From Kick-Off To Touchdown,                                   Rivalry Sports Grille Is A Winner

No matter what sport you favor, or which team you root for, the Rivalry Sports Grille at 262 Main Street in Monroe provides a winning atmosphere that has been attracting a capacity crowd since it opened in 2009.

Partners Lou Nistico and David Volman have brought to the Monroe area what they hope is a destination for families, couples, and businesspeople looking for good food and a good time.

“I have always wanted to open a sports bar,” said Mr Volman, who is a Monroe resident, family man, and a lawyer with a practice in Shelton. “I’ve collected sports memorabilia my whole life, and am a big Red Sox fan,” he said. His love of sports, good food, and his experience working in restaurants to put himself through college have finally culminated in the partnership with Mr Nistico and the sports-themed Rivalry Sports Grille.

While both men work at the Grille doing everything from greeting guests to tending bar to mopping up a mess, Lou Nistico is the front man, full-time, for the 5,300-square-foot restaurant. He is more than a little familiar with the successful operation of a restaurant. “My grandparents opened The Arrow in the 1930s in Westport, and that’s where I first got my taste of the restaurant business,” said Mr Nistico. In 1983, his father bought The Red Barn on Route 33 in Westport, where Mr Nistico worked for 20 years. He is the former owner of The River Restaurant in Derby, selling that restaurant when he came across the Rivalry Sports Grille space, and teamed up with Mr Volman.

The name “Rivalry Sports Grille” is a salute to the numerous teams favored by fans in the area, said the men. “We’re in a territory where people are Yankee fans, Red Sox fans, Mets fans, Giant, Patriot, and Jets fans,” said Mr Volman. “We’re in the belly of the beast here, and people really get excited about their teams,” he said.

From the moment customers pass through the front door, it is clear that all and any team and sport is getting its fair share of attention. The entry wall hosts posters of Shea Stadium and the Red Sox, and photographs of local Little League players and “the Babe” mingle with letters signed by frequent visitor Linda Ruth Tosetti, the granddaughter of Babe Ruth. She is not the only sports-related personality who frequents Rivalry Sports Grille. Former New York Giants’ tight-end Mark Bavaro, a family friend of the Nisticos, can be counted among the customers of the Monroe restaurant.

In the glass case at the hostess station, diners can ogle the array of autographed baseballs, footballs, helmets, and basketballs from sports greats such as Ted Williams and Robert Parish, and teams like the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox and the 2007 Patriots Super Bowl participants, while waiting for a table.

That wait will not be long, though, as the Rivalry seats more than 100 people in a cavernous main dining room that is comfortably split into three sections that flow one into the other. A private dining room to the left of the entryway seats an additional 45 diners, and the patio provides outdoor seating for yet another 40 customers. Every wall, nook, and cranny is a shrine of original sports photographs and framed jerseys — be it NASCAR, football, hockey, baseball, soccer, or basketball, most of which come from Mr Volman’s private collection.

Beneath a shiny coating of polyurethane, hundreds of baseball cards are imbedded in the 20-foot oak bar top, giving customers seated in the solid wood, ladder-back barstools something to ponder; that is, if they are not engrossed in watching one of 30 plasma television sets placed strategically over the bar and throughout every room in the Rivalry. A second “bar” stretches down the center of the dining area, with bar stools accommodating at least a dozen comrades.

Rivalry Sports Grille is popular for private parties, celebrating every occasion. A special banquet menu is available for special occasions, or guests can order off of the regular menu.

Beer on tap or by the bottle, wines from around the world, and a full selection of hard liquor keeps everyone happy at Rivalry Sports Grille. During summer months, Island Oasis frozen drinks are available, with or without alcohol, and fruit smoothies for younger customers are made to order.

Food is not second to drinks or atmosphere, however, at Rivalry Sports Grille. Servers dressed in referee garb are happy to guide diners through the menu, from “Kick-Offs” that include Stuffed Long Hots — peppers filled with sausage and seasoning — to the “Warm-Ups” aka soups, through the “Field of Greens,” and the “Fan-tastic Sandwiches,” like pulled pork or BBQ chicken, Maine lobster roll, or the griddle turkey sandwich on pumpernickel bread.

“Main Events” feature items such as the St Louis-style ribs, BBQ ribs & chicken platter (with ribs and chicken smoked on premises) or fish ’n’ chips, plus specials like a gorgonzola and bruschetta sauce on top sirloin with potato pancake, or steamed littleneck clams in a tomato beer broth.

Both men declare the Rivalry’s Pub Burger, eight ounces of certified Angus beef served on the softest of hamburger buns, with lettuce and tomato, to be “the best burger on Route 25.” Other menu favorites include the Route 25 Nachos (available with guacamole and salsa, grilled chicken, or pulled pork), the sweet potato fries, and pork or chicken “sliders” on light potato rolls. Chicken wings, offered Wednesday nights for just 20 cents apiece, are available mild, medium, or hot style.

Families love the paper tablecloths that double as drawing paper, and the electronic games that can be played on the TVs, said Mr Volman. A children’s menu gives “Little Leaguers” much to choose from, including the popular corn dogs and homemade macaroni and cheese topped with Pepperidge Farms Goldfish. In deference to the shaky economy, “We try to be cost conscious and give people a lot for their money,” Mr Volman added, along with a great evening out.

Leave room to make it to the “Finish Line,” with homemade brownies, peach melba, and apple crisp from the Rivalry kitchen. New York cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake are a “touchdown” for all.

More than eight prime sports events can be televised at once, said Mr Nistico, but some customers come for the other entertainment offered. Wings eating contests, speed dating, and open mic night occur periodically at Rivalry. Wednesday nights are karaoke night at 9 pm; Thursday nights are Ladies’ Night, with half-price drinks between 8 and 10 pm; and live bands are featured every Friday and Saturday night from 9:30 pm on.

 “Anytime there’s something going on,” said Mr Volman, “there’s something going on here.”

Rivalry Sports Grille, 262 Main Street in Monroe (just 15 minutes from the center of Newtown) is open 11:30 am to 1 am, Sunday through Thursday; 11:30 am to 2 am, Friday and Saturday. For catering information or takeout, call 203-268-7866 or fax 203-268-7874.