Nightlife in Lowes Island

The owners of First Break Sports Bar & Grill turned a tragic fire into an opportunity. After the loss, they took time to update the space beyond its original condition, and today gleaming granite tops the bar and hardwood floors shine throughout. A typical night sees the latest sports events flickering on 25 HDTVs, while smokers retire to a separate lounge where they can throw darts through the smoke rings they blow. Players send billiard balls cracking at 9-foot Diamond Pro-Am tables, and on Wednesday nights, participants count their chips during Texas Hold 'Em tournaments. But whether they're spectating or playing, diners can fuel up with selections from the bar's menu with sandwiches, wraps, and pasta until 2 a.m.

Since 1984, Champps Americana's kitchen has sizzled with made-from-scratch dishes, satiating sports fans and families with a comfortable atmosphere. Amid sunlit dining rooms, diners seated at wooden tabletops can root for their favorite pixels on flat-screen TVs broadcasting live sports. In the kitchen, chefs prepare pastas with grilled chicken and roasted artichokes, pile buns with barbecued pulled pork and spicy buffalo chicken, and fill soft taco shells with grilled steak. Behind the bar, bartenders whip up specialty cocktails and margaritas and fill goblets with wine and local craft beers on tap.

Delve into Vinifera's award-winning wine list to plumb the garnet depths, or peruse the menu and try the expert wine-and-food pairings of the sommelier. Executive Chef Bo Palker taps into fresh ingredients, some of which can be traced back to his patio herb planters. Diners can start dining on dinner with a cheese-board appetizer, featuring four specially selected cheeses, toasted Marcona almonds, and Muscat grape marmalade ($12). For the main course, try a pan-roasted sea bass with wild-mushroom risotto and wilted spinach ($30) and teamed with a glass of Whitehaven sauvignon blanc ($11), or enjoy the individually grilled lamb chops with pomegranate sauce, lime risotto, and fig marmalade ($29) with a Red Rock reserve merlot ($9). The celebrated Vinifera paella, with jumbo shrimp, scallops, mussels, free-range chicken, and chorizo ($28) pairs well with Bodegas Julian Chivite’s Gran Fuedo Rosado from Navarra ($9).

While technically and metaphorically a chain restaurant, Houlihan's bedazzles its chain with glitter and winsome intrigue, boldly preparing every last bite of its savory fare by hand. Hosts of diverse ingredients culminate inside one open kitchen where professional food handlers slice, sauté, marinate, and arrange food to its tasty and aesthetic best, allowing each meal to display its individuality before being broken down into individual nutrients for absorption in the body. Casual dining is elevated by meticulously designed restaurants that pepper a patron's experience with a playlist of hand-picked tunes and customer-designed coasters that give a voice to condensation-catchers.

On the rare occasion that its 25 television screens are not broadcasting live sports, Broadlands Sports Bar & Grill allows guests to hold their own competitions in an Xbox-equipped lounge. At the center of the dining area, a long wraparound bar sits like a tropical island in an ocean of beer. The bar staff pours 16 on-tap brews to complement the menu of steaks, wings, sliders, wraps, and desserts. Live DJs frequent the bar each weekend, bringing karaoke singers to the stage on Fridays and letting tiny singers out of their road cases to sing during dance parties on Saturdays.