College Football Watch Parties Raleigh: NC State Games at Element

Looking for the best spot to watch the game in downtown Raleigh? Element Gastropub brings 20 NC craft beer taps, shareable plant-based game-day food, and a real fan crowd to City Plaza.

Fall Saturdays in Raleigh have a rhythm all their own, the early tailgate murmur, the roar that rolls out of living rooms and bars every time the Wolfpack finds the end zone, the collective groan when a drive stalls on third and short. If you're hunting for the right room to soak all of that in, Element Gastropub at 421 Fayetteville St in downtown Raleigh has the screens, the beer, and the game-day food to make it a Saturday worth repeating. A Downtown Home Base for Game Day City Plaza sits right in the thick of downtown Raleigh, which makes Element an easy landing spot whether you're walking in from a nearby deck or making a full day of it. There's street parking and decks close by, so you can settle in for a noon kickoff and stay through the night game without ever moving your car. It's a natural fit as one of the downtown Raleigh bars to gather in when there's a game on the line. Twenty Taps of North Carolina Beer Game day and cold, local beer go together, and Element's 20-tap wall is stocked almost entirely with North Carolina breweries. Expect crushable options like Lynnwood Brewing's Lynnwood Light golden ale or Mad Mole's Moles in the Sun light lager for the long haul, and hop-forward pours like Carolina Brewing's Epic hazy IPA or Lynnwood's Hop on Top West Coast IPA when you want more punch. Trophy Brewing's Trophy Wife session IPA is another easy Saturday sipper. The list rotates, so ask your bartender what just tapped. Dig into the whole taproom selection before you commit. Game-Day Food That Beats the Stadium Concession food is a compromise. Element's kitchen isn't. The 100% plant-based menu is loaded with shareables built for a crowd watching the clock: Wings , six crispy boneless wings in buffalo, hot scorpion, jalapeño BBQ, sweet BBQ, or sweet chili, with celery and ranch or bleu cheez. Order a few sauces for the table. BBQ Nachos , house corn chips, house BBQ, black beans, queso, pico de gallo, and jalapeños in half or full portions. Loaded Fries , beer-battered fries under queso, bacun bits, ranch, and scallions. Bavarian Pretzel , warm, salted, with house queso and spicy German mustard. Smash Burger , for when halftime hunger demands something with two crispy-edged patties. The Right Kind of Crowd The energy at Element strikes the balance every fan wants: loud when it counts, but never the kind of chaos that ruins the room. Families are comfortable at the early games, and the later kickoffs pick up the volume as the night goes on. It's a place to actually watch the game with people who care about it, and to commiserate or celebrate over another round when the final whistle blows. Make a Full Saturday of It Because Element is a full pub and not just a sports bar, you can build the whole day around it. Come in for a proper meal off the menu before kickoff, graze on shareables through the first half, and settle the score at the bar afterward. The kitchen and the taps keep pace with the game. Watching With a Group? If you're rounding up a crew for a big rivalry matchup, it pays to plan ahead, those Saturdays fill fast. Reach out through the contact page to talk through options for a larger party so your whole group can post up together instead of scattering across the room. Halftime Is for Burgers The trouble with shareables is that they vanish by the end of the first quarter. That's what the burger lineup is for. The Smokehouse Burger stacks crispy onions, cheddar, dill pickles, and Carolina-style slaw over a smoky BBQ patty, a hearty reset for the second half. The Western Nodeo Burger goes bigger still, piling beer-battered onion rings, bacun, fresh jalapeños, and jalapeño BBQ sauce on the bun. If you'd rather keep it handheld, the Buffalo Chik'n sandwich smothers crispy fried chik'n in buffalo sauce with ranch or bleu cheez, and you can ask for it scorpion style if you want the heat to match the intensity on the field. The Philly Cheesesteak, built on seared Beyond steak tips with marinated mushrooms, house-made cheese, peppers, and onions on a hoagie, is the sleeper pick of the bunch. Everybody Eats Well The fact that the whole kitchen is 100% plant-based turns out to be a feature on game day, not a footnote. Nobody in your group gets stuck with a sad side salad while everyone else digs in. Vegans, vegetarians, and the friend who "doesn't really do that stuff" all end up reaching for the same basket of Wings. It's the rare sports-watching spot where the food is genuinely the second-best part of the afternoon, right behind a Wolfpack win. Something Sweet After the Final Whistle Win or lose, there's a case for staying a little longer. Lelia's Peach Cobbler arrives warm with a golden, buttery crust and a scoop of housemade oat ice cream under a drizzle of caramel, the kind of ending that softens a tough loss and sweetens a big win. Pop's Peanut Butter Cheesecake and the Turtle Cheesecake, loaded with gooey caramel and roasted pecans, are equally worth the extra half hour at the table. Fall Sat