Brighton Restaurant Offers New Mobil App to Customers

There's a new free app out in the Apple App Store and Google Play Marketplace, but it's not a game like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. It's an app that highlights everything going on at Brighton's very own .

Nick Palizzi, owner of Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille, said he has wanted an app for his restaurant and bar for years, since both he and his wife, Lindsay, are both iPhone and iPad users.

"I think things are headed that way," Palizzi said. "Mobile websites are falling by the wayside because people are doing more apps. The content in an app is much faster to load and quicker to change things - plus you don't have to be online to see the app or use the app. The idea was that we use them, so we thought it would be really cool to have one. The problem was is that they're so expensive to have someone create one for you. I know enough about coding to light a candle at the most."

With the help of an outside company that specializes in helping small business owners create their own app software - and with the addition of adding their own HTML code to create a calendar - the Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille app was born.

Palizzi said that he had to write some of his own HTML code in order to get the app to do some of the things that he wanted - like a live calendar and call ahead seating.

"You can do call ahead-seating on the app and hit submit, and the app will send an email to our host computer to let the host know that you're on your way and how big your group is and what time to expect you," Palizzi said. "Apps are only as good as they are useful. If all it was were pictures of the restaurant, people would download it once and never use it again."

Palizzi's app also features drink and food menus, events, photos, Facebook, YouTube videos, a tip calculator and more.

Eventually, app users will be able to purchase gift cards and other Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille merchandise, according to Palizzi.

The Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille app is free and will remain free, Palizzi said.

"We're trying to make it useful, so that when people download it for free, they want to keep it and keep using it," he said. "One of the great things is that it asks you if you want to receive push notifications. So if we're having a special, we can send it through our push notifications and it will pop up to everybody who has the app. What I like about it, is that you're sending it to people who want to hear what you have to say and not to a mass mailing. It's a captive audience."

Palizzi said he is careful about the number of emails and notifications he sends out, because he doesn't want to annoy subscribers.

Palizzi said that having his own app was the logical next step in keeping up with the ever-changing restaurant industry.

"Now, will we survive without an app? I would think so - I would hope it's not like if you don't have an app, you're going to die," he said. "However, Brighton as a city has some fairly intelligent people that understand technology and want to use technology."

Palizzi said he's personally got about four to five pages of different apps, some of which he uses more than others.

"I haven't picked up a print newspaper in ages," he said. "I read Patch or USA Today on my iPad. The last three books I read were all iBooks. I love it. My kids love it. I have a 3-year-old that knows how to use the iPad - turn it on, unlock it and get over to her stories and her games. We have a lot of educational games on there - like learning how to tell time. I think they're cool."