Restaurant review - Whiskey Creek Sports Pub pours out bargain fare

Some nights, a packed stadium's roar rises from the normally quiet Masonboro Station.

Boisterous noise signals that a big game is on at the sleepy retail center's Whiskey Creek Sports Pub.

Fans so charged that one expects they might pop up suddenly on camera at whatever televised action has their attention crowd the gym-floor-slick wood bar appropriately shaped like a letter sweater W.

Its large shape encourages shout-outs to friends and promises of "You're going down!" to rivals, but everyone gets along.

That Whiskey Creek is a neighborhood haunt certainly adds to the jovial air. A massive sports memorabilia collection honoring various teams and undisputed standouts guarantees good humor.

The autographed Mean Joe Greene jersey, a hockey stick signed by the Carolina Hurricane team that took 2005-2006's Stanley Cup, tributes to golf, billiards, baseball, hunting, NASCAR and the ACC - all of it was amassed over many years by Whiskey Creek co-owner Daniel Ostby.

His near equally sweeping resume includes home-building, limo services and running a Wilmington Christmas shop, but Ostby met his sports-loving match in former Eddie Romanelli's manager Jamie Dayoob.

After years of enjoying games together, the pals in late 2009 opened Whiskey Creek in the former Heck of a Peck Oyster Bar.

Everyone sits at or stands around the bar, bar tables or elevated booths that ensure clear views of televisions, nine in all, including some in the game room up Astro Turf-lined stairs.

The menu is small, the food simple, abundant and cheap. Most notable - and rolling from the kitchen one after the other on a recent busy evening - is the juicy, hand-patted, inch-thick Whiskey Creek burger, just $5.95.

Grilled chicken is available, and plenty of bell peppers and surprisingly sweet tomatoes top a shredded iceberg lettuce garden salad.

But big, beefy things rule. Medium-thick sirloin slices fill a nearly foot-long cheesesteak in a squishy roll with grilled onions, mushrooms and/or bell peppers.

Nostalgic sloppy Joes on plump buns require two hands.

Sturdy, homemade potato chips and fat, tempura-battered onion rings provide ample salt and sinful grease, which beg continuous pours from mainly domestic taps.

Guinness is about as worldly as it gets, although a full bar offers more choices, and it's not unusual to hear "Jaeger!" among cheers.

Whiskey Creek offers predictable desserts, namely apple pie and brownies a la mode. Of course, nothing is sweeter than a beloved team going all the way.

Ball caps and T-shirts endorse many darlings, but adversaries happy to have a sports bar full of fast friends right in their Masonboro Loop neighborhood would likely agree with a chest banner that proclaimed "Life is good."

Play desk: 343-2343

On Twitter.com: @LizBiro