BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — A local bar was recently declared the winner of this year’s America Online CityGuide’s sports bar contest.
Primetime Sports Bar and Billiards Hall, Route 9, was chosen as the best sports bar from more than 300 businesses that were nominated in each of AOL CityGuide’s major markets.
AOL CityGuide is an online entertainment guide that allows residents to vote for their favorite local venues annually.
Scott Richman, vice president and general manager of AOL CityGuide, said that more than 2 million votes were cast nationwide this year.
“The winners truly reflect the voice of the local consumer,” Richman said.
Primetime, located in the Sayreville Shopping Center, offers 20 professional Brunswick Gold Crown tables and a full restaurant menu. Owners Kevin and Eva Seltzer said that they try to maintain a neighborhood feel to the venue.
“We work very hard to serve our customers with the best food, drink and entertainment in the area,” Kevin Seltzer said in response to the announcement that his bar won the contest.
The business has received Borough Council approval to expand its liquor license with the operation of a comedy club in the former movie theater that is adjacent to the bar. The comedy club, which will have 360 seats, is slated for a 2007 opening, pending site plan approval from the borough’s Planning Board.
Bar manager Adam Seltzer noted that Primetime has more than 20 employees from the area and performs many services for the community. They have also granted students of South Amboy schools use of the pool hall for an intramural league.
The bar attracts professional pool players from around the area, according to Adam Seltzer. Among them are Allen Hopkins, of Pomona; Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich, of Rockaway; Kim Shaw, of East Rutherford; and Tiffany Nelson and Kelly Fisher. The bar will host the state professional tour nine-ball championship in September.
Looking behind him at the billiard tables being used by patrons on a recent weekday afternoon, Adam Seltzer said he believes his business is filling a niche in the area.
“There is nothing else like it in the area,” Adam Seltzer said. “That is why we built the [pool] hall and that is why we are constructing the comedy club.”