New Scaratings

Yet another new home trivia bar in Upstate New York...

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT...!!! The Utica area of Upstate New York has been devoid of NTN trivia for so many years, and suddenly it has two new NTN trivia bar/restaurants. Tony's Pizzaria was very disappointing the one time my friends and I went there. However, there is now:



Carmella's Cafe Inc.
8530 Seneca Turnpike
New Hartford, NY 13413 (New Hartford is a suburb of Utica.)

Carmella's is not what you would call a sports bar, but they have a bunch of TV's, and they show a lot of sports. They have a very large and diverse menu, and the food is extremely good, and better yet reasonably priced.

What really impresses me about the place, is that they are definitely interested in seeing Buzztime Trivia to take hold there. When you walk in, the Playmakers are not hidden behind the bar, waiting for someone to ask for one. They are already charged, and sitting at tables and around the bar for customers to pick them up and start playing.

The best sign that the place is committed to NTN trivia is when you look at their local leader board for most cumulative points. The player's handle that leads the way is "FrankC". (No, this ain't the "FrankC" from Chicago, who we all know and love.) It is Frank Correa, the manager of the place, who brought Buzztime in.

My friends and I have already gone there three times. Every time we have been there, we have been treated as royalty. Each time we have been given the best seats in the place to play trivia, and promised that whenever we come, they will always see to it that we will be seated where everybody in our group has trivia on a TV that they can easily see, and they will swich TV's to accomodate us.

Unlikely that it is that any of you should wind up in Utica, NY, the place to go right now is:



p.s. I think that my friends and I got Carmella's their first top 20 national rankings on games last night. As limited as we were, we came in 17th twice. The manager couldn't believe it... !

_________________
"The game is afoot."

Unlike our beloved FRANKC, the manager's play handle is FRANC, not FRANKC (That's what I saw on the Carmella's buzztime page):

http://www.buzztime.com/site/38037

_________________
Mitch (MTCHWF/WLFFLY)

Co-Home Bar: Buffalo Wild Wings Edwardsville, IL and Time Out in St Louis, MO

Checked out the link you gave us, and you are correct. Maybe Frank, the manager at Carmella's only registered as "FRANC", because he didn't want the owner to figure out how much time he was spending playing trivia, instead of managing the place... However, I can guarantee you "FRANC" is a "Frank" not a "Fran".

(Belated edit. I talked to Frank and asked him why his screen name is FranC instead of FrankC. He told me that even though everyone knows him as Frank, his real name is FranChesco.)

_________________
"The game is afoot."

Well, glad you have a choice now, Cloudy.

Thanks SCAR. Carmella's is a great place, and within reasonable driving distance from Rome, NY to play trivia, when you feel like it. Helene and I plan to do everything we can do to get people in the seats, and playing NTN trivia there. It was easy for us to this in Louisville, because we had a base of good, regular trivia players to call on. It will be difficult to do this in Utica, NY. because the area has little or no trivia tradition to call on. I know I can't sit back and expect trivia to take root at Carmella's by itself, because it won't. If I can't figure out a way to get locals into the game, I'm afraid Carmella's will be yet one more trivia bar that bites the dust.

Does anyone have some ideas tht might help me here...?

_________________
"The game is afoot."

Well, here is the most recent thread to address that topic. Might want to search around Scaratings some for older discussions.

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1504

Carmella's is alive...!

The place seems to be gaining some regular trivia players, and all of the managers are trying to promote Buzztime Trivia as best they can. Some gal, CAROL, whom I have yet to meet, has transferred in a million plus points. About a week or two ago I went in there with a rag tag team of 3 players, and was surprised when one of their regulars, LINDA, decided to join us at the bar. Admittedly, it was an early game, but for the first time Carmella's got a #1 network ranking. The managers were astonished, and high fived us as if we had just won the World Series.

p.s. I sure hope the concept of team play for a good network ranking can catch on there, if not I'm still worried about the place.

p.p.s. I may have already said this, but Carmella's is not really in Utica. It is actually in New Hartford, a suburb of Utica.

_________________
"The game is afoot."