to look forward to and more exciting for baseball fans. Pohoryles shared what makes game day at Tommy Joe’s Bar + Grill a memorable experience for guests.
“We have the best wings in town and have been told by many customers that they are the best they’ve ever had,” he said. “We also have a variety of appetizers for sharing, and multiple salads and sandwiches all made from fresh ingredients. We are very conscious to make sure we have food on our menu for all diners, including gluten-free options and vegetarian offerings and we are willing to vary any of our recipes to help diners feel comfy at our venue. Game days are always fun at TJ’s due to our floor-to-ceiling windows on our main floor and our awesome rooftop, which gives a great ‘bar’ vibe, yet we have lots of tables to dine on and watch the game!”
Pohoryles’ favorite game day foods are Tommy Joe’s Poho Style Wings and Old Bay Wings, BBQ Ribs and Chicken. Sometimes he’ll go with Old Bay Grilled Shrimp and Crab Cakes. He truly believes that Tommy Joe’s Bar + Grill has the best bar food around, including salmon, wings, fresh salads, Buffalo chicken sandwiches, wraps and crab cakes.
Baseball, like any other sport, invokes memories. Be it watching a baseball game or playing the sport yourself, with family, friends or a team. Fans have special memories of their hometown and favorite teams. This is the same for Pohoryles, who shared a fond memory he has of a baseball season and the Washington Nationals team.
“2019 was a great baseball season at Tommy Joe’s, especially the playoff and World Series run,” he said. “We will always remember Zimmerman, Soto, Scherzer and all the other players who brought Washington, D.C., a World Series.”
Game days are special, and often restaurants, bars, and food places have deals, specials and discounts for their customers.
Pohoryles says that in tandem with their distributors, Tommy Joe’s will always have specials when the hometown teams play, as well as giveaways on special game days. People can find out more about Tommy Joe’s through social media and their website, tommy-joes.com.
Deciding on what foods to prepare or purchase on game day is just as important as showing your team spirit. But what type of foods are popular to eat and have on game day?
Wings are popular for their taste, ways to cook them, and the variety of flavors to choose from when preparing them. Pohoryles gave tips and advice for people who wish to cook great wings themselves for game day.
“If you have a fryer and a gas grill, fry them about 75%, baste them in your favorite sauce, throw them on an open-flame grill and mix them around,” he said.“Baste them again, throw them back on the grill and then put them right on the plate. The double basting and grilling really cooks the flavor into the wings and the grilling, to finish, helps the meat separate easier from the bone.”
