Downtown sports bar and grill Game Seven Grill hosted a luncheon for Make a Wish Foundation’s 5-year-old participant Kyle Byrd Saturday.
The Make a Wish Foundation partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks to make the 5-year-old’s wish of being a Diamondback’s baseball player come true.
ESPN was on hand to film the experience for the Make a Wish series, Game Seven Grill’s manager and assistant director Roman Polvinale said.
Byrd has spinal muscular atrophy, a motor neuron disease that causes muscle weakness and atrophy, according to the Families of SMA website.
This was Game Seven Grill’s second Make a Wish participant to come in and enjoy lunch.
“We are a family-based restaurant and we want to be involved in the community as much as possible. We get a lot of requests for charities in a high-profile venue like this and we like to find things that align with our values and we want to make Kyle’s wish come true,” Polvinale said.
Game Seven Grill opened almost four weeks ago. The restaurant is located on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Fourth streets. Levy Restaurants, Chase Field and Budweiser partnered to open the first venue for Levy Restaurants outside of Chase Field.
“We have a partnership with the Diamondbacks and would love to continue being involved in charitable events like this one,” Polvinale said.
Game Seven Grill is a sports bar and grill that cooks up barbeque with a baseball-themed touch.
The restaurant’s theme and name come from the Diamondbacks’ game seven win during the World Series in 2001. Game Seven Grill displays the Diamondbacks 2001 World Series memorabilia around the restaurant. Polvinale said Game Seven Grill currently employs approximately 70 hourly employees. He also said that the location is split into several sections.
“On the north end, we have a large bar and cocktail area and to the east we have a beer garden with picnic tables and the south of the restaurant is for dining with us,” Polvinale said. “We do have an upstairs area which we are turning into party space, VIP area and a catering service.”
Food is served inside and on the south patio of the restaurant for guests who would like a little more than cocktails. Executive sous chef Christopher Hayes said all the barbeque is made of and geared toward the true flavors of Memphis, South Carolina and Georgia-style barbeque and Budweiser beer.
“Think of this place as a true barbeque restaurant and an upscale sports bar,” Levy’s regional chef Lou Bastian said.
“We have the top-of-the-line smoker and we love making the food we have here,” Bastian said.
Kelly Dugan, director of operations for Levy Restaurants, said Levy Restaurants owns a variety of concession stands and suites and runs food and beverage services inside Chase Field, U.S. Airways Center and Comerica Theatre.
Levy Restaurants was founded in 1978 in Chicago, Ill. The Levy family started as a business group who invested in D.B. Kaplan’s Delicatessen located in Chicago’s Water Tower Place.
Bastian said Levy now owns more than 125 properties in the United States. Dugan said Levy’s restaurants are in a diverse market — they hold positions in luxury hotels, sports and entertainment venues.
Dugan said Levy is a big name in a large number of arenas, convention centers and large entertainment venues. Some of Levy’s well-known restaurants are Spiaggia, Portobello and Fulton’s Crab House. Dugan said Levy’s has five restaurants that are 5-star rankings in Chicago.
Levy moved to downtown Phoenix because it was the prime spot for entertainment venues with a large fan base, Dugan said he believed.
“The Diamondbacks came to us to build a restaurant that would bring the fan base closer to Chase Field,” Dugan said.
Game Seven Grill is Levy’s second restaurant in the Arizona market. It’s also the first of its kind because it is specifically designed for the Diamondbacks.
Contact the reporter at kyleigh.zmijewski@asu.edu
