Top 3 Tailgating Tips

By: Stephen Linn

We’re a few weeks into the college football season and now it’s time to prepare for the heart of the conference schedules and to make sure you’re tailgate party is running smoothly and entertaining your friends.

While there are scores of tips for tossing a great parking lot party, if you follow these three tips you’ll have a party that will be fun and have people wanting to come back next week, even if your team ends up on the wrong side of the score.

First, use a checklist. I know, you do this tailgating thing each week, you know what you’re doing. Are you sure? My bet is if I ask your buddies or wife I’ll find out about the time the drinks got warm because you forgot to pick up more ice. Or about the party where they had to eat their burgers off the asphalt because somebody forgot a plate.

The whole point of tailgating is to have fun with your friends and meet new ones. You can’t do that if you’re running around the parking lot asking strangers if they have any cups you can borrow.

If you need a head start, you can download several different checklists from www.theultimatetailgater.com, but you really have four checklists to put together: one each for your vehicle (to make sure you have what you need to get to the game and back safely), for pre-game (this is for your set-up itself), for cooking and serving tools (be sure to update it weekly with ingredients for you menu), and for wrapping up before you amble into the stadium (these are the things you may forget when rushing from your tailgate to make kick-off).

If you’re cooking with a charcoal grill you need to make sure you have on your checklist tools and containers to dispose of your ash. Not every stadium has ash containers in the parking lot, and even if it does there’s no guarantee one will be near you. Tossing your ashes in your neighbor’s space isn’t the right way to do this.

Second, keep your menu fresh. I’m not talking about making sure you have fresh ingredients – although you should – but, about changing things up. Nothing’s duller than eating the same thing week-after-week.

Of course, burgers are the top menu choice, but that doesn’t mean you have to have your basic cheeseburger every game. Spice them up and add some life to the party.

But, I’m a fan of expanding your tailgate menu. A great tailgate dish is Beer-Butt Chicken because you can prepare the bird the night before and it’s a great dish to feed a crowd.

Another crowd pleaser, of course, is ribs. Now, I know you need to cook these “low and slow” but if you cut them into smaller slabs that will cut down your cooking time and let you get them done before kick-off. You can also pre-cook them the night before and finish them up on the grill at the game.

The third tip is to create a theme to your tailgate party. This could be as simple as celebrating a friend’s birthday or celebrating a holiday (you can never go wrong with a Halloween tailgate), or as complicated as building a Vegas-style stage for your Elvis tailgate.
Regardless, decorate your tailgate space to the theme. If you have a generator, party lights are always a nice touch. Not only will you have fun, but you’ll be the envy of the parking lot. Contests and prizes are a nice touch, too.

Follow these tips and you’ll be ready to throw an ultimate tailgate party. And if yours turns out really great, enter it in The Search for America’s Ultimate Tailgater. Just go to www.theultimatetailgater.com.

Stephen Linn is the author of The Ultimate Tailgater’s Handbook and The Ultimate Tailgater’s Travel Guide.