According to a post by Capriotti Properties on Facebook, Centertown Social, located in the heart of Elmira's downtown is set to open soon.

Centertown Social will be a brewery style bar and restaurant that will also include a gaming area as well as outdoor seating and a stage area. The building, which has been vacant ofr years, was once home to businesses such as Chuck Clark's and Deister & Butler Jewelry. The renovation and construction for this new project has lasted three years.

There will be no shortage of seating available with tables and booths throughout the building as well as a VIP area. Other features will include two golf simulators, darts, billiards, as well as various arcade games.

The projected opening date is November 13th.

Photos courtesy of Capriotti Properties.

I hope things go better than that other one right down the street.

That's awesome looking!

They face two challenges:

1. Getting people, especially those who live outside the city limits, to overcome their discomfort of downtown Elmira after dark.

2. Keeping the homeless and local ne’er do wells from completely trashing the place.

I wish them well. It looks like a great place and we’ll probably check it out.

I had a good conversation with someone about this yesterday and there’s more to come in that immediate area. It sounds very promising.

Capriotti Properties has announced an opening date:

They have sunk a lot of money into this so I really hope it goes well. The guy running it is experienced in food and bar industry so fingers crossed. That chicken parm looks good. lol

I still haven't made it over there but I've heard good things.

Just now, Chris said:

I still haven't made it over there but I've heard good things.

I haven't been there yet either and reviews I've heard were all over the place from best meal to worst meal. One acquaintance of mine said she has been several times (friends choices) and it was terrible every time. Not sure I trust her opinion 100% so I will go one of these days.

I see they're bringing back "Over The Hump" on Wednesday nights.

Smart... very smart.

Someone had posted a picture of a chicken Caesar salad pizza from Center Town, and it looked delicious. The crust was a giant chicken cutlet, and the salad was the topping.

Edited May 26May 26 by Mike

we went a while back for a late lunch, and outside of a few nuances flavor suggestions, we really enjoyed it, staff was friendly

I’m not really sure what’s goin on, but it sounds like there’s some turmoil over there with staffing and a new manager being brought in from out of town.

There was something on the local News about a Centertown business being sold and new owner being from out of State, letting current employees go and bringing in new employees. I wonder if it was this place ?

3 hours ago, Chris said:

I’m not really sure what’s goin on, but it sounds like there’s some turmoil over there with staffing and a new manager being brought in from out of town.

18 minutes ago, Ann said:

There was something on the local News about a Centertown business being sold and new owner being from out of State, letting current employees go and bringing in new employees. I wonder if it was this place ?

Its creating quite a stir on the usual pages

12 minutes ago, Ann said:

There was something on the local News about a Centertown business being sold and new owner being from out of State, letting current employees go and bringing in new employees. I wonder if it was this place ?

That's the place. The guy who owned R3 has been the general manager and working to update the entire place since it started. According to staff they let him go (and I don't know who "they" are), and then apparently all the current staff was also let go. Staff is saying it was sold to an out of towner from Wilkes Barre, PA.

The "they" is being directed at Capriotti but I don't believe they were running the business, but rather leased it to some LLC or Corporation. Capriotti historically does nothing but buy and lease property. I think there's more to the underlying than is being mentioned. Dain Reese (the GM) has even made some comments on social media but is not naming names.

Right now the outrage (with no one really knowing exactly what happened) is ridiculous. Boycotts, they will ruin the new owners, no one will ever eat there again (and word on the street was it wasn't terrific anyway).

No one seems to realize that ruining them is also bringing down the city. That's not relevant to them. It will be when all the taxes go up again because business are being pushed out, now by the residents.

41 minutes ago, KarenK said:

Right now the outrage (with no one really knowing exactly what happened) is ridiculous.

I can kind of piece it together, at least a little, but people "in the know" are being so cryptic that it's difficult to say for sure.

2 hours ago, Chris said:

I can kind of piece it together, at least a little, but people "in the know" are being so cryptic that it's difficult to say for sure.

I assume they got Dain on board and used his name and reputation to build the place up and then pulled the rug out.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I assume they got Dain on board and used his name and reputation to build the place up and then pulled the rug out.

That sounds very plausible.

Of all the outrage and veiled accusations....the one concern I think is legit is the question of whether these changes are still honoring any and all conditions of whatever incentives the original owner/operator (Capriotti Properties) received.

They have been deeply entrenched in Chamber of Commerce and "local development"....and their projects seem to get favor in financing/support for 'deals' with STEG and the IDA.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I assume they got Dain on board and used his name and reputation to build the place up and then pulled the rug out.

My question would be "why?" I would assume there had to be a contract. Did the contract expire and they didn't offer a new one?

4 hours ago, KarenK said:

I think there's more to the underlying than is being mentioned. Dain Reese (the GM) has even made some comments on social media but is not naming names.

I can’t form any real opinion from online accusations by disgruntled waitstaff I've seen posting on social media. LOL

 

I will say that restaurant, bar and entertainment venues are notoriously harder to operate than people expect. 

Even when you have good Front of the House experts and Back of the House experts who create a great customer experience.....you also need bean-counting costs/expenditure experts.  

Phenomenal business minds with no sense of desirable atmosphere won’t make it.  Great atmosphere with shitty food won’t make it. Awesome food/service but bleeding profits won’t make it.

 A weakness in any of those three expertise categories can lead to failure. So it’s a trifecta that can be tough to find. But if some element is missing...just starting over with a "clean slate" isn't usually the best way to fix it.

Not sure what happened to cause a fallout between Dain and the other management, be they Capriotti and Krusen, or someone else.

I also can’t tell if they only parted ways with Dain and his people left with him, or if they fired everyone. I get conflicting viewpoints on that through the social media vine. There’s a lot of room for me to speculate, but I won’t.

What I can ascertain so far is they brought in this new guy as “operating partner” or “operating director”( His words on social media… he goes by “Max Blaster. I forgot his real name ).

I’ve always thought Dain to be a good guy from my limited dealing with him many years ago, but I still can’t get too outraged about this. It sounds like a business decision, for whatever reason ( again, I have theories but will keep them to myself ) and that’s the way it goes sometimes. 🤷‍♂️

8 hours ago, KarenK said:

and word on the street was it wasn't terrific anyway).

wife, and youngest went there few months ago, we had good experience, food was good, service was too and prices matched what we got, atmosphere showed promise as well

1 hour ago, ADAM said:

wife, and youngest went there few months ago, we had good experience, food was good, service was too and prices matched what we got, atmosphere showed promise as well

So many different opinions. Had one friend who went several times and said it was awful every time. Some who loved it. Some who said it was OK but probably wouldn't go back.

So, consistency might have been a problem.

On 7/8/2026 at 7:55 PM, Chris said:

I forgot his real name.

Corey Camasso I believe it was, according to a social media post.