Capitol Centre, crab cakes, and football

You’ve heard of it. You’ve seen the ads. You’ve probably even driven past it. Cleverly located on Capitol Drive in Appleton, the Capitol Centre has been the Fox Valley’s classic style sports bar for the past nine years. However, it may have struck you as something else.

“The long-running joke here is that people think we’re a bowling alley,” said Jay Plamann, who owns the sports bar with brothers Phil and Terry, all of Appleton. “There’s still people who come in and say, ‘Oh, I thought this was a bowling alley.’”

An easy mistake on the customer’s part, as the exterior of the 25,000 sq. ft. building doesn’t exactly scream “SPORTS BAR!” but the well-designed interior makes no mistake about the establishment’s identity.

Jay admits the “bowling alley” comments are fewer these days, as the three siblings and their regular customers have inevitably spread the word throughout the community. The Capitol Centre also gained notoriety for being the largest non-smoking sports bar in the entire Fox Valley.

With all the fixings of a standard sports bar like pool tables, darts, etc., the Capitol Centre also offers easy on/off access from Highway 41 via the Richmond St. Exit.

“No matter where you live in Appleton, you can get here in about 10 minutes max,” said Jay.

And for those who’ve been looking for an alternative to Appleton’s main drag, this somewhat unknown gem on the North side of the city is ready to take you in, and not just in the night hours.

Open daily at 11a.m., the Capitol Centre boasts a new menu, effective Sept. 1, which houses their most long-awaited sandwich to date: the delectable “Triple B” (burger covered with pepper jack cheese, chipotle, mayo, and coleslaw).

Trust the author here: the “Triple B” (for Berman’s Best Burger, after house cook Josh Berman) deserves every synonym for delicious in front of its name. The spiciness of the condiments is blunted by the coleslaw, making the taste of the burger simply perfect. It may sound a little overboard, but it was that good. Both times.

Included with the new menu items are the Philly steak sandwich and a variety of salads and wraps to complete the zero trans-fat menu. Capitol Centre also has a popular Friday Fish Fry, which features perch, pike, haddock (including broiled haddock), shrimp, cod, crab cakes and scallops. As a side note, most of these items, including the new Triple B, are under $6 and made to order. Customers can also enjoy high-end beers on tap or a number of other beverages with their meal.

Since no one likes to drink alone, the Capitol Centre hosts a banquet hall large enough to support parties of 50-200, but customers don’t need to rent the hall to have their own space in the establishment.

“We’re big enough of a place where people can bring in their own group and take over a whole section of the bar,” said Jay. “We get that a lot after high school football games. It’s a great meeting place for fans to re-hash the events.”

However, the Plamanns plan for much more than just high school football crowds, as the Big 10 Network and NFL Direct Ticket package call for wall-to-wall fun on weekends. Direct Ticket is even more of a treasure this year as fans will use it to medicate their Brett Favre hangover, as Phil jokingly called the Capitol Centre “the New York Jets headquarters!”

Even so, whether the colors are white, gold or red, sports fans, beer fans and food fans will have the Capitol Centre cornered this season. Crab cakes and football anyone?