New Scaratings

I'm starting this thread because I read Brooke/AARDVK's tribute to two staff members in places she played on the RIP category.

For servers/bartenders who are still breathing and treat trivia players well or poorly, I'd like to give Buzztime players a forum to praise or condemn those who have served them (hopefully praise) at the sites we play.

My first praise is for Brittany at StringZ and WingZ in Streetsboro, Ohio.

Brittany knows what we like to drink, can handle 25-35 of us in The Fellowship by herself, and respects the game and has the timing right. If she wants to ask you if you need another drink, she knows enough to not bother you when you are in nthe middle of a round of questions.

Always friendly and efficient, she has our tabs ready at the end of the game, and has a sense of who sticks around for Brainbuster and who leaves after Showdown. A server who is punctual and pleasant who can handle over 20 tabs by herself (many of them paid by credit card) at the same time is to be treasured, and that's why I'll start this thread with appreciation for Brittany, the designated server of The Fellowship.

Clay and Brittany at Old Chicago Springhurst in Louisville, KY are awesome. They deserve massive props. Especially when they have to bring me 20 diet cokes.

I'm seeing a Brittany trend here.

Erin @ BWW, Winchester, VA

Chels & Danielle @ BWW II, Morgantown, WV

Connie Bear @ Black Bear Tavern, Deep Creek Lake, MD

Lisa @ BWW I, Morgantown, WV

And the staff at the home site in Bridgeport, WV:Tegan, Mallory, Eric, Julia,and Amanda (for two more weeks before she moves to Florida).

And how I miss the staff at the long departed Pargos...EGADS!!!

I have a retro recommendation that will be hard to beat.

Years ago there was a bartender (That I will not name to protect her.), who really took care of the regular trivia players at Damon's. Not only did she see to it that our mugs were always full, she only rang up something like one out of every four beers she served us. If one of us was still there when the placed closed, and too drunk to drive, instead of calling a cab, she would often drive the person home. Many of us went into mourning, when she quit.

p.s. It's too bad that DANTE, wasn't old enough to drink back then, and SCAR and his team didn't start playing there until after she was gone.

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"The game is afoot."

Actually she was there for a short while when I started playing at Damons, before she went off to the Mexican restaurant at Eastern Parkway and Bardstown Road with her husband.

Wow, maybe you should cut back on the shine if bears are serving you drinks
at a bear bar!

It's a neat little placeover looking the ski slopes at Wisp & Deep Creek Lake and she is a great bartender who has worked there ever since I found the place on the site finder. And the area is full of black bears, incuding her yard. I saw a hundred pounder or so when fishing...Bear Creek...two years ago & made as much noise as possible on the way back to my car.

Unfortunately, there was another bartender there, Zack, who played trivia and I was helping with his fly casting & fly tying, who was killed in an auto accident four years ago. He was getting ready to work with troubled youth in an Outward Bound type program.

They also have t-shirts that they sell there that state "I'm not a hillbilly, I'm an Appalachian American", as well as one that says "DEA-Drinking Every Afternoon"!

Heading up there Saturday...Fat Tire on tap and a lake front motel with a fireplace and balcony within moderate stumbling distance. Some decent trivia players, but Monday's are their big day when they team up to make the late afternoon Eastern split boards.

I know whom you are talking about. She was almost as good as the gal I'm talking about, but the one, who preceded her, was long gone before you guys took over our empty seats at the bar at Damon's.

p.s. One night I drank there from about 5:00 pm until just about closing time, and my bar tab was only a little bit over $7.00. When I saw it, I told her, "This can't be right." She winked at me, and said, "That's all you had."

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"The game is afoot."

Props also must be given to Kim at Wing Warehouse in Northfield, OH, the closest site to my home.

Kim, a pleasant and petite thirtysomething (for now) blonde who can also give and take with the best and worst of the daytime crowd, was the original daytime bartender at the establishment when it was a Scorchers.

She had resigned to pursue other interests, and was replaced by a complete idiot who drove many customers out of the place. Said replacement was mentioned in another thread on this site, which I will not name.

I stopped by one night after work when she initially returned to do spot duty around Christmas of 2010, and I told her I was incredibly glad to see her.

Well, Kim came back in 2011 after Idiot was fired, and she gets my patronage and tips on my Designated Day Off during the week. When she hands me or any customer a Playmaker, she makes sure it is charged appropriately before she hands it to them.

Also, the customers started coming back. Amazing how good service can do that!

If you're ever halfway between Cleveland and Akron on a weekday before 5 p.m., stop by and see Kim. If you tell them BIGDOG sent you, she'll most likely ask you what microbrew you prefer. They have several pleasant ones there.

And, although I rarely partake of hard liquor, I've been told she makes a great Long Island Iced Tea.

The worst bartender ever has to be Jorge at Ernesto's on Shelbyville Road in Louisville. The list of his obnoxious treatment of customers is far too long to fit on this post. I will only tell one story. Jorge told Fishman that he could not have a trivia box until he spent $10.00. I wasn't there that night, because Jorge had already driven me off with similar insults. Happily, the place has closed, and Jorge must be insulting customers at other Ernesto's Mexican restaurants elsewhere in Louisville.

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"The game is afoot."

True. I didn't like him a bit.

Maybe Jorge was training to become a French waiter...?

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"The game is afoot."

From what is now the history of Harpo's Sports Café in Brook Park OH, I have to give props to Dawn, Angelique and Amanda from that place.

All three were cool with "backup beers," where you could be there after 7 and as long as your order registered by 6:59, that micro would be yours for $2.99 instead of $5 or more.

They were also very pleasant to deal with.

Also, props to Kirsten, Katie and Holly at Wing Warehouse in Northfield OH, along with Sarah. Always welcoming, they know when a Buzztime player walks in and treat them well.

New Props:

To the staff and clients of The Firehouse Grille and Bar in Massillon, OH.

Massillon is known for a legendary high school football program, and the Massillon Tigers beat the excrement out of my old high school's team in the OHSAA Division I football playoffs last year.

At the Firehouse, located in downtown Massillon, you will see signs that say "New Management. New Attitude." when you walk into the front door. I have no idea what the old attitude was, but the new one works well.

Chelsey (yes, I guess that's the way they spell it in Massillon) and Kristin, her night replacement, were friendly and attentive during my stay, and the regular players there, not all of whom I met when I made my roadie to the Firehouse, were welcoming, even giving me the honor of playing a "memorial box" in the name of a player who had passed on.

When you walk into a bar you've seen on the boards several times, the locals may not welcome you. Not the case at The Firehouse. After I won a game there, the locals gave me respect, and we ended up sharing answers after my board was shut down in anticipation of my long drive to the burbs of Cleveland.

Chelsey and Kristin, thanks. You made me feel more than welcome there. I'll be back.

Finally, I had an all-you-can-eat fish fry with a huge baked potato along with two 22-ounce Yuengling Black and Tans for $15.35 including tax! If I did the same thing at a B-dubs, it would be twice the price or more.

Earlier today I called Carmella's in New Harford, NY, and asked for reservations for four at the best table in the place for people to play trivia. When we got there our table was already set up with five, fully charged Playmakers, and trivia on both TV's that we could easily see from our booth. Needless to say, when we left the tip was considerably more than 20%. The managers, servers, and bartenders there are extremely trivia friendly, and are trying their best to get people into their restaurant to play triva. Carmella's is the only trivia bar/restaurant in upstate, central New York that has NTN trivia outside of Syracuse. I hope that they can draw enough trivia players in on a regular basis to justify staying with it. Right now I'm afraid it looks a little bit iffy...

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"The game is afoot."

Jenny the daytime bartender at Nate New Yorker at gilbert road and the US60 on Mesa is great. Always quick to bring the game boxes out, never lets your drink run low, and is an all around great bartender/server.

RTO's in Mesa on Stapley has the best crew that I have seen in one location. Just to name a few, Sarah the daytime bartender, Servers Lindsay, Voenecia, Jordan, Loren, Makenzie, Megan, Corrine, and KK. The management is great there too.

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