Playboy names Swamp a top college sports bar

Playboy.com has named The Swamp Restaurant to its list of Top 10 College Sports Bars.

Publicist Abi O’Donnell said Thursday that Playboy searched for great college-town watering holes, finding exceptional bars whose patrons were knowledgeable and loyal.

Writer Jeff Ruby’s article calls The Swamp the “central locale for Gator fanatics jockeying for space in front of the many flat screens.”

The article ends with a titillating description of “tanned nymphs by night” filling the “infamous front lawn” along with “sporty frat boys.” It says The Swamp’s theme parties “seem to be thinly veiled excuses for patrons to wear little or no clothes.”

“It’s Playboy, so I guess they’re selling debauchery,” owner Ron DeFilippo said.

He joked that since UF is so hard to get into, the students have to be good-looking and smart.

The other top bars are State Street Brats in Madison, Wis.; The Varsity Club in Columbus, Ohio; O Bar & Grill in Eugene, Ore.; The Esso Club in Clemson, S.C.; Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater, Okla.; Scholz Garten in Austin, Texas; Nick’s English Hut in Bloomington, Ind.; 901 Bar & Grill in Los Angeles; and The Tombs in Washington, D.C.

Football season brings a lot of attention to The Swamp, with MTV filming there last week and ESPN scheduled to shoot on location today, DeFilippo said.