Tailgaters

This place has gone way downhill. I used to find it acceptable. I don’t like sports bars, but it had a great beer selection and decent food. Most importantly, it was on campus and was better than Wackadoo’s. Now, it is awful. Still on campus, but that’s all it has going. The beer menu is stripped down to only a handful of mostly uninteresting beers. The menu is also truncated, but I think it was a game menu. It looked pretty similar to the old menu which is basically just slightly overpriced bar food. So without the beer, there is no reason for me to go there. With that alone, I would give it two stars.
I’m rating it one star because I went there tonight and my wife and I ordered a beer. It had gone off severely. It tasted like pickle juice. So we ordered two more beers and they weren’t quite as bad but they were still off. The beers were a Newcastle and Guinness so we know what they should taste like. This was frustrating, but seems like it could just be an accident and should be easily resolvable. The manager (maybe owner) came over to see what was wrong and didn’t seem to take our concern for her beer very seriously, didn’t comp us a new drink, just offered to sell us something in a bottle. Not a bad handling, but definitely not great. The reason that it frustrated me so much was that she obviously doesn’t care about serving nasty beer to patrons. Final nail in the coffin was the nachos we ordered. These used to be good. They were still typical bar food but pretty good and a decent deal. Now we paid 9.50 for some chips covered in melted american cheese, old el paso, some iceberg lettuce and ONE! jalapeño slice. Not worth it at all. They weren’t gross, but they weren’t even up to the mediocre standards of the food they used to serve, so I’m done with this place.
Summary: They don’t have a good selection of beer anymore, and the ok food of the past is now garbage. Will not be returning. Wackadoos is a much better choice for beer and food on campus

I like Tailgater. Mostly because
so convenient to the UCF sporting events. We typically go prior to a game and have a great time. Our favorite server is Frenchie.
Before the game they have a smaller menu you can choose from. I have gotten the buffalo shrimp there and they are really good. They also have great burgers.
The place gets too busy at times and then things slow way down. Beer tap selection is great too.

Oh, Tailgaters, where do I even start?
My boyfriend, a friend, and I decided to stop in here six hours before a game. The weather was rainy and nasty so there were maybe 10 people in there.
There were 3 bartenders inside and about 15 young kids manning the grilling station outside, if you want to call it that. We were seated for about 20 minutes and realized that no one was coming around to our table. I can understand no service to tables during super busy times, but c’mon.
We started to get hungry so we eyed the menu and went to the bar to place our orders. We were told that the only food being served was from the station outside. Seems like they should do away with the menu if it’s going to be so limited. I caved and ordered some ribs, which were pretty average.
The beer selection is bigger than most sports bars in the area, but definitely has room to grow. I am going to have to disagree with the previous Unilocaler, their selection is not the best around. I did like the huge board on the wall displaying the different types of beers available. I didn’t see a beer menu, but I’m assuming they have one.
There are enough TVs to watch your favorite teams, so no qualms there.
The attendant in the bathroom was a strange surprise. I don’t really understand the need to have one there considering it’s a sports bar. Also, I think it was rather gross to see her eating in the bathroom at one point. Ew, really?
The bartenders and the «cooks» were friendly enough, but like another Unilocaler commented on, it kind of felt like we were an annoyance. I guess if I were paid to stand around, I would get annoyed at having to actually work too.
I will be back, but probably just to have a beer or two. I hope I have a more positive experience then. :(

Yikes! I forgot to mention the beer selection. It’s the BEST around. They have killer beers on tap and in bottles; if you dig micro and imported (not your average imports) beers, you MUST check it out.

Sorry, it’s a one-​star from me. I follow UCF sports so the Mrs. and I have been meaning to try the place for two years now. In the fall they run a grill outside and I’ve been wanting to try their BBQ. But they are always packed for football games, with lines out the door, and we never felt like fighting the crowd.
So last night’s B-​ball game seemed a perfect opportunity to grab a good meal after the game. Particularly since the idiots running the arena had a grand total of two concession stands open for a crowd of 7,000 people. But that’s another rant for another day.
And now it all goes down hill. We walk in and the place has maybe 10 people at the bar and another 10 people scattered at tables. We find a table and sit down. All the little twitty waitresses look at us. And look away. And continue their busy conversations about their hair, or their boy friends, or whatever the hell it is that was more absorbing than — you know — waiting on customers.
So after about 10 minutes Mitzi or Muffy or Bimby finally decides she just HAS to wait on us. She takes our drink order and hands us a plastic menu the size of a church program. It’s got about 6 items on it, and all of them are appetizer types. No ribs, no steaks, nothing that’s written on the dry board outside the restaurant.
We ask Twitzy, «hey, is this the menu?» And I am not making this up, her answer was «yes. when there is a game we get busy so we don’t want to serve everything. hee hee.»
«Can we have our check now?»
Does that make any sense to you? When we get a lot of customers we can’t be bothered to serve the things they might want to eat? It’s too much work?
I’m sorry. If you are open for business, you are open for business. There is no excuse for not serving the dinner menu at 7 PM on a Saturday night.
In the words of Yoda, «Do, or do not. There is no try.»
You know, this place gets absolutely trashed on the UCF sports message boards. For poor service and for their utter indifference to the UCF sports program. Despite that, we always wanted to try it. Now we know. This family is moving on.

Chances are if you go to Tailgaters you will meet the owners, Greg & Vicky, which is enough reason to come back, but then there is also the beer and food.
50 beers on tap.
100 (or more) on bottle.
All of your favorite beers plus all the other beer you never heard of (including a lot of American microbrews).
I’m not your mother, you just owe it to yourself to go to this place.
The food is mostly bar food that you’re probably already familiar with though healthier choices are available. To be honest, I initially went there just for beer, then after I tried the food I realized this place could be dangerous for my wallet.
The owner is an avid fisherman so you will find a lot of seafood here when it’s available, including freshly caught fish which I’ve had a few times (he makes a seared tuna sandwich with wasabi mayo and ponzu sauces). He also served me TORO before. Tell me, at what other bar will you find toro??? Only tailgaters, that’s where.
The staff is friendly and they have many HDTV sets. If you want to watch a particular sport, they will try to accomodate you.
It’s far from where I live and I only go when I am on the east side of town. However, if I am with a group who wants to sample different beers, I’ll make the trip during any other day.

Tailgaters is tucked between the UCF Arena and Brighthouse Stadium on campus. I’ve been there for lunch a couple of times and it’s usually to get some pulled pork. The pulled pork is juicy, soft, and they give you a very generous portion. I’m usually not a fan of brittle fries, but when I mix it with the soft pork and pour on the bbq sauce (which is pretty good there), the crunchiness of the french fries is a good foil to the softness of the pork.
What’s most impressive about tailgaters is their beer selection. They have a HUGE beer selection and most of what they offer are beers that are unknown to me. It feels like it could be a good experience trying them all if I ever have money to burn, which will probably never happen unfortunately. The staff is also really friendly. I always sit at the bar and the bartender is great at what she does.