AllStars: Hitting Homes Runs

Momento Hospitality has opened AllStars, a massive US-themed Sports Bar, at Bella Vista Hotel.

Since opening the Bella Vista Hotel in Sydney’s northwest in 2012, Momento Hospitality has owned a large warehouse space behind the pub. With such a large space to make the most out of, it had always been Gino Colosimo’s dream to open a dedicated sports bar within that warehouse to complement Bella Vista Hotel’s other offerings. Six years later, and that dream has been realised with the 4 July opening of AllStars.

Evoking an arena atmosphere with its high ceilings and sheer space as opposed to what Australian sports bars tend to offer, AllStars is more akin to those in the US. As manager of the space, Colosimo says that Momento Hospitality wanted to give locals of The Hills region a premium sports-viewing option.

“The Hills has such an avid sports following, so we wanted to give locals the chance to take their sportsviewing experience to the next level. “While we all love watching the footy on the couch in our trackies, sports are better watched in a crowd, so we wanted create a space that would facilitate this.”

ALL AMERICAN

The aesthetic of the space is simple, yet refined. It encompasses dark wood-panelled walls; leather booths; and a mix of marble-topped high and low tables in the middle of the space. The sports bar also houses a whopping 97 LCD screens with 4K resolution in a variety of sizes, so that regardless of where in the venue patrons are sitting, they have a good view of what they’re watching – not to mention a massive selection of sports to watch at any one time.

Capping off viewing experience is a 360˚ four-screen hanging fixture in the middle of the room, which is an ode to watching a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

“The space is really reminiscent of an American basketball arena, so we wanted to continue this theme and transport patrons to the US. If you’ve ever attended an American sports game, you’ll be familiar with the electric stadium atmosphere. We want to bring that vibe to The Hills,” explains Colosimo.

The American theme is hammered home in the menu, which is nice and compact for a sports bar. There are three versions of loaded hot dogs to choose from, the hero of which is the AllStar Deluxe Dog, where the soft bun and Kransky sausage are topped off with caramelised onion, diced bacon and melted American cheese. The other offerings on the menu are New York-style pizzas – where slices are bigger than your head and are best eaten folded up like a calzone – with a simple selection of margarita, pepperoni or vegetarian. The menu is finished off with hot chips.

“We want to give The Hills a taste of good old fashioned American stadium eats, which is why we’ve created a menu of loaded hot dogs and New York-style pizzas. They’re super easy to eat with one hand, so patrons can leave their other hand free for a schooner or to cheer on their favourite team.” Washed down with some good beer, it’s no doubt that the sport-viewing experience is what matters most at Allstars.

Comfortably housing 150 patrons, the space broadcasts a variety of sports from the NRL to UFC. Trading times until 3am each night (except for Sunday nights when the venue will close at midnight), mean the Allstars can also show major sporting events from all over the world. The knock-out rounds of the football World Cup kicked off the slew of major tournaments shown at
the sports bar, with events like the US Open and Superbowl also expected to bring in big crowds.

Speaking to Australian Hotelier a few days before the space opened, Colosimo was excited for how local sports lovers would respond to the space.

“I think patrons will be wowed by the flashing lights, good grub and electric atmosphere of AllStars.”

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