Where to Spend Super Bowl Sunday in South Florida if You Don't Care About the Game

During a recent lunch meeting over tacos, the Clean Plate Charlie crew debated the relative merits of the entertainment juggernaut known as the Super Bowl. While some looked at the sporting extravaganza as a sort of second Thanksgiving -- wake up late, start drinking early, and stuff yourself silly with fattening...

By Tricia Woolfenden

January 27, 2012

[
        {
          "name": "GPT - Billboard - Slot Inline - Content - Labeled - No Desktop",
          "component": "16971022",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "15769925",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Rectangle 2x - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782206",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Leaderboard to Tower - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782207",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

During a recent lunch meeting over tacos, the Clean Plate Charlie crew debated the relative merits of the entertainment juggernaut known as the Super Bowl. While some looked at the sporting extravaganza as a sort of second Thanksgiving -- wake up late, start drinking early, and stuff yourself silly with fattening foods and unchecked levels of bacon-stuffed appetizers -- others were pretty "meh" on the whole affair.

If you're someone who can't tell a tight end from any of the other positions that obviously sound like sexual innuendos, you might be wondering where you can find solace on Super Bowl Sunday -- February 5 -- in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

You need somewhere to go where your lack of enthusiasm and/or knowledge of the "Big Match" won't render the entire experience an exercise in self-flagellation. ('Cause, let's be honest: Even if you watch the Super Bowl "for the commercials," you can just as easily watch those online the next morning.)

For those who want to be out and about on Super Bowl Sunday, here are a few places where you won't be forced to watch the game:

Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton -- While the departure of Roy Villacrusis leaves some ambiguity about the future direction of this Mizner gem, you can rest assured the Asian fusion restaurant will in no way force the game upon you. In fact, cofounder Vaughan Lazar promises it will be a 100 percent non-Super Bowl party -- the restaurant doesn't have even one TV, let alone enough to sustain a football-hungry crowd.

PL8 Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale -- This Himmarshee spot is no stranger to a party, but you can expect a relatively Super Bowl-free -- or at the very least Super Bowl "light" -- experience on February 5. Instead, you can focus on craft beers and sharing dozens of small plates with your like-minded non-football friends.

Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach -- The BBQ, Blues, and Brews gathering at the gardens means food trucks, beer, music, and wine. Technically, this event, which is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will wrap by the 6:30 p.m. kickoff, but by that time, you can be home safe and sound and away from the showdown. You'll still have the satisfaction that you were social for the day, but you won't have to feign any deep emotional responses when someone you don't know manages to catch a ball.

Silver Pond Chinese Restaurant in Lauderdale Lakes -- It's probably safe to say that people-watching -- or fish-tank-peeping -- is a bigger sport at this authentic restaurant than the pig skin. And if you find yourself somehow overwhelmed with a roomful of crazy Super Bowl fanatics, simply order the baked preserved fish with pork and watch the place clear out.

Know the perfect South Florida spot for non-football fans to spend Super Bowl Sunday? Let us know!

Follow Clean Plate Charlie on Facebook and on Twitter: @CleanPlateBPB.

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.