How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
This season, catching NFL action isn't the exclusive purview of folks with $219 to spend on a satellite dish.
New York City offers a chance for you to catch every game, every week, for only as much as you choose to fork over for your beer and buffalo wings.
If you're looking for a good place to watch the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers this Sunday, here's a guide to some of the best - and worst - places to watch the pigskin:
Check out:
Croxley Ales
28 Avenue B between East 2nd
and East 3rd streets
With 30 ales and lagers on tap and 75 types of bottled beer, there's always excitement at this Alphabet City bar.
To ensure that nobody drinks on an empty stomach, a brunch special is offered from noon to 4 p.m.
The bar also serves deliciously spicy buffalo wings for only 20 cents apiece.
If it gets too crowded around the seven televisions inside the bar, head out back to the 'beer garden,' where up to 200 fans can watch football on the big screen. If you drink enough, you might actually think you're at the game.
Josie Woods Pub
11 Waverly Place between
Mercer and Greene streets
If you want something closer to campus, stop by this bar, which attracts 50 to 60 football fans each week. Within, 11 screens show games simultaneously.
Josie Woods offers 25-cent buffalo wings that are just as fierce as Croxley's.
Two pool tables and a dart board offer diversion during halftime.
Before kickoff on Sunday, the place is packed with college students stumbling up the daunting staircase leading to the entrance. However, once the game commences, the atmosphere stays relatively calm.
Think of it as an alternative to cheering with your roommates at home - minus the comforts of your living room couch.
Avoid:
Riviera Cafe and Sports Bar
225 W. 4th St. at Seventh Avenue
Up to 75 people cram into this small West Village bar each Sunday, but if you don't plan ahead, you'll end up standing for three hours.
Starting each Thursday at noon, you can reserve a table near one of the 22 televisions that encircle the sports bar. If you don't make a reservation, you'll face a two-drink minimum at the door and end up scrunched between smelly football fans crowded around the bar.
The bar's lack of amenities - like pool tables, darts or drink specials - make this dive an unattractive Sunday afternoon choice.
