Bad news. Very bad news.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) December 27, 2021
Lawry’s has canceled the annual Beef Bowl, a Rose Bowl tradition with the two teams, citing COVID/Omicron concerns.
The annual guest list? Two full rosters of linemen, receivers, running backs, and tackles (the Oklahoma Sooners and Georgia Bulldogs this year; the teams dine on separate nights) plus coaching staff, athletic personnel, Tournament of Roses officials, and a select group of California highway patrolmen (who not only escort the teams from their practice facility to Lawry’s, but also throw on bowties to walk arm in arm with the Tournament of Roses Queen and her princesses to their rib-slicing table)....The marching band lets loose outside, signaling to waitresses dressed in old-school brown-and-white dresses and chefs wearing comically tall white toques that their guests have arrived. They rush toward the entrance, clapping with vigor as they line a medium-rare-red carpet leading out toward the street. A police motorcycle escort speeds into view trailed by a lineup of colossal buses; the band begins playing Georgia’s fight song, “Glory,” as every vehicle comes to a stop in the middle of La Cienega. Doors pop open, allowing a stream of players and coaches—all dressed in casual clothes emblazoned with the school’s insignia—to stride triumphantly toward the evening’s meaty dream dinner.
And a 2018 write-up with lots of photos.
Staff at Lawry’s says that often the Beef Bowl is the first time coaches and players have actually had prime rib, and the number of requests for well-done cuts is far higher than a usual dinner service at the restaurant.