The 2025 NFL season kicked off earlier this month and with it comes the hunt for the perfect spot to cheer, sip and snack your way through game day. Luckily, restaurants and sports bars across the Volusia-Flagler region are eagerly airing matchups between our favorite teams while serving up game-day deals you won’t want to fumble.
From rowdy, flat-screen havens where every seat feels like the 50-yard line, to neighborhood hangouts where locals huddle over sauced wings and cold drafts, the Daytona Beach area has no shortage of spots ready to host your weekend ritual.
For those looking to celebrate the season right, check out this list of local restaurants and sports bars from New Smyrna to Daytona Beach that make every touchdown taste a little bit better.
Merk’s Bar & Grill
193 N. Causeway, New Smyrna Beach; 386-427-1177, merksbarandgrill.com
What’s football Sunday without a heaping basket of Merk’s famous Frankenstein wings? This New Smyrna Beach bar and grill is a great option for small or large parties, serving up some of the tastiest bar bites in Volusia County. More than 20 TVs fill the local hangout where you can watch your favorite college and NFL teams, play a round of pool and feast on your burger, basket or sandwich of choice.
Merk’s recently released an NFL Game Day drink menu with Sugar Works Distillery, which includes the QB Sneak — coconut rum, amaretto, buttershots, bitters, cola and lime — and the Blitz with vodka and watermelon liqueur, among other options, each priced at $7. Guests can enjoy various daily specials, from $16 domestic buckets and $5 Captain on Thursdays to 38-ounce domestic pitchers for $8 (and $7 refills) on Saturdays or $3 mimosas and $4 bloody marys on Sundays.
The Turn
5236 S. Ridgewood Ave., Port Orange; 386-265-0602, theturnfl.com
The Turn, formerly Daytona’s Original First Turn, prides itself on providing “the ultimate gameday experience” to Port Orange-area locals, with more than 70 TVs, several pool tables and indoor/outdoor bars. The iconic venue is offering all-day specials this football season, with $1 wings and $12 domestic buckets on Sundays, according to its Facebook page.
Its menu might take you a minute to scour through, with everything from steak dinners, sliders and crab fries to burgers, hot dogs and pasta. My pick? The Turn’s wings don’t disappoint, especially when smothered in garlic honey sriracha sauce, though its beer cheese jumbo hot dogs are a close second, encased in a toasted bun and topped with hearty chili.
Riverside Johnny’s
115 Main St., Daytona Beach; 386-238-9349, riversidejohnnys.com
Riverside Johnny’s is one of Daytona Beach’s best restaurants for smash burgers, stiff drinks and game days with a view. The waterfront eatery, perched along the Halifax River, holds roughly 20 flat screens, including its 100-inch patio TV, and offers indoor, outdoor and bar seating where I often enjoy some of my favorite cocktails and spinach dip.
While its standard menu features seafood dinners, loaded tacos and flavor-dripping burgers, my pick being the Daytona Double Double, Riverside Johnny’s recently brought back its game-day menu, available every Saturday and Sunday during college and pro games.
The menu includes $9 dips and chips, $7 sliders — like the black and blue or turkey club — served with hand-cut fries, seven boneless wings for $7 in customers’ choice of house-made sauce, and a half-dozen raw, grilled or steamed oysters for $12. Guests can also enjoy the Huddle Up option with 10 jumbo wings, a basket of fries and pitcher of domestic beer, all for $25.
South Turn Sports Bar & Grill
1540 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach: 386-253-5004, southturndaytona.com
It’s hardly a sports bar roundup without mention of South Turn — a family-owned mainstay that boasts more than 50 flat screens and projectors lining its walls, alongside bar-top, high-top and booth seating. South Turn’s menu is packed with casual bites that don’t break the bank, including the popular black ‘n’ blue burger, mac and cheese bites and Signature Steak Tips, each under $15.
However, its wings are the real star with more than a dozen sauce options to choose from, including garlic parm, Flamethrower and Nashville Hot — my go-to. South Turn offers various game day food and drink specials, including $3.50 well liquors, $10 domestic pitchers and $13 domestic buckets during live NFL games on Sundays and dine-in only 10 for $12 wing specials during Saturday games.
The Oyster Pub
555 Seabreeze Blvd., Daytona Beach; 386-255-6348, oysterpub.com
For Daytona Beach locals and sports fans alike, the Oyster Pub, a local fixture of nearly half a century, needs little introduction. Whether you like them chargrilled, steamed or stuffed, this Seabreeze Boulevard restaurant has built a reputation on oysters — shucked fresh at the bar — though its chowder, chili and pub burgers are strong contenders.
Holding more than 70 TVs, including a personal screen mounted at every booth, there’s hardly a bad seat in the house, whether dropping by the bar, opting for a high-top or choosing a patio table. The Oyster Pub keeps its doors open until midnight on weekends and offers a 3 – 6 p.m. happy hour during the week with a dozen raw or steamed oysters for $15.
Flagler Tavern
414 Flagler Ave., New Smyrna Beach; 386-402-8861, flaglertavern.com
Flagler Tavern brings flavor and energy to every occasion, and this year’s football season is no exception. The New Smyrna Beach restaurant and bar holds more than 25 TVs for all your watch party needs and recently kicked off another year of its tavern tailgate tradition.
During the season’s NFL games, customers can look forward to several game-day specials, including $15 beer buckets, $20 NUTRL buckets and weekly cocktail specials, as well as free football squares, half-time shots and prize giveaways during the 1 p.m. game on Sundays, according to the restaurant’s Facebook.
While Flagler Tavern starts the day with brunch at 10 a.m., its all-day menu features everything from jumbo wings, bacon-layered burgers and sandwiches to seafood towers, fried baskets and fish dinners. For information on game-day and happy-hour specials, visit Flagler Tavern’s website or Facebook page.
Waldo’s Sports Pub & Billiards
2454 S. Nova Road, South Daytona; 386-760-7006, waldossportspub.com
Waldo’s is a family-owned-and-operated joint of more than 30 years that delivers on every pub-lover’s checklist — big screen projectors, a fleet of pool tables and a steady pour behind the bar. Inside, the local hangout, open until 2 a.m. daily, houses 14 projectors, at least 25 TVs, a bar inside its bar — yes, you read that right — and game-day specials waiting to be enjoyed, according to its Facebook page.
Guests can look forward to mega beer buckets (12 domestic beers) for $32.99, among other specials, or enjoy a basket of the pub’s famous wings, tossed in Waldo’s Signature sweet and spicy sauce, a helping of crispy pickle fries, several stacked sandwiches, smash burgers and bowls, among other items.
The Half Wall
Three locations in Volusia County; thehalfwall.com
The Half Wall, a no-brainer for sports-watchers, beer-drinkers and burger-lovers alike, is known countywide, holding locations in DeLand, New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange. The restaurant and craft beer bar is a family-friendly staple where flat screens and chargrilled bites join forces for the ultimate indulgent sports bar experience.
Half Wall offers a 2-7 p.m. happy hour during the week, alongside other daily drink specials, for those looking forward to a cold beer, mix-and-match bucket or cocktail during the game. Seafood, sandwiches, wings and, most notably, burgers, make up the eatery’s menu, from the classic black and blue, to the Fried Pickle or Peanut Butter Burgers, which has landed The Half Wall a constant spot on The News-Journal’s annual roundup of the Daytona Beach area’s best burgers joints.
Houligan’s
Five locations in the Volusia-Flagler region; wallywings.com
This local chain, known community-wide, is a game day go-to and for good reason. The “spirited sports grille” got its start in Ormond Beach in 1990 and currently boasts five locations across the Volusia-Flagler region that remain as packed with flat screens and cold drafts as they do spirited game day fans.
Inside sits a full bar with rotating local and national craft beers on tap, alongside a lengthy menu of sandwiches, wraps, burgers and, of course, wings. Houligan’s is beloved for its famous Wally Wings — your choice of traditional Buffalo or Houligan’s Wally style — with nearly a dozen sauce options, ranging from honey BBQ and hot garlic to Cajun, sweet chili and X-hot.
McKenna’s Place
1443 S. Dixie Freeway, New Smyrna Beach; 386-409-3355, mckennasplace.com
McKenna’s restaurant and raw bar has something for everyone on game day and boasts more than 30 big screens mounted throughout the eatery. On the menu, you’ll find a generous seafood variety, alongside handhelds like the corned beef Reuben or fish sandwich, several chowders, and wings galore prepared with customer’s choice of garlic parm, honey BBQ or one of nearly a dozen other “famous” sauce options.
McKenna’s offers an extensive draft and bottled beer selection and a slew of Saturday and Sunday game-day specials from 11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., including $3 pints/$10 pitchers of Busch Light, $4 pints/$14 pitchers for select domestic beers, $5.99 mini nachos and $14.99 for a half-pound of peel-n-eat shrimp or a dozen steamed oysters, among other options. Visit the restaurant’s website for a full list of weekend deals. Additionally, a 3 p.m. raffle for five $15 McKenna’s Place gift certificates takes place at the restaurant on football Sundays.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Where to watch the game? Best Daytona-area restaurants for food, drinks and football
Reporting by Helena Perray, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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