The Sports Den scores big with area families

In the sports arena, referees and umpires control the game.

In sports bars it’s whoever has the television remote control.

Folks at The Sports Den at the southwest corner of 40th Street and Chandler Boulevard may have found a way to bypass that totalitarian authority a little.

When Joe Zappulla purchased the former Hail Mary sports bar and started doing some renovations, he was sure to add a 20-inch flat, wide-screen television monitor in every booth at the restaurant.

“I wanted to do something different,” Zappulla explained. “The televisions in the booths and the arcade games for kids help make it more of a family-style sports bar instead of something just for the guys.”

Zappulla knows it works because he operated a similar establishment that covered 11,000 square feet and included 100 television screens in Biloxi, Miss., until Hurricane Katrina closed him down.

But it was that experience with Southern-style cooking and food that he thinks will make the Sports Den different from other sports bars in the area.

“There are a lot of sports bars around,” Zappulla said, “so we try to be a little different with the Southern-style food like Cajun burgers, TVs in the booths, poker on Tuesday and Saturday nights and a Trivial Pursuit party on Thursday nights.”

The Sports Den also features the Kobe beef burger ($9.99) made from some of the most exclusive meat on the market. Kobe beef is known for its rich and juicy flavor and extraordinary tenderness and texture that originated in Japan, where it is produced under traditional conditions from the Wagyu breed of cattle.

“I’m told we’re the only ones around here that sell Kobe beef,” Zappulla said.

Other burgers like the sports burger ($6.49) Cajun burger ($7.49) - a blackened burger grilled with onions and provolone cheese served with Cajun mayonnaise - the Home Run Burger ($8.99) and patty melt ($7.49) are made from Angus beef.

The Sports Den also serves a Philly cheese steak sandwich ($6.99 and up), Shrimp Po Boy, golden fried shrimp, lettuce and tomato on a hoagie roll served with tarter sauce, cocktail sauce or Cajun mayo ($8.99) and Fish Po Boy, fried cod on a hoagie roll with lettuce, tomato and tarter sauce.

The Cardinal - a blackened chicken breast topped with bacon, grilled onions and provolone cheese on a Kaiser roll - and rack of Southern-style pork ribs are other specialties.

The children’s menu offers mini burgers, corn dogs, chicken tenders and grilled cheese sandwiches while uncommon appetizers include sliders and boat fenders, two corn dogs served with mustard.

Zappulla grew up in Las Vegas and decided to be a little closer to home when he rebounded from Katrina.

“We decided to start over here and see what happens.”

Larry Ward can be reached at (480) 898-7915 or at lward@aztrib.com.