SPORTS

SERVING FOR THE WIN Labor Day can turn out to be a laborious holiday every so often (moving recent high school graduates to college, traveling hours on a train for a very short beach vacation, etc.). But there’s an easy way to avoid those possible woes: the U.S. Open. For the past week, this tournament’s been taking over Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. But if you don’t have tickets, or the patience to travel nearly to the end of the no. 7 line, here are a few restaurants and outdoor venues where you can watch the Open in peace and holiday bliss.

Madison Square Park

Big screens, great food, quality tennis — not too shabby for a downtown park. Every year, the park hoists a giant screen and invites visitors to picnic or sit on bleachers while watching matches. If you don’t want to pack your food from home, restaurants including Country, Hill Country, and Rickshaw Dumpling Bar will be selling snacks and meals. And, of course, you can brave the lines at Shake Shack for a burger or a hot dog. Friday through Sunday, September 7, all day until matches end, between 23rd and 26th streets and Fifth and Madison avenues, 212-538-1884, free.

Cercle Rouge

It’s difficult, in this city, to find a restaurant that serves fine food at a bar equipped with a television. Most restaurants that don’t have bar televisions, for instance, send sports-deprived patrons to nearby watering holes. But what if you want foie gras while catching up with your round of 16 matches? TriBeCa’s Cercle Rouge solves this problem. The cozy bar faces one large, high-definition television, and hungry fans can order the salade landaise, which comes topped with shreds of duck confit and a fat slice of foie gras terrine. Think of it as sports-bar food that raises the bar. You can feel comfortable wearing your tony tennis whites, too. 241 W. Broadway, between Beach and White streets, 212-226-6252.

Blondies Sports

Oh, so you are in the mood for a watering hole? No foie gras for you? Fine. At least make sure, if you try out a sports bar during the Open, that it serves better-than-decent victuals for all-day viewing. Blondies Sports, with locations on the West and East sides, serves what many consider to be some of the best buffalo wings in the city. Plus, both bars are equipped with multiple televisions. If your interest in the Open starts to wane, at least there will be baseball to watch. 212 W. 79th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-362-3311, and 1770 Second Ave., between 92nd and 93rd streets, 212-410-9222.

Jayanthi Daniel

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