The couple wanted to encourage repeat customers, but they also wanted to make a statement: Scoreboard was not an average sports bar. Instead, Scoreboard, which opened Aug. 3, 2015, off RM 2222, would put food first and sports second, Jon said.

“To me, the sports come secondary to what the food is,” Jon said.

Scoreboard’s kitchen makes sauces, seasonings and salad dressings from scratch, Heather said, and cooks use fresh proteins, including hand-cut steaks. Jon designed the menu after spending several decades working at Austin-area restaurants.

“I got paid to learn what people pay a lot of money to learn as far as cooking from scratch and getting recipes right and putting out some good food,” he said.

The restaurant offers pizza, burgers, sandwiches, tacos, salads and chicken wings as well as fare the owners said is atypical of a standard sports bar, such as a 10-ounce rib-eye steak ($14.99) and Blackened Chicken Mac ‘N’ Cheese ($13.99).

Jon and Heather said customer favorites include the Southwest Burger ($11.50), which comes with fries and is topped with cheddar and Jack cheese, guacamole, bacon and jalapenos.

The name of one signature item, the Syobwoc Sallad ($12.99), pays homage to the owners’ favorite NFL team (hint: read the salad’s name backwards). The dish includes marinated chicken, blackened shrimp, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, cilantro, red onions, bacon and croutons.

Jon said the restaurant’s location benefits from the lack of other similar dining establishments in the surrounding area. Scoreboard has developed a local following from nearby neighborhoods, Heather said.

Scoreboard Sports Bar & Grill

6507 Jester Blvd., Ste. 105, Austin
512-346-8228
www.facebook.com/scoreboardaustin
Hours: Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Thu.-Sat. 11 a.m.-midnight, Sun. 10 a.m.-11 p.m.