Downtown Brentwood has been anxiously anticipating the opening of its newest restaurant, and to the delight of sports fans and pizza lovers, The Game Sports Pub ’n Pizza is now open.

The banner has been hanging outside the Oak Street establishment for months, teasing the community about its impending arrival, but owners Joe Abreu and Jeff Baxter didn’t expect to have such a hit on their hands.

“We planned for a soft opening,” Baxter said. “We figured we’d just open up and ease ourselves into things. That would give us time to train the staff and get everything up and running, but it didn’t happen that way.”

“We wanted to learn to walk before we started to run, but we’ve been running since we opened,” added Abreu. “I don’t know if it was word of mouth or what, but once we opened, people started to trickle in and next thing we knew we were packed. We’ve had a very positive response from the public.”

While Brentwood isn’t suffering from a pizza shortage in town, The Game offers a unique atmosphere that allows families to enjoy a steamy pizza pie while catching a game on one of the 13 flat screen TVs positioned throughout the dining area. From basketball to badminton, Baxter said all sports are welcome at The Game, but he hopes the restaurant will become the go-to spot for local sports teams to celebrate.

“We want to help promote the local teams,” Arbeu said. “We want to have framed jerseys from the local high schools up on the walls and we want photos and memorabilia from the youth teams. Youth football, baseball, soccer – you name it – we want it on the wall. Of course we’ll have some memorabilia from the local professional teams, but we want to keep it local and celebrate the local sports stars – the ones you don’t see on TV yet.”

“We looked at different places (to set up the restaurant), but we kept coming back to downtown Brentwood because this is the heart of the community,” Baxter said. “This is the place where you park, and you walk over to grab a pizza, then you walk down the street to catch a movie and then you get some yogurt before you head home. We like Brentwood’s vision for downtown – a pedestrian-friendly downtown, and we want to be a part of that. We want this to be the family place where you can walk in and recognize your friends and neighbors on the walls.”

In honor of local sports teams, The Game features specialty pizzas named after each Liberty Union High School District mascot. The Lion features ham, bacon and pineapple, while The Falcon features a barbecue sauce with green bell peppers, red onions, green onions, chicken, bacon and tomatoes. The Patriot is made with mushrooms, olives, red onions, linguisa, green chilies and the option of a red or garlic sauce.

There are several other specialty pizzas to choose from, but guests can create their own pie. The Game also offers sandwiches, chicken wings, garlic twists, potato skins and salads. Lunch specials, including pizza by the slice, are available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Game Sports Pub ’n Pizza, located at 235 Oak St. in Brentwood, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call 925-634-GAME (4263).