Offside Tavern Coming to UBS Arena

After reviewing the play, it was determined the Tavern at UBS Arena, was Offside.
That's right, Offside Tavern, the beloved New York Islanders-themed bar, will be one of the watering holes at UBS Arena, the team announced on Tuesday.
"It's insane, it's surreal, it's bizarre, it's wonderful, all in good ways," said Nick Costa, the owner of the original Offside Tavern. "It's just awesome. I never would have imagined to have the business that I created survive in this way."

The bar, which was previously located on 14th St. in Manhattan, but was forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is back by popular demand. Costa essentially manifested it, tweeting from the bar's Twitter account,

it would take for his bar to be a part of the UBS Arena experience. He sent out follow up tweets when he got to 516 and 631 RTs, signifying the two Long Island area codes.

One-thousand-twenty-eight retweets later, he had his answer and he credits the grassroots effort from Islanders fans and the popularity of the bar for making it happen.
"The fanbase wanted us to survive too, because they enjoyed having us as part of the Islanders community," Costa said. "When I released that tweet, it kind of picked up some steam and the team reached out to me about six months ago. It's amazing. I do put a lot of it on just the social media presence of it and people showing their support for us and turning the team's head."
"A lot of the success of the bar is thanks to Twitter and the Islanders fanbase," Costa added.
The appetite was clear during the 2021 playoffs, when Offside hosted a takeover at The Overlook in Manhattan. RSVPs were sold out in under an hour and the events were a success.

"That was super fun and a really nice gesture from the team," Costa said. "It shows the team is listening to the fanbase and caring. We've had quite a bit of ups and downs over the last few decades. To have an ownership group and management team really listen to the fans and give them what they want is great to have."
The bar will be located on the upper concourse of UBS Arena, overlooking the ice. The menu hasn't been released yet, but Costa is working on some new concoctions, as well as the corresponding puns. The décor will be somewhere between the feel of the old haunt on 14th St. and the timeless, classic design of UBS Arena.
"I'm excited for people to see the final product," Costa said. "It's surreal more than anything. To say that was part of my dream, that's inception, a dream within a dream - never imagined Offside would end up inside the arena in which they play and for it to be true, pinch me, I have to wake up."