There’s been a lot of sport bars closures over the years. Back then, we had Big Bamboo on ugh…that street and the old Shanghai Brewery on Hengshan road (and Donghu road). Sadly, it seems some of the better sports bars are the ones that got the axe somehow. On a brighter note, there are still some great options to go watch late night (early morning) games and stuff your face with food and beer.
Sports Bars Tier List
S
Cages
A
B
The Shed • The Camel x Smokehouse
C
The Rooster
D
BnC
S Tier
Cages
★★★★★
428 Jiangning Lu, near Wuding Lu, Jing’an District
江宁路428号, 近武定路
Cages was one of the first sports bars in Shanghai. Back then, they had a much smaller venue that was specialized in batting cages. Hence the name “Cages”. In 2015 they moved into their current venue which was in full-on construction at the time. The food had a well-deserved reputation for being bad, but over the years the bar expanded in size and kitchen.
Present-day Cages is the gold standard for sports bars in Shanghai. The food is really good, consistently good and it’s offered at a good price. The place has some of the best deals in town with their Monday through Thursday specials: burger Mondays, wings on Tuesdays, pizza on Wednesday and Texas BBQ every Thursday. Special mentions to the chicken wings, as many foreigners agree these are the best in Shanghai.
Shanghai Food Reviews doesn’t take scenery or ambience into account when rating restaurants, but it’s worth mentioning that the place is huge, the displays are huge and the place is packed with games. It’s a first choice for groups looking to watch a big game and enjoy some good food.
A Tier
B Tier
The Shed
★★★
698 Shaanxi Bei Lu,
near Kangding Lu, Jing’an District
陕西北路698号, 近康定路
The Shed has one of the longest running food deal in Shanghai; wings night. Every Wednesdays the Shed is packed with diners wolfing down 2 RMB chicken wings. These are quite small, but then again they are 2 RMB a piece and they are pretty good, served with the optional lime, BBQ and hot sauce. Sometimes you’ll get the wings and they will be tender and juicy, and other times they will be more on the overcooked side of the spectrum, but all-in-all a solid dinner plan no-matter how hungry you are on a Wednesday night.
Unfortunately, The Shed doesn’t have much going on for it food-wise when it’s not Wednesdays. There are other specials, and even a British roast on Sundays, but the food is fairly stale and so is the gravy.
The Camel X Smokehouse
★★★
97 Xiangyang Bei Lu,
near Xinle Lu, Xuhui District
襄阳北路97号, 近新乐路
The Camel started out with a location just off of Dongping road, near where Zapatas used to be. It has since relocated to Xangyang Bei road where it merged with Smokehouse to become The Camel X Smokehouse… a Texas BBQ themed sports bar.
It is a solid sports bar and the food is good to average and consistent for the most part, but the prices are quite elevated for what you’re getting. Their BBQ burger Wednesday deal is so-so, but it’s probably the only deal in town where you can get a sloppy burger paired with a fancy house wine (which was pretty good wine actually). With better value this place could be in A tier, but its noticeably priced higher than the other places on this list for no discernible reason.
C Tier
The Rooster
★★
455 Shaanxi Bei Lu, near Beijing Xi Lu, Jing’an District
陕西北路455号, 近北京西路
The Rooster is in some ways the polar opposite of Cages. Whereas Cages is big, has big TVs, good food and good prices, The Rooster is small, has small TVs, less-than-average food and bad prices. The food isn’t terrible, but it definitely isn’t great or worth the value. Despite all this, you’ll find this place packed all day on most weekends. Frequented by a loyal base of day-drinking customers. The place has a proper sports bar atmosphere.
D Tier
BnC
★
685 Xikang Lu, near Changping Lu, Jing’an District
西康路685号, 近昌平路
BnC is one of the lesser known sports bars in Shanghai, and for a good reason. Being consistent with the quality of your food is great, unless you’re consistently sh*t.
This is the tale of a boy who went to BnC year ago and ordered chicken wings which were so bad that they had to have been microwaved straight out of the freezer. One of them was still frozen in the center.
Despite this I went back to BnC to give the place a second change. Imagine paying 60 kuai for a thin burnt patty on top of un-toasted buns with a cold slice of cheese and having to wait over half and hour for your order to arrive. Needless to say, this was the last time I stepped foot at BnC.
I haven’t been to BnC for years now, but a friend of mine went recently and told me it hasn’t changed. Still consistent apparently. I can’t image how it’s managed to stay open this long so let me know in the comments if your experience at BnC has been any different and I may take a third look.
