Bar wings

(Credit: File photo)

It's that time of year when people across the country spend perfectly good fall Sundays screaming at the TV and eating too much unhealthy food.

I'm right there with you starting next weekend. Pass the wings - diets can wait until Pro Bowl weekend in February.

According to longtime football fans Aaron Stormo and Nate Hetherington, two of the better places in Rochester to watch pro football and chow down on wings are The Distillery at 1142 Mt. Hope Ave. and Buffalo Wild Wings on Jefferson Road in Henrietta.

The Distillery is a local institution, having been at its location for more than 20 years. Buffalo Wild Wings, a national chain, is relatively new to Rochester. Since opening in 2000, the sports bar has been a popular hangout for college students and football fans alike.

Both places have plenty to offer discerning fans. As subscribers to DirectTV's Sunday Ticket NFL package, they can tune in to up to 14 NFL games every weekend. And both restaurants are known for their signature chicken wings.

Stormo and Hetherington, both 26, frequent the two places from the football season's opening kickoff in September all the way to Super Bowl Sunday.

While both men are proud Bills fans, there are other reasons they visit the sports bars.

"I usually go to Wild Wings and The Distillery because I dig the food and they're good places to meet up with friends," says Stormo, of Greece.

Adds city resident Hetherington, "The TVs are a big part of it for both places."

The Distillery has around 40 monitors, including a 10-foot tall screen over the bar.

"Though I like the TV setup a little better at Wild Wings," Hetherington says. "It's easier to watch multiple games there with the open space."

He adds that watching football at Wild Wings is "almost akin to a party. You talk with the people you are there with, but at any given moment you could still end up in a conversation with a total stranger at another table."

Stormo and Hetherington both enjoy The Distillery's wings. Stormo says they stay crispy longer than the wings at Wild Wings. But he prefers Buffalo Wild Wings' extensive selection of wing sauces.

So if they had to answer the question made famous by former Bills coach Marv Levy, "Where would you rather be than right here, right now?" the answer would be pretty simple: with friends at The Distillery or Buffalo Wild Wings.