Raeford sports fans rejoice! A new restaurant is now available to provide food, sports and a fan-friendly atmosphere they’ve been missing. 

Halftime Hangout, a Veteran-owned and family-operated restaurant, is now open at 2080 Club Pond Road in Raeford, just in time for the FIFA World Cup, U.S. Open and baseball season. 

Following the recent boom in construction and activity in the Raeford area, the owners decided to put down roots and open up their restaurant. Independently operated, Halftime Hangout Sports Bar is not a franchise, and provides a local hospitality for those in Raeford. 

“We just wanted to find that middle ground, and you know, be a hub where you come to get some food, hang out with family, as well as watch sports. In Hoke County you have a few bars, a few pubs, but you don't have a sports bar, you don't have a place where you could just enjoy sports and watching things on TV and having a good drink and having food,” shared Fayetteville born Nicholaus Amos, founder of Overtime Ventures LLC. 

The restaurant is run by Nichalaus, his mother Brigida Amos, his stepfather David Long and his aunt and uncle, Tara and John Cook, all of whom were brought to the area by the military. 

With a familiar menu found in sports bars; nachos, burgers, hots dogs and more, the family is looking to bring some spice to Raeford with  Louisiana-style cooking.  

“We coursed through, like, okay, we're a sports bar, we want food that goes well with drinks, as well as when you come in to watch a game. It's nothing that's too heavy or too hardy,” shared Nicholaus. “So, you're looking at chicken tenders; these are hot honey stung chicken tenders. They have a little bit of a kick to them, but they're very good, and they're also very large. We also want to add some little bit of Louisiana flavor to it, so that's why you see the po-boys on there; you see the catfish po-boy, the shrimp po-boy, as well as we serve gumbo on the weekend, so that's something. It's our family recipe.” 

Halftime Hangout celebrated their soft opening back in May 15 to give their staff time to adjust and become familiar with the community. Now, a grand opening celebration will be taking place in partnership with the Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce on June 25 to welcome the full community. 

“We didn't do much advertising initially, just because we knew a lot of people were waiting on us to open, as well as we want to make sure that we're getting our staff properly trained, so we don't want to overwhelm everybody, especially since they're just now learning our menu as well,” shared Nicholaus. “Everything has been going pretty smoothly, and we've had been getting a lot of positive feedback, and of course we've been getting some critiques as well, where we can improve on. We're a small business, so we have the opportunity to make those changes immediately.” 

Nicholaus shared that the staff are keeping their hours flexible to be able to adapt to different sports seasons. 

Halftime Hangout is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and from 5 p.m. - 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Fridays and Saturdays do have a kid curfew in place, with the establishment switching to 25 and up only at 9 p.m.