Pakistan’s Hippest Longhorn Hotspot, Bar None

By Sam Bohmfalk in Blog on June 24, 2011 at 11:56 am | 1 Comment

Last night many Longhorns fans watched Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton, and Cory Joseph get drafted on a big-screen TV while chowing down on nachos or a burger and fries. This scene played out around Austin…and some 8,000 miles away at the new Longhorn Sportsbar located in, yes, Karachi, Pakistan.

The bar, opened by erstwhile Longhorn Shanil Ali, 25, features orange and white indoor lighting to complement Texas wall logos, and a huge Longhorn hanging above the streetside entrance.

Ali told Pakistan’s Express Tribune that he became a football and basketball fan while attending UT. “After a while,” he said, “I became a typical Longhorn and wanted to share their lifestyle and love for sports.”

Ali took his love of all things Longhorn back to Karachi and has filled the menu with typical sports bar fare like nachos and burgers, as well as regional favorites like lassi, a yogurt-based drink.

He tells The Alcalde the response to his new business—which has become a news byte all over the globe this week—has been “awesome.”

First-time patrons, he advises, should go for a dish named after a Canadian—the Steve Nash Texan Beef Burger. The theme might be UT through and through, but Ali says he had to pay homage to his two favorite athletes, Nash and former soccer star Diego Maradona.

The bar will show some basketball and plenty of soccer and cricket on its two large flat-screen televisions. In addition, customers can also pay to play X-Box and PlayStation while lounging in one of the bar’s numerous oversized leather chairs.

No word on whether the Longhorn Sportsbar will televise Texas football’s home opener against Rice on Sept. 3. If it does, be prepared to stay up until all hours—kickoff should commence sometime between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Meet you there for some late-night lassi.

Photo by Nefer Seghal. Courtesy of the Express Tribune.

Tags: Longhorn Sportsbar, Shanil Ali