CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Football is back! Who are you rooting for? Well, some local businesses are scoring big with extra customers during football season.
Harknocks on the Island in Corpus Christi said they have been seeing more customers on Sundays and also Thursdays and Mondays because many people come out to their business to watch football. That means extra food and alcohol sales for the sports bar.
“Especially here on the Island, people come here and travel and they try our new things. You get to meet a lot of people,”Kayla Bayder, a server at Hardknocks said.
The other Hardknocks location was forced to do to-gos only during the pandemic shutdown, but now they’re back to business in person. They opened their new location on the Island in January and are still hiring new servers.
“Everybody here is a team. It’s not one man for himself. We’re all a team, we all work together, we all help each other out, whatever we need, we all have each other,” Sarah Boatman, a new server who just got hired last week said.
She said she plays fantasy football and that helps her connect with customers.
Tim and Ruth Ingle have been going to Hardknocks since they recently moved to the Island and said it’s a much more enjoyable experience than staying home and watching football during the pandemic shutdown.
“During the pandemic you had to watch at home by yourself and so you get a touchdown and you’re like whoooo, and you have nobody to high five,” Ruth Ingle said.
Alex White is another new server and said she has only worked shifts when there is a football game playing-and that can get busy.
“I think busy days are a lot better because I can jump in and help other people. I learn more about the food and I learn more about the bar as well,” White said.
White also works at All Star, another sports bar in Corpus Christi and said they also get more people on Sundays. All Star is at the same location as a previous Hard Knocks, but the two businesses are not affiliated with each other.
Jennifer Cintron is one of the bartenders at All Star and said they have been benefiting from the football games being back in season.
“Especially when it’s the Texans, the Astros, and the Cowboys, it’s a full house, full bar, and it definitely increases sales and drinks,” Cintron said.
She said other popular days for customers to come watch football at All Star are Mondays and Thursdays.
