ILM Live Guide
Wilmington's Best Sports Bars for Catching the Game
An open-air bar yard with a big screen strung up in the lights, and a Market Street pizzeria that's had TVs on every wall since 1997 — two real go-tos for game day.
Every big game needs a home base, and two spots in Wilmington keep coming up as the real answer, not just for one tournament weekend.
The Rift, on Wrightsville Avenue, is an outdoor bar yard built for exactly this: picnic tables, string lights, and a big screen set up in the yard for game days. No cover at the door, pet-friendly (though they'll tell you to read the room in the heat and the crowd), and worth bringing your own lawn chair if you want to guarantee a seat. They do pizza too, so you're covered on food.
Slice of Life Pizzeria & Pub has been doing this since 1997: TVs throughout showing most major sports, a full bar, and the kind of casual, no-frills room that makes it a favorite local hangout rather than a tourist stop. There are four locations around Wilmington, Downtown, Military Cutoff, Pine Valley, and Porters Neck, so there's a good chance one's close to you.
Different vibes, outdoors under string lights versus a classic indoor sports bar with pizza, but both are dependable any time there's a game worth watching.
