Says NSG general manager Ponch Zamora, "Whenever Filipinos turn on their TV set, they always look for sports. It appeals to everyone, both men and women. It also follows that when we go to a sporting event, we always bring food with us. Food and sports click. It’s a universal thing."
"But you can’t be a sports bar by just having TV sets that show sports. You have to cater to a variety of sports events, not just those games that Filipinos are passionate about," he adds.
That’s why at NSG they have three Jumbotrons, very much like those you would see at any sporting event, situated at the main hall upstairs, while 30 flat screen TV sets are scattered all over the restaurant showing various sporting events all over the world.
And the games shown? Think a gamut of games aired over any cable sports channel: Boxing, billiards, baseball and basketball, and we’re just at letter B. During the World Cup in 2002, the restaurant had a big turnout, especially during the finals. The biggest surprise was cricket. When NSG screened the world cricket finals a few months ago, a delegation of Pakistani nationals turned out on certain nights to cheer their national team.
That’s not all. "If you think of sports, you would think we would have a mostly male crowd. However, there are nights when women outnumber the men, with seven women for every 10 customers," Zamora says.
And the women sometimes lord it over at NSG’s billiard tables. "Most women come here just to play billiards. We’re not surprised why they would come here for that. We’re sure that they feel safe playing billiards, and they can play in peace, unlike in other places where they must get hit on often," he adds.
National Sports Grill is a franchise from the United States, with five outlets in Southern California alone. From 1993 to 1995, it was named the best sports bar in the US. The NSG outlet at Greenbelt 1, now in its second year, is the first franchise in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is also the first in the Philippines.
The restaurant follows the look of NSG in the States. Most of the memorabilia around the restaurant were donated by sports fans, foreign embassies and athletes. The waitstaff uniforms, all in jersey, also reflect the sports theme.
It also carries most of the items in the American menu, following the American portions and sizes. Changes were introduced only to some items to follow local preferences.
One item that has been spiced up is the chicken fingers, here renamed Buffalo Chicken Tenders. "There’s a spicy version of these chicken fingers in the States, but it didn’t move well. I think Americans prefer the regular chicken fingers that are not too spicy. We thought the one we serve might be too spicy for some diners, but it became a hit," says Zamora.
To appeal to the Filipino palate, more pasta and seafood items were added to the already extensive menu. They have also added rice to most servings of steaks and entrees.
"Rather than changing anything on the menu, we created something new instead," he adds.
The current NSG menu has been overhauled three times, changed every nine months, with new items substituted for the slow moving ones.
Many of the items on the menu carry sporty names. In the appetizer list, there’s the Home Run Sampler, a selection of Gold Medal Wings, taquitos, Sluggers, firecracker fries, onion rings and tri-colored tortilla chips. The sandwich list has Half-Court Combo, Birdies and Trifecta. The salad list has the Ty Cobb (named after the baseball great) and Surfer salads. The sandwiches have the Pastrami Open, while the pasta list has the Bungee Jumpbalaya and Kung Fu Pasta. And the entree list has Halfback Ribs, Montreal Olympic Salmon and Karate Chops. Talk about a themed menu.
NSG has also introduced its own dessert line that offers more than the usual cheesecake. Ponch points to the Pump Fake and Warm App as specials. The Pump Fake is a generous slice of squash pie smothered with pumpkin frosting, a variation from the usual apple pie, while the Warm App is actually apple pie a la mode.
True to its name, National Sports Grill has been active in a number of sports events. On May 8, it will be the venue for the De La Salle Golf Awarding Ceremonies. Now in its second year, the games is making it a tradition to hold its awarding rites at NSG.
On some occasion, the restaurant also holds its own competitions. It has sponsored a father-and-son billiard tournament, and later on a parent-and-child tournament.
"We thought it would be an all-male affair, until some fathers brought their daughters to play with them. Eventually, moms showed up to the event, too," Zamora says.
And they’ve had their share of sports stars. Many Philippine Basketball Association cagers have come and donated their uniforms to the place. Some teams have turned over signed basketball balls for posterity.
"Many of the Fil-Am players like coming here because they know how huge the portions are," he explains. "We’ve even had them act as servers on special nights, and some come back with their families and friends just to show their framed jerseys."
If NSG is proud of anything, it is that it has enough room to welcome those dining in big groups. The entire restaurant is laid out spaciously through a five-floor dining area that can seat up to 600 diners at any one time.
"One Christmas, we had four groups having their parties here. We were able to put them in different sections of the restaurant, so that we were able to contain the noise quite well," he explains.
Zamora is even proud to say that they’ve never turned down groups coming to the restaurant.
"One Valentine’s Day, we had a group of 20 coming in without a prior reservation. On such a busy day, without a reservation, they wouldn’t have found a restaurant. But we often get those groups of 20 or 30 on some nights. They know now that they can come to NSG any time, without a reservation, and find a table for them," he explains.
Nowadays, it is quite fashionable to hold parties at NSG. They’ve had a children’s party, where the celebrant and his guests played billiards. They’ve had a debut party where the debutante had 18 shots of tequila rather than the usual 18 roses.
So, who says sports is just for sports buffs? Definitely, not at National Sports Grill.