It’s time for the long-awaited, much anticipated review of Ferg’s Sports Bar in St. Petersburg, Florida. If it seems like I’ve been paying an undue amount of coverage to this bar so far, that’s because I have been. Ferg’s is the place that started it all for me – where I cut my baby teeth on team trivia and nacho platters. Ferg’s is the definitive sports bar in Pinellas County to which all other bars must be compared. Although Ferg’s is famous for being located across the street from the stadium (Tropicana Field), its centralized location and proximity to Interstate 275 means that this sports bar makes a great meeting place and jump-off point whether you’re heading west to the beaches afterward, or east towards downtown. It just makes sense, like cat-yodeling. However, even if your night ends when the game does, you’ll find that Ferg’s does just about everything right! It’s a great place to relax and soak up the Sports Bar Junkie experience.Food
Ferg’s does nothing fancy when it comes to the food, but all of the dishes are solid, and there is some nice variety on the menu. My favorite meals are the fried buffalo chicken sandwich (hot), the nachos, the stadium salad, and the chicken quesadilla. The fries are crispy and the chicken wings are meaty! Ferg’s also offers up smoked fish spread, a grouper wrap (not real grouper), and a generous selection of salads. The burgers are only OK, and I must warn you about the chicken wings: though delicious when served piping hot, these wings turn particularly gross when they get cold. Consider ordering just five at a time, so that this fate does not befall your tasty wings. Personally, I love to order the stadium salad (a house salad with cheese and bacon) and a basket of fries and then combine the two! It’s certainly not orthodox, but I call this creation a “fried Greek salad” (get it, Greek Orthodox, that’s a pun)? Anyway it’s delicious, and if you don’t believe anything I say, just order a chicken quesadilla and try your best not to like that! They post daily specials on the blackboard, keep an eye out for grilled cheese, it is beer’s best friend. Overall it’s very good bar food, but nothing too special.
Food - 4/5
Beer
The bar at Ferg’s is loaded, and they can make you just about any mixed drink your heart desires, but at what cost? No, seriously, I don’t know how much it costs and my bill is frequently a little bit higher than I expected. There is a pretty good variety of beer available on tap, including Yuengling, Coors, and Blue Moon. Occasionally Ferg’s runs a special on bottled craft beers, but not often enough for my liking. However, if you know your way around the bar, you can do pretty well for yourself. Happy hour runs from 6 through 7 on the weekdays, and all domestic and well drinks are half-priced. $1.50 pints and $2 glasses of wine are definitely things the Sports Bar Junkie can work with! A little known fact is that during happy hour, it’s cheaper to go with single drafts than it is to order a pitcher, so keep that in mind when you’re there with your friends. The Blue Moon draft is my favorite, but that beer never gets the half-price treatment, so I usually choose Yuengling, but go with the wheat beer if you’re feeling flush, they even throw in an orange slice! I like the selection, I like the variety, I’m not too keen on the price, but I always have a good time. Drink and be merry, the Sports Bar Junkie endorses the beer!
Beer - 4/5
Service
Uh-oh! It’s hard for me to say that the service is bad, because they’re all very nice girls (and yes, they are all girls), but it’s even harder for me to say that the service is good, because it isn’t. While the servers are never rude, sometimes I wish they would be, since that would mean they were at my table. Ferg’s is the place where I developed and perfected my patented two-fisted, double-arm full extension waitress signal. Such a move might be seen as impolite at most establishments, but I find it practical in this application. In Ferg’s defense, my last few visits were some of the best, meaning I haven’t had to wait 40 minutes to order, so maybe things are improving. There are some new faces, and I haven’t seen the worst offenders in a while. Most of the time I have no complaints, but if it’s 6:50 p.m. and I’ve got 10 minutes to find the waitress and order a drink before happy hour ends, I get a little nervous when I don’t see anyone around. One failure in that situation is definitely one too many! Overall, the staff has a good attitude and a lot of ground to cover, but the fact remains that the service is sub-par. Maybe it's time to invest in one of these.
Service - 2.5/5
Atmosphere
I like the look inside of Ferg’s. I like the green tables, I like decorations, I like the bar, everything is so colorful and I love the vibe! I enjoy the way the interior is divided into three distinct rooms, each with its own character. The lighting is just right, and the sound system is usually broken good. The bathrooms are conveniently located, and they have their own TVs! Popcorn is self-serve from their standing popcorn machine and it’s also free. There’s something very welcoming and not pretentious about the atmosphere at Ferg’s; it’s a big place that manages to feel cozy. The expansive outdoor patio offers the sensation of being drunk outdoors in public without the citation. My only complaint is that the chairs could be more comfortable, but it’s not that bad.
Atmosphere - 4.5/5
Sports
Ferg’s is definitely the place to come watch sports, and that is ultra-important to a sports bar. Ferg’s throws the best big-game block parties I’ve ever been to. Plus it’s sandwiched between the baseball stadium and the police station, which makes me feel oddly comfortable partying there. There are a whole mess of TVs to watch and no bad seats in the house. An impressive amount of sports memorabilia adorns the walls, and the crowd always seems to be into the action. There is no better place to watch a Rays game. It’s the next-best thing to being at the game, and the drinks are cheaper! For football, baseball, basketball, and college sports fans, few places are as lively as Ferg’s. Did I mention they have TVs in the bathroom?Sports - 5/5
Fun
There is no better bar game in town (that I know of) than the Monday and Thursday night trivia contests at Ferg’s Sports Bar! The game starts at 7 p.m. and moves briskly towards the final question at about 8:30. The point-allocation scoring system forces you to wager on how confident you are in your answers, and the questions themselves test a wide range of knowledge, from sports to science and literature. Ferg’s has spared no expense, bringing in the Tampa Bay Dream Team to run the show, and the hosts do a great job every week. Bar tabs are the prizes for the winning teams, and you can use them right there on the spot to cover your bill. The trivia game is a great lead-in to Monday Night Football or as a night out in itself. There’s not much else going on besides trivia; no darts and just a few dusty arcade machines stuffed in the corner of the back room. Nevertheless, Ferg’s, in the heart of St. Petersburg, is one of the most fun sports bars around.
Fun - 4.5/5
OVERALL = 24.5/30
GRADE = B+
