LAPEER, MI — Looking for the perfect spot for the ultimate game day experience to watch the Detroit Lions this season?
Look no further.
Lightning Rounds in Lapeer, which opened in January this year, is ready to provide Lions fans with themed drink and food specials on game days throughout the 2024 season to bring together fans to cheer on America’s team.
“There’s just a huge energy, and this town loves a hard-working team with the right attitude, and that’s what the Lions represent,” said Patrick Hingst, owner and founder of Lightning Rounds.
“And we want to be that place to bring people together. There’s so much disconnectivity going on right now, whether it’s politics or whatever. Let’s unite around something positive — big guys in blue uniforms smashing into each other for city pride.”
Whether you’re most excited to see how electric the duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery can be or to see the continued connection between Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown is yet again for the year ahead, Hingst said Lightning Rounds will be open for every second of game days as the Lions take the field.
And Hingst has invested in making sure it is a premier spot to watch NFL games, purchasing two new ultra 4K projectors paired with two 250-inch screens and a brand new surround system so fans can here every call, every piece of commentary and feel the action from their seats with a drink in their hand.
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On Sunday afternoons, Hingst plans to have tailgater buffets setup, as well as a fully-stocked bloody Mary bar.
“We want this to be a fun, festive tailgate location, to feel like you’re going down to Eastern Market in Detroit and enjoying the camaraderie of other fans before the big game, but without the travel, pain or $100 parking spot,” Hingst said. “We are an upbeat place, and while we’re not necessarily known as a sports bar, we’re not not a sports bar either.”
As for the drinks, there are plenty to choose from among domestic and craft beers, ciders and cocktails.
Lightning Rounds will offer deals on beer buckets and one Lions-themed cocktail that isn’t only Honolulu blue, but tastes as sweet as the victory Lions fans crave.
“We’ve got the Lions Lemonade. It’s a beautiful drink. It’s really great, and starts at just $5 as well. We’re always here to be affordable during our every day happy hour,” Hingst said.
“With that, we’re also featuring our buckets of beers as well. ... We want this to be an affordable and accessible spot where everyone can come together to have a good time and responsibly get a good buzz on.”
For $15, customers can get a bucket filled with five ice-cold domestic beers. For $20, customers get five drinks of a higher quality as well, including craft beers, seltzers, long drinks and ciders.
At 9 p.m., happy hour kicks in again as well for half-off beers.
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Lightning Rounds is open daily at 11 a.m. and closes weekdays at 10 p.m. On weekends, the bar closes at midnight. But don’t worry, Lions fans, Hingst assures the bar will stay open through the end of any Lions game, even those Monday, Thursday or Sunday night primetime games, including this Sunday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
“With what Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are building with the Lions, it’s exciting,” Hingst said. “It’s hard work. It’s blue collar. It’s working as a team. It’s showing the world that, yeah, we know that you always dog us. We don’t care. We’re not backing down. We know we are something special.”
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