Tailgate titans

With several games this month scheduled for the evening, that means more time at the tailgate party and more hours to perfect your fall-off-the-bone-tender barbecue. Continuing our look at hardcore football fans who know how to do game-day cuisine right, we present:

Miller Lite is the beer of choice for Bonnecaze’s drunk chickens. He marinates them overnight and seasons them when he gets to campus. Each sits on top of a beer can for nearly two and a half hours on the pit.

“You want it completely cooked to where it’s falling apart. The beer keeps the insides moist,” Bonnecaze says. His crew calls itself The Original Party Box. Bonnecaze posts up on the corner of Nicholson and South Stadium drives, and he says his tailgate is known for its big crowds of 100 or more. The day LSU plays Arkansas, they cook an entire pig.

“They’re all kind of counting on you,” he says. “We’ll cook about six to eight chickens, along with a lot of other things.”

There’s nothing like tailgating before a big game, but do you always want to deal with the fuss of setting up and tearing it all down? Southern Hospitality Tailgating doesn’t think so. For $3,000, tailgaters bring the edibles and the drinkables, and SoHo takes care of the rest: tents, TVs, tables, generators, the works.

“We’re trying to take out the challenge [of tailgating] and make it just a lot more of an enjoyable experience for everyone,” says Mark Herbst, the company’s managing partner.

With his help, maybe fans can reserve their energy for the football game. sohotailgating.com
—SYDNEY BLANCHARD