Better Food for the Big Dance

Ben's Next Door will be showing tourney games -- and dishing out its better-than-average grub -- this weekend. (James M. Thresher)

March Madness officially kicks off tomorrow and chances are that many of you will end up in some sort of sports bar this weekend, craning your neck to watch four games at once. I know I'll be. Every year, I make completely uninformed bracket picks. Every year, I expect to actually win an office pool.

Fritz has already given you a rundown of some of the best drink and appetizer specials around town, but it got me thinking. If you're going to spend hours upon hours swilling cheap beer and cheering on your newly adopted teams, wouldn't it be nice to have something better to munch than a plate full of golden-brown, previously-frozen, deep-fried appetizers? Don't mistake me for a food snob. I've been known to wolf down an entire plate of mozzarella sticks in seconds flat (as recently as two weeks ago at Hamilton's, as a matter of fact). But there are a bunch of places around town where you can watch the games and have a more substantive meal. I've compiled a list of favorites here. Let me know what yours are in the comments below.

-- Julia