Restaurants getting ready for NFL Draft in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As the date approaches for the NFL Draft in Philadelphia, city restaurants are getting ready to serve the visitors coming to town.

Some 200,000 people are expected to be here for the event, giving restaurants an opportunity for plenty of customers.

At the landmark Jack's Firehouse Tavern in Fairmount, owner Mick Houston believes the month of April will be a big winner.

"We're going to get a big swell of people up here at the end of the show, like we do for Jay-Z and hey! I'm all for that! Are we going to have huge crowds showing up at five o'clock before the show? Hey, I'm up for that too!" Houston said. "As long as they come I'm here to take care of them."

Neighbors know the NFL revelers will be around all day and all night. While it may be good for businesses in the area, some - like Mike Rossman - will make a point of being nowhere around.

"I'm going to give myself a break from all the excitement, you betcha," Rossman said. "We've got a little place outside of town that'll work for us real well."

The newer nightspots and eateries on North Broad expect to make some big scores when the NFL jamboree hits town.

"It's new southern cuisine, so we're bringing in ingredients from the south. We have Anson Mills grits coming in from South Carolina, we have trout coming in from the South Carolina/Georgia border, we got our rock shrimp coming in from South Carolina, we've got fish coming in from South Carolina," said Harry Hayman of South.

After the pope's visit in 2015, many merchants were disappointed in the lack of foot traffic to their businesses, so they are hoping the NFL will deliver a bigger score.

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