Harrisburg-Born Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar Ready for its Out-of-State Debut with a Sports Bar for the Ages
Harrisburg, PA (Restaurant News Release) Central Pennsylvania just couldn’t keep Arooga’s to itself any longer.
Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar, the region’s favorite son and beloved brand, is set to make its out-of-state debut this weekend with its first franchise location in Uncasville, Connecticut on Sunday, March 15 as part of a 15 unit franchise agreement with the Mohegan Tribe. The new restaurant is located on the corner of Rt. 32 and Sandy Desert Road is adjacent to world-renowned Mohegan Sun.The Arooga’s Team, the Mohegan Tribal Council, and members of the media celebrated this weekend’s Grand Opening with a ceremonial ribbon cutting today at the restaurant.
“We will always be Harrisburg-born and Central Pennsylvania-proud and we know this opportunity is because of the great people in this region who have supported Arooga’s from day one,” said Gary Huether, Jr., Arooga’s president, who co-founded the brand with Mike Murphy nearly seven years ago on Route 22. “With that type of grassroots support we are now able to take our brand into the stratosphere. This will be the best sports bar in America and the first of many more to come.”
Huether, Jr., who was recently selected to the Power List Readers’ Pick selection via Nation’s Restaurant News, said that Arooga’s, which outside of the region is perhaps best known for its selection as America’s Next Top Restaurant Franchise, is taking everything it has learned in the past six plus years to make the new restaurant, a 9000 square foot design with 100 plus TVs, a sports bar for the ages: “Humbly speaking of course, I can’t give you just one reason why it is the best but I can give you ten.”
- A View of Every Game From Every Seat: Arooga’s will have more than 100 televisions and almost every sports package in existence. Its dining room offers unique stadium seating with a view of every game from every single seat.
- Award Winning Wings: Arooga’s features 30 signature sauces & rubs and is a five-time winner at the National Buffalo Wing Festival serving three styles of wings: original bone in, boneless, and skinny (unbreaded, baked boneless wings).
- Forty Beers On Draft: Arooga’s has 40 beers on draft including lots of craft beer, including beers from local brewers such as Two Roads Brewing Company, Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, and Stony Creek Brewery, as we all as our famous Arooga’s Amber Ale brewed by Boston Beer Company. From Squeak to Beer Geek, Arooga’s has it, setting a benchmark for what a sports bar’s draft beer list should look like.
- Signature Cocktails: Arooga’s has a huge variety of fresh amazing cocktails, including a wide variety of fishbowl margaritas made with fresh sours, organic agave, and premium tequila, hand muddled mojitos with fresh mint and real lime juice, sangrias with rum infused fruit and quality bourbons and shooters.
- Seriously Fresh & Unique Menu: Arooga’a uses fresh ingredients and all meals are cooked to order, and the menu will include antibiotic, steroid, and hormone free Wagyu Kobe Beef Burgers, our world famous fresh not frozen wings, and our National Buffalo Festival award winning wing sauces.
- Certified Green: Arooga’s is a Certified Green Restaurant and takes important steps to help the environment: from energy management systems to reduce carbon footprint to recycling, turning fryer oil into biodiesel, using environmentally friendly soaps & chemicals, recycled to go bags, and completely eliminating all Styrofoam.
- Gluten Free Certified. Arooga’s has a huge selection of over 50 gluten free menu options, and is certified by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.
- Technology Enhanced Experience: Arooga’s entertainment never stops. It has tablets with Buzztime Trivia, Texas Hold ‘Em, predictive sports games, and other arcade options which allow Arooga’s guests to compete against other Buzztime players in more than 3200 bars across North America. Arooga’s also has Rockbot, an all in one music platform which allows customers to check in and share posts on social media, as well as vote, pick, or play music from their smartphones.
- Outdoor Seating: Arooga’s offers awesome patio seating with an open air bar experience, with a view of Mohegan Sun hotel towers and fire pits that keeps guests warm no matter what the New England weather brings.
- Room for you & your closest couple hundred friends. Arooga’s at Mohegan seats over 300 hundred guests and offers an unprecedented casual dining experience with the best view of every sporting event. It’s quite literally one of the largest sports bars in America.
Sunday’s grand opening is the culmination of efforts that began in July 2014 when Huether, Jr., Murphy, Arooga’s Director of Franchise Development Keith Swade and other Arooga’s team members joined Kevin Brown “Red Eagle,” Chairman of the Tribal Council, as they welcomed Governor Dannel Malloy and other state and local officials to the future site of the restaurant.
Arooga’s is one of the fastest growing businesses in Central Pennsylvania with 10 corporate locations and 28 franchise locations under contract. Arooga’s will be seen in Chicago as early as summer of 2015 and in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area by 2017.
“We will never forget where we’re from,” said Swade. “But we are very excited to tell you where we’re going and that will be just about everywhere. This brand is on fire and we can’t wait to show the world what Central Pennsylvania has known for some time, the Arooga’s Nation rules.”
About Arooga’s
Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar is an innovative full-service casual restaurant and bar with a sports and entertainment focus that combines exceptional food and beverages, with unique concepts, and proprietary operational strategies. Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar was founded in July 2008, and currently operates ten corporate locations in Central Pennsylvania. Now, its founders are taking the “unique sports and entertainment restaurant & bar” concept national and are offering franchising opportunities to qualified single and multi-unit candidates. For more information, visit www.aroogas.com.
Contact:
Derek Farley
DFPR for Arooga’s
704-941-7353
derek@dfpr.com