Sunday was game day for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI, but also gameday for pizzerias and sports bars that see a surge of customers hungry for food and entertainment.
Vincenzo’s Pizza on Lyons Avenue in Newhall was ready for Super Bowl LVI, with an entire staff helping to fulfill the significant increase of pizza and wing orders. The owner of Vincenzo’s Pizza, a Los Angeles Rams fan, was thrilled to see his customers rooting for the Rams and ordering his pizza.
“I’m one of the owners of the restaurant,” Randall said. “So when people root for the Rams and buy pizza, I’m very happy.”
Randall expected to sell more than 200 pizzas and sold more than 200 wings before the game even started. Randall said the wait was a bit longer than usual but was happy to pump out the food for his hungry guests.
“We’ve already sold more today in four hours than we did all day yesterday,” Randall said Sunday. “And yesterday was pretty busy.”
According to Wallet Hub, the Super Bowl is considered the second biggest food consumption event after Thanksgiving, with 1.4 billion wings, 11.2 million pounds of chips consumed, and $1.2 billion spent on beer for Sunday.
Ticket prices were out of financial reach for many spectators, making it no coincidence that many worldwide and in Santa Clarita chose to watch the game at home or the local sports bar.
Average Super Bowl LVI ticket prices were $10,000, and more than 96.4 million Americans watched this year’s Super Bowl on television.
Many Santa Clarita Valley residents attended local sports bars like Schooners Patio Grille on Soledad Canyon Road to watch the game with friends and family.
Teri Ledesma, owner of Schooners, said patrons were in attendance all day long, and many came in for takeout orders for their Super Bowl parties. Additionally, she said many of the friends and families at the bar had attended nearly every Sunday since football season started.
Ledesma added that many of her patrons are Raiders fans, who chose to root for the Bengals, but plenty of Rams fans were in attendance and shouted, “Who’s house? Rams’ house,” every time the Rams scored.
With large groups of families in attendance, Ledesma attributed the immense support to the community, never wavering in their support for restaurants and establishments like Schooners, especially on a day like Super Bowl Sunday.
“I feel like people are ready to celebrate among friends and just get back to the normal that we’re used to,” Ledesma said.
For Don Embody, a regular at Schooners, it was an 11-year tradition to watch the Super Bowl at the bar with friends. He said many people — like his friends — came to Schooners to unwind and have a great time.
Embody said he was rooting for the Rams while enjoying chicken wings and beer, and loved the opportunity to connect with his community at the bar.
Patrons like the Garcia family were happy to come out to Schooners and root for their favorite team in the Super Bowl.
Raquel Garcia was in full Rams attire with her family and was excited to see her team make it to the Super Bowl. Besides the wings, potato skins and beer, the Garcia family chose the venue so they could watch the game with other Rams’ fans.
“Other than being at home by yourself, I’d rather experience the Super Bowl with other Rams fans,” Garcia said.
Garcia added that being with other fans, seeing the camaraderie and rooting for the Rams in L.A. was a fantastic experience.
“It was amazing seeing the Rams make the first touchdown score, and all that matters is making sure the Rams don’t fall behind,” Garcia said.
When asked why her family eats wings while watching football, Garcia said, “It’s like a tradition every football game, that everybody has to eat wings. I don’t know why, it may be like a coincidence or something.”
Super Bowl LVI wrapped up with Los Angeles Rams winning, 23-20, over the Cincinnati Bengals at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in Los Angeles since 1993.
