The Blue Zone

Dave! What's up man?

It really depends on what you're looking for during the weekend. More upscale places would be Top of the Hill, Spanky's or R&R Grill on East Franklin Street are all pretty solid places that also serve food. Top O' is sure to be packed. West End Wine Bar, Kildare's, Carolina Brewery and The Crunkleton (No food) on West Franklin St. would also be some places on the other side of the street that are nicer type places.

More college type dive bars would be The Library, Goodfellas, Linda's, He's Not Here, Back Bar, Bub's and a few other places would be worth stopping in for as well.

Four Corners is the best sports bar on Franklin St. with plenty of TVs and typical bar food.

Need more info... How big is your group? Ages? Guys trip? With wife/gf? Etc.

If with the wife or girlfriend, take her to Lantern to eat the night before the game.

Chapel Hill is going to be bumping that weekend. VT travels well and all the fence-sitters on the UNC side will make the trip to the Hill for Tech game, especially if we are playing winning football. At bars and restaurants, be prepared to be patient.

For tailgate, I would recommend Granville Towers. I know you didn't ask, but it is a solid place to tailgate with a nice walk to Kenan through campus that goes by the Old Well and through Tar Heel town. Last year, I think it was $20 a spot and it is a good time. One of the more lively tailgating spots.

Food.

It depends.

Quick and inexpensive with a solid beer selection, I like Peppers on Franklin St. It is a really good pizza place with personalty and fresh interesting toppings. Be warned, lots of hipsters work there. The music can be loud and it will never be pop or anything else you hear on the radio. Could be anything from The Smiths to Wu-Tang Clan. It is one of my favorite places on Franklin.

For good bar food with a substantial beer selection, check out Tyler's Taproom. The garlic fries are pretty ridiculous and there are more than a hundred beers to choose from. Technically, it is in Carrboro, but I regularly walk from campus to Carrboro on game days after the game. It is less than two miles from Kenan Stadium to Carrboro.

For higher-end southern cuisine, check out Crook's Corner. If you have foodies in your group, this is a good place. It is also in Carrboro and IMO the second best restaurant in the Triangle. (My favorite is in downtown Raleigh - Poole's Diner, chef was a semi-finalist for the James Beard award.)

Bars

Personally, I am not a big fan of Top of the Hill for food. It is too expensive for what you get for food. The atmosphere and micro-brew beers are really good, but the food is not worth the price tag for me. Great bar, expensive food.

I always have a ton of fun at He's Not Here. More of an undergrad crowd, but game day will be more balanced. Got to get a Blue Cup while you are in Chapel Hill. A Blue Cup is the 32 oz draft beer you get at He's Not Here. I mean, its He's Not and it is a Blue Cup! A Chapel Hill must! I have heard a couple of different things about the name, but the one I think is true is that HSN opened when Jordan was in school and could be found there regularly. So much so that people would call to see if he was there. It became such a regular occurance that the staff would answer the phone with "he's not here" or "he's here." After he declared, they named the bar HSN.

The best place to check out the local talent is Pantana Bobs if you know what I am saying. Good times . . . good times. Be warned - it is frat-tastic.

My favorite bar is The Crunkleton. It is private, but I think you can buy a membership at the door or get a member to sign you in (if they are ask). Really cool place. Great scotch and whiskey selection. Not likely to run into many undergrads there, but plenty of grad students. I spent most of my time there while in b-school.