Visiting Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings after a game is almost a guarantee to see some friends, classmates or teammates.

The main reason Applebees is flooded with high school students after football games is their signature half price appetizers.

“Half priced apps always come in clutch. I go to Applebees with a group of my friends after every game and get an appetizer and drink for like 10 bucks with tip,” senior Micah Vessely said.

Buffalo Wild Wings is home to one of the best and most popular wings. Their price, however, seems to be rising every year. 

“I’ve been going to Buffalo Wild Wings since my freshman year. The food is really good, but it seems like every year the prices for everything go up a dollar,” junior Lillian Wells said.

If students are not running out of Woodmen Stadium, they are putting themselves at risk to be waiting all night for a table. Applebees and Buffalo Wild Wings are both great establishments, good enough that it is not only Woodmen trying to eat there.

“I always try to get out quickly to make sure I can get a table at Applebees. When Center Grove is also having a home game, the fact that the restaurant on SR-135 is right in between Greenwood and Center Grove does not help the table availability,” junior Avery Guilfoy said.

The same problem comes into play when going to Buffalo Wild Wings.

“Bdubs gets super crowded on Friday nights. I always see friends from Southport and Perry there, and both of those schools are closer. They usually get there first. Getting a table is not easy and usually there is a 20-30 minute wait,” junior Alex Baugh said.

The toughest decision might be deciding what to tell the servers when they come around to get an order.

“I always go with the boneless wings, and me and my friend Dominic share some mozzarella sticks. Out of all the times I have gone to Applebees after a game, I am not sure anyone I go with has got anything other than an appetizer,” Vessely said.

It is in the name. It would be hard not to get them.

“I always just get the barbecue boneless wings. They haven’t disappointed me yet so why would I switch up now,” Baugh said.

However, Wells is a pescatarian, meaning she cannot eat chicken or red meat. So while everyone else is getting the wings or a burger, she goes a different route.

“I don’t eat chicken so I never have wings there. I usually just get a salad but the food is not why I go. I just enjoy being with my friends,” Wells said.