Eatery aims to be as comfortable as Sundays at home

In a sea of University of Texas burnt orange and sometimes Dallas Cowboys blue and white, Myplace Sports Bar and Italian Grill welcomes Austinites to a taste of New England and the Boston Red Sox.

Boston native Linda Bernardone opened Myplace in September 2009, but the location's Italian roots go back 10 years further when it was a fine dining restaurant called Bellagio Italian Bistro.

"We try to call ourselves a sports bar with good food because we make everything from scratch. We make our own pasta, pizza dough, meatballs, salad dressing, wing sauces—everything is made here," owner Linda Bernardone said.

Aside from desserts and the gluten-free pasta, everything on the menu is made in-house. Bernardone said she likes to include New England flavors such as the lobster rolls, which is a weekly special. She ships in the rolls from Boston because it is the only place she can find them, and the lobster comes from Maine.

"We do some New England food, Boston food and bar food. So that kinda makes it fun," she said. "So we get a lot of Boston fans in here, like on Sundays."

Mark Anderson, bartender and a customer several nights a week at Myplace, said his favorite dishes are the pizzas, pastas and the grilled New York strip steak. The restaurant further offers weekly specials such as cheese steaks with provolone and pulled pork with cole slaw.

"It's hard to keep a girlish figure working here," Anderson said.

Bernardone grew up on her father Donato's homemade pizzas for family dinner on Sundays. Her and her brother's friends often came over weekly for those pizzas, a tradition that long continued after the siblings left for college.

Sundays continue to be the day Bernardone looks forward to. She said her vision for the restaurant was an atmosphere that resembled a Sunday afternoon at her house, including football games, cocktails and good food.

The restaurant's customers and sports fans can choose from a variety of games to watch on the restaurant's 12 flat-panel TVs. Bernardone said the mix of sports fans at the restaurant ranges from teams such as the Green Bay Packers to the San Francisco 49ers to the Chicago Bears.

"You'll have friends talking trash with each other. There's a lot of laughing and stuff," she said. "It's exactly what the dream [for the restaurant] was. It's like my house on a Sunday afternoon, just on a bigger scale. It's just a lotta fun."

Anderson, who has worked for Myplace since 2009, said one of his favorite things about the restaurant is the customers.

"Our neighbors are our family," Anderson said.

Bernardone said she and her staff pride themselves on having numerous regulars at Myplace.

"Between a lot of the people who work here and a lot of people who I met who are my customers, they become your family. It's like 'Cheers'," Bernardone said.

Myplace happy hour

Myplace Sports Bar and Italian Grill makes classic cocktails and specialty martinis. During happy hour, Myplace offers $1 off cocktails, 50 cents off of beers and appetizers at half price.

• Lemon drop martini ($8.95)
• Cosmopolitan ($8.95)
• Grapefruitini ($8.95)
• Orange creamscicle ($7.25)
• Cookies n' cream ($7.25)
• Peaches n' cream ($7.25)
• Pometini ($8.95)
• Strawberry shortcake martini ($8.95)
• Lemon meringue pie ($7.25)
• Chocolate cake martini ($8.95)

Customer favorites

• Calamari: Baby squid, lightly breaded and fried served with tomato pesto sauce (small $8, large $10)
• Spicy sausage and penne: Spicy Italian sausage sauted with peppers and olive oil topped with penne pasta ($16.50)
• Chicken piccata: Chicken breast with spaghetti, garlic, capers and lemon butter sauce ($17)
• New England fish and chips: Fresh cod beer battered and fried served with fries and coleslaw ( $17)

Myplace Sports Bar and Italian Grill, 6507 Jester Blvd., 346-8228, www.myplace-austin.com,

Hours:

• Mon.–Tue. 4–11 p.m.,
• Wed.–Sun. 11 a.m.–11 p.m.