Ham’s

You are closed, apparently. I will miss your $ 12.99 beer towers, $ 2.99 cheeseburgers, and being a decent (albeit not as good as Kildare’s or Four Corners) place to watch games.
I won’t miss Friday nights. Yes kids, let’s buy dollar well drinks! WHEEEEE!
You also had cornhole. I never played it there, but I imagine people had fun.

As Mary B. put it so aptly, «The atmosphere is what a Chili’s would be like if they let a bunch of monkeys run it.» Well, monkeys and undergraduate frat boys — I know, the difference is minimal.

There are plenty of sports bars along Franklin Street, but few nail it like Hams. Lots of flat-​screens allow for a decent viewing angle regardless of table. Tarheel and ACC memorabilia fill the walls, with Duke signs upside down.
Mostly a college student hangout, so unless you’re in your twenties or wish you were, there are plenty of other Chapel Hill options. Don’t expect to get a table for the UNC-​Duke game unless you’re there a few hours before tip.
Food is relatively decent — I’m a fan of the Kickin’ Chicken Sandwich. Just be sure to wager on who can finish their beer before the toy train above the bar makes it around…

Wow I’m surprised a bit at the low rating for Ham’s. Yeah it’s not the awesomest food, but it was a go to place for my group of friends in college.
Pros:
Cheap food
Cheap beer
Good for groups
Large outdoor seating
Cons:
Greasy food
Maybe I’m forgetting one of the con’s to go here, but this is a decent college place. You can have a huge group of people and everyone can easily eat and get a drink without dropping much dough. It’s the place we always went when we needed seating for 15 poor college kids. Definitely nothing special about the food, but convenience is why this place stays in business.

WAY, way over-​priced. I mean $ 8 for some chicken wings! And I’m pretty sure our waitress was coked up out of her mind.

I always get pick up from Hams… there are usually drunk old men in there, and its kinda dark and gloomy, so I’d rather not be in there for too long…
as for the food i have tried… it’s really good! My favorite thing is the bacon cheddar waffle fries that are served with some AMAZING ranch… sometimes i go and buy a 4 oz of the ranch for 50 cents its so good. Hams is great for take out, but i would not recommend actually eating in… :)

Ick. This place is just dirty, and I’m not talking dive bar dirty. I’m talking shoes sticking to the floor dirty, dried food on the walls dirty. We came just for drinks, thankfully not for the food. The towers of beer looked interesting. They also have some cheap specials from time to time. But otherwise we were not impressed.

I’ve had the misfortune of eating at Ham’s restaurants the majority of my years… and having been to the Greensboro Lakeside one, which is great, and the other older High Point Road and Wendover ones in Greensboro, which suck to be frank, this one… wins the latter vote.
Granted, the food has been pretty bad at all of them… I’m not a sandwich person as a general rule BECAUSE of places like Ham’s ruining the experience all too often. I’ve had to request more filling many times (sorry, but a french dip with 4″ thick hoagies then a single slice of wrinkled up roast beef and a displaced bit of cheese? Get freaking real!
The prices are also getting out of this world… and almost EVERYTHING they serve comes from Sysco… why would I PAY those prices to experience cheaper-​than-​Food-​Lion deli food? Seriously, the only people I know who like Ham’s (who are why I have gone repeatedly) are guys with no comprehension of food quality… guys from places like Randleman and Hickory and Liberty that just don’t have any comparison except mom’s-bad-eats… who are also scared of most ethnic foods and more scared of vegetables. I know why they stay in business – it’s a combination of having been in this key location for so long (so nothing better is going to get put in its place, sadly, when I’d gladly take a Natty Green’s second locale here to keep with the sports and alcohol scene) and having sports fans rush here for the ACC and drink down their joys and woes alike, drinking it down like it’s water, mind you.
If you value your hearing and dare try this, better check the sports radar or just call them… they usually know… because it’s helllllll when the fans are making your ears bleed because of this or that foul called «unjustly» or not called… «unjustly» of course.

I’ll start with a disclaimer: this place is not my usual style. But for what it is, it’s perfectly acceptable. Our server was slow and not very helpful with the menu, but friendly. The burgers are made with Angus beef, which is a plus, and they’ve got Blue Moon on draft to keep me from being too cranky. It was loud, collegiate, and not as clean as I’d like. But hey, it’s a college town sports bar.

I’ve been a longtime fan of Hams, mainly because of the food. It’s definitely your typical sports bar, but I’ve really enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve gotten to eat there. My personal favorite is the Caribbean Chicken Wrap — chunks of jerk breaded chicken, cheese, and lettuce. It’s simple, but tastes awesome. For starters/​bar food, try the homemade chips or the bacon cheese fries. Both are assured to bring you sheer artery-​clogging bliss.
Not sure if they still have it, but the $ 2.50 Charlie’s Cheesburgers on Tuesday made for a great lunch when I worked in the area.
As for the beers, I can definitely say I enjoyed many a Thursday night with $ 1 drafts, and the drink specials most nights are pretty good. Overall, it’s a pretty good place to grab a tasty meal, cheap drinks, and catch a game on one of the many TVs.

Please take the low ratings from other reviewers with a grain of salt.
Bottom line: $ 1.50 Yuenglings, ½ price wings, and the full lineup of college football games, even a Pac-​10 game, on Saturdays?
How can you go wrong. Excellent value sports bar.

WIth so many quality sports bars in Chapel Hill, I’m kind of puzzled as to why Ham’s is still around. It’s part of a small chain with franchises in NC and VA, but it feels incredibly corporate. The food is mediocre and overpriced — I actually think the food at Chili’s (!) is better. The service is usually indifferent. I’ll admit to spending several fun Thursdays here for dollar drafts night when I was a junior, but it definitely wouldn’t be my suggestion now.

I used to go to Ham’s all the time, and I loved it. Then one day I woke up and suddenly realized that it’s a bad restaurant. I think I’ve been back once since.
Ham’s is primarily a sandwich place, and they do have some fully decent selections (try the Kickin’ Chicken, it’s great), but not for the prices they’re demanding. The main reason to come here is so that you can revel in the grease and nastiness and feel like a rebel because you’re so blatantly clogging your arteries. They have a full bar with some pretty reliable beer specials, but the specials are typically on things like Bud Lite and other wretched variants of demon piss.
The service is mediocre at best, although occasionally you can find a gem. For depressed, lonely guys, the high percentage of cute, college age waitresses are appealing. They just started running poker tournaments through World Tavern Poker once or twice a week, which is a definite plus for the card sharks among us.
A specialty of the house is the homemade potato chips, usually with ranch for dipping. They’re all right, I guess, just not my thing. Their bacon cheese fries are top notch as well.

Never was a fan of this… except for the giant fish bowl drinks. Underage, drunken freshmen. BAD FOOD. Like awful,… except the chips. those were amazing. (But really bad for you). Avoid this…

Oh Ham’s.
You might be a soulless, formulaic example of corporate chain of sports bar, but you’re still my hero. Why? Because when school isn’t in session and I’m wandering around the main drag of Chapel Hill after 10pm, desperate for a sandwich and a beer, you serve up a mighty fine Sierra Nevada along side one of the best patty melts I’ve sunk my teeth into.
I was very impressed by the number of televisions per square foot in this place. I sincerely hope to never be within 30 miles of you when the Tarheels are in the playoffs. I imagine you’d be an insufferable place to be for someone who doesn’t care much for basketball. Perhaps I’d just be hiding in The Cave a few blocks down the road.

Muy terible! What a sorry excuse for a bar and grill. I don’t think I ever had such a terrible meal in all my time in Chapel Hill as when I ate at Ham’s. The atmosphere is what a Chili’s would be like if they let a bunch of monkeys run it.

Exactly what I expected — a sports bar & grill. Basic bar-​style food for decent prices. The wait staff can be a gamble. On one visit I waited 30 minutes for my food, but then they apologized profusely and gave my husband and me a free desert each. The outdoor patio is lacking. Overall, a solid 3 stars.