After two years of fighting through construction issues, Buzzard Billy's was hoping for a big crowd and profitable day when the new McLane Stadium finally opened for business.
Instead, the day fell flat for the Brazos River-side Cajun restaurant. Buzzard Billy's owner Tracy Maughan said he and his staff were standing around looking at each other, wondering why almost no one was showing up at the game day tent they pitched.
Buzzard Billy's offered beer for $4.50 in 16-ounce cans and sandwiches for $4 for fans walking up to the stadium, and for anyone walking by, but didn't have many takers. Maughan said he did a decent night's business inside the restaurant, but the overall impact of the stadium fell well short of his expectations.
"For two years we had people telling us, 'when the stadium opens you're going to do great,'" Maughan said. "So you get excited and then it's a disaster."
Maughan said he took a hit on the money he spent on the tent and the product he bought to sell in it.
The problem, Maughan said, was that DPS officers directing traffic had the I-35 access road to his entrance blocked. Since no cars were passing his entrance, obviously no one was entering.
There is another entrance on MLK, but barrels along the bus route from downtown discouraged cars from coming in the back way to Buzzard Billy's.
"I don't think our parking lot was even full," Maughan said.
The good news is that everyone gets to try again on Saturday as Baylor hosts Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. at McLane Stadium. Maughan said Buzzard Billy's will try harder to get the word out about their tailgate tent, especially to people parking and riding the shuttle from downtown.
One more bite: I think people are missing an opportunity here. I'm not sure how long the walk from Buzzard Billy's to the stadium would be, but I'm guessing it's less than 10 minutes. Also, as I mentioned last week, Buzzard Billy's isn't charging for parking on game day. Don't be afraid to enter from MLK and park for free. Though if you do park there, the upstanding citizen thing to do would be buy a beer or a sandwich on your way into the game.
