LYNN — Staff from four local restaurants dished out some friendly competition during a mini-touch football tournament at Kiley Playground on Monday afternoon.
Employees of three Lynn restaurants, District 45, Rossetti Restaurant, The Blue Ox, and one from Swampscott, Mission on the Bay, faced off in a three-game football tournament, with bragging rights on the line.
Scott Marshall, District 45 assistant general manager, said before the games kicked off that he was confident that his restaurant had the best team, but acknowledged that competing restaurants, Blue Ox and Rossetti, had lot of strong contenders. Mission on the Bay employees played on the Blue Ox team, he said.
His boasting was backed up, as District 45, which opened earlier this year on Lewis Street, won the championship, defeating Blue Ox, 21-7.
Marshall said the tournament was organized during “late night libations,” and was just meant to be for fun. He said the games were a good way to get out of the restaurants, band together and work as a team. Staff from the three other restaurants often come to District 45 after their shifts are over, because the Lewis Street restaurant stays open late, he said.
Marshall said the tournament, which featured about 25 employees among the businesses, was a good way to show how the Lynn restaurant industry is growing, that there are great quality food establishments.
“We all hang out together after work and it’s a way to do something more proactive,” said John Campbell, a bartender at Blue Ox.
Matt Poniatowski, a server at Rossetti, added that the tournament was meant to expand on their camaraderie, bringing together restaurant employees who don’t always see each other.
