NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The owners of Water Street Grill in Williamstown have expanded east by opening The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT) Sports Bar and Grill, now open seven days a week in the former Mingo's.

 

Eric and Hannah Reinhard, motivated by the new name, want to make the much-loved sports bar and bowling alley, now dubbed "Kingpins Bowling and Golf," the greatest it can be. 

 

"The GOAT is the greatest of all time. It's like an homage to the great athletes in every sport," Eric said. "Our logo is to be great, motivate yourself. It is a sports bar theme, but it is also a family place."

 

The Reinhards are steeped in the restaurant business in Berkshire County. Eric was an owner of the Freight Yard Pub from 1992 to 2000, opened Water Street Grill in 1996 and, before that, ran hotels, restaurants and a consulting company in New York, Massachusetts and the state of Florida. Hannah has more than 20 years of restaurant management experience. 

 

They purchased the entire property, including Greylock Bowl & Golf, in August from Osmin and Monica Alvarez, who've owned it since 2012. 

 

Eric said they were motivated after hearing the property was for sale.

 

The Reinhards stressed that they wanted to continue with the Alvarez family's goal of ensuring the property continued as a bowling alley and family fun center for families to enjoy for years to come.

 

"We try hard to keep our kids off their phones and experience more," Eric said.

 

"In the winter, there isn't a whole lot for the kids to do. We are in the need for downtime activity choices without driving over an hour away," Hannah added.

 

Eric added that it was also an establishment his family liked to frequent and a place where he saw opportunity.

 

"We have children, and we asked ourselves if we could pull this off. We knew this was good for the community. We love coming here, the kids love coming here and we thought we could bring it up to like a Dave & Busters level," Eric said. "A one-stop family fun place where you can eat, play games, have a party. One or all of the above."

 

Through the fall, the two have been busy making the space their own with the installation of the XL Arcade, which has 40 new arcade games for kids and adults, and other improvements throughout the building including a ramp to the event space. 

 

Eric said 20 of the lanes are new but six still housed old machinery that constantly was on the fritz. So, they removed those six lanes and installed the arcade and dual party room for kids. 

 

There will also be arcade games throughout the back wall of the bowling alley.

 

Removing the lanes also allowed them to increase the size of the function room, renamed the Arena MVP Event Space. The function room now has a full-service bar.

 

The Reinhards purchased new seating and high tops throughout the bowling alley and have introduced full service beyond the restaurant. 

 

Gary Fuls Jr. is leasing the bowling portion of the business and will run the day-to-day. There will be bowling seven nights a week with leagues. 

 

"Basically, the concept is, when you're bowling, you don't have to go into the restaurant to get food or drinks. We have a waitress that's coming down, and it's full service. It's really a night out," Hannah said.

 

The Reinhards also made architectural improvements throughout the 30,000-square-foot building and have made the building handicapped accessible.    

 

As for the GOAT, they modernized the kitchen and plan to revamp the decor with photos of some of history's greatest athletes. 

 

"It's all fresh. Everything is in-house," Eric said. "We installed new kitchen equipment."

 

Eric said 100 percent of the staff have been retained with Morgan Leveque as general manager.

 

"We talked with them throughout the process and they are all 100 percent on board and are excited about the changes. We built that trust, and it just keeps getting better," he said. "The people we are hiring are not taking anyone's jobs away, we are adding jobs."

 

Hannah added the staff has been a huge asset throughout the transition.

 

Eric added that he and Hannah are part of the day-to-day operations.

 

"We are laid back," he said. "It is just us. Often I will be in the back making food while Hannah is bringing it out for a banquet. I am fixing things while she is running to Water Street working at another party."

 

"But we love it. At the end of the day we enjoy coming here," Hannah added. 

 

Eric thanked the Alvarez family for such a smooth transition.

 

"Ozzie and Monica have been extremely helpful," he said. "They've turned us on to the people that know how to fix this or that."

 

He also thanked Mayor Jennifer Macksey, city staff and state Rep. John Barrett III, who were resources along the way.

 

Kingpins Bowling & Golf and the GOAT Sports Bar & Grill are located at 41 Roberts Drive. Restaurant hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week; bowling closed for leagues on Wednesday and Thursday; open 5 to 10 Monday, Tuesday and Friday; Saturday noon to 10, and Sunday noon to 5.