Both malls (Gateway at 66th and O and Southpoint at 27th and way south) have shuttle service that will drop off right at the stadium. The stadium is downtown so there is all of the usual downtown parking ramp type parking - although with it being Black Friday these could be even more crowded than usual.
I would recommend taking the bus. There isn't a ton of tailgating areas like we are used to - but what can be found is generally under the I-180 bridge to the NW of the stadium. Not sure on the cost.
If you plan on going to the Hawkeye Huddle at Pershing - there are several parking garages that are over by it and it isn't too bad of a walk from the stadium (15 minutes or so).
Here is a copy of the email I have been sending to people that have asked for information:
Parking/getting to the stadium:
Parking is a real pita around memorial stadium. It doesn’t have the best access routes. However they do run shuttles from many places in town down to the stadium (east side) and it is only $5-10 per person round trip. Sorry – been a while since I actually took the shuttle so I don’t know the exact price. There are quite a few ramps downtown in easy walking distance to the stadium and they aren’t too bad to get out of after a game. The closest flat public lot is probably the parking lot by the baseball stadiums (the farthest west blue area on this map:
Lincoln, NE - Google Maps – map put together by a husker fan not me.)
Hotel:
There are 3 hotels right downtown that would put you right in the thick of things. The first 2 are probably about a 10 minute walk or so to the stadium. The Cornhusker is 15-20 depending on how fast you walk. The listed prices of 115 and 150 are NOT for game weekends. They are just the standard rate.
Embassy Suites (150): 1040 P Street, Lincoln, NE (402) 474-1111
Holiday Inn Downtown Lincoln (115): 141 North 9th Street, Lincoln, NE (402) 475-4011 ()
The Cornhusker (150): 141 North 9th Street, Lincoln, NE (402) 475-4011
There are too may to list out by the interstate on north 27th but if you go that route then I would suggest staying out of downtown with the driving on game day and using the shuttles. There are shuttles that leave from the Wal-mart parking lot on North 27th or if you want to do a little shopping early in the day before you head down to the game I would suggest Southpoint Mall. It is on the opposite side of Lincoln on South 27th – but it is also one of the best collection of restaurants in town with Macaroni Grill, Chili’s, Old Chicago and a couple of others. This is also the area where Buffalo Wild Wings is located (a little further south on 27th). I have been here many times to watch Iowa games and about half of the crowd are Iowa fans.
Food:
Lincoln has a lot of good places to eat. If you are fans of steak then I would highly suggest trying to get to Mistys (6235 Havelock Avenue, Lincoln, NE (402) 466-7222) on Friday night before the game. They will be really busy because the Nebraska pep band comes to play there around 7 or 8 – but they have the best steaks. Another place that people love is Lazlos – and there are 2 of them. One downtown if you are staying there - 210 North 7th Street, Lincoln, NE (402) 434-5636. One out in the normal part of the city - 5900 Old Cheney Road, Lincoln, NE (402) 323-8500. As I stated earlier – if you are wanting to combine shopping with parking and food then Southpointe is a really good option on South 27th. The mall there is an open air mall so it might be a little chilly. There is also an enclosed mall that also has a shuttle which is on East O street called Gateway. It has an Olive Garden, Hu-Hot and a few others in close proximity. A local thing is a place called Runza. It is a fast food place that serves burgers and fries but their “specialty” is the Runza which is a cabbage filled bread thing with meat that I personally find disgusting – but then I don’t like cabbage The local pizza place that a lot of people rave about is Valentinos. There are several of them scattered throughout the city – but just south of South Street on 70th is the Grand Buffet. It has hundreds of items on the buffet in addition to pizza and is pretty good. The drawback of it is that it is quite a ways away from the downtown area.
If you are staying downtown and want to just park your car at the hotel for the weekend then you can find all kinds of restaurants and things to do in the Haymarket which is the area west of 9th street and north of O street.
Gameday:
The NU band doesn’t do a whole lot before the game unlike Iowa. They simply play through the fight songs outside the music building about an hour before game time. I go about once a season when I am not at an Iowa game and always leave disappointed. Tailgating is significantly harder to find at NU than it is at most of the other Big 10 stadiums but the best bet is west of the stadium if that is what you are looking for. There will be a limited number of cushion/seat backs for sale inside the stadium but you will want to make sure to be plenty early for the game because they sell those out and it is a cramped stadium so you will want them to save your space. It is also very time consuming to get in and out of due to very narrow entry points into the seating areas of the stadium. Last year I got to the Texas Tech game about 15 minutes before the game and ended up in a line inside the stadium to get to our seats and missed kick off.
Of course there is the Hawkeye Huddle which will be downtown about a 15-20 minute leisurely walk from the stadium. There are some parking ramps over by the Pershing Center that might be ideal for the Iowa fans to park at if they are attending that event.
Here is a link from Huskerboard where a bunch of people give random tidbits of information (some of which I used above).
Husker fans in-depth guide to tailgating & pub crawling in Lincoln - HuskerBoard.com - Husker Message Board
