Not much “Scrantonicity” goin’ on in “The Lover.” In fact, the only local reference that I could find was a bogus one! Michael Scott had dinner reservations at “Botticelli’s,” which caused Pam to remark “Wow, that sounds like a special occasion!” So we can conclude that Botticelli’s is a fine dining establishment. But does it exist?
I’m not familiar with a restaurant named Botticellis, and an internet search hasn’t produced anything in the Scranton area. I called upon my vast network of local researchers, and they were unable to determine Botticelli’s existence. In a phone call, my sister in Clarks Summit mumbled “Never heard of it…” although I think I woke her up, due to those pesky time zone differences. And my brother from Carbondale hasn’t answered my e-mail yet, so I guess he’s still diligently searching for it.
The Office has referenced many local eateries: Alfredo’s, Anna Maria’s, Brunetti’s, Cooper’s, Cugino’s, the Glider Diner… so I think it is curious that they would just make one up for this episode. Although… hmm… Botticelli’s is a great name for a fancy Italian restaurant. It sounds like there oughta be a Botticelli’s! Are there any LITO-ites that can shed any LITO-light on this mystery?
~ Bob
Pretty lame town — doesn’t have 1 decent Italian restaurant, so they had to make one up. Wow.
spaghetti, scranton has a TON of excellent italian restaurants. they have a large population of italians and the cuisine reflects that. i live in san diego now and there is NO good italian food here. im not sure what happened to it on the pilgrimage out here to the west but it wasn’t good. i miss scranton italian food!
Melissa, I miss Scranton’s Italian food, too. I really like living in Seattle (and visiting San Diego), but northeastern Pennsylvania sure had some GREAT Italian restaurants. I gotta get back there soon for some pizza and pasta!
That’s not the problem, spaghetti. If there’s ONE thing Scranton has, it’s good Italian food. There are dozens of decent restaurants with great Italian names they could have used. But for SOME reason, in THIS instance, the show decided to go fictitious. And I want to find out WHY… I’d like to get to the bottom of this saucepan!
YIKES. Spaghetti, you were all in with that comment, weren’t you? LOL.. Just toss those cards in and go for it.
Wow Bob, pulling double duty this week with two columns. Great posts, both of them. Considering the shows knack for accuracy, I am surprised that they’d go with a fake restaurant, but they have been known to do that with Chilli’s and Bennihanna’s so they do go fiction some of the time. I guess they just decided to take some creative liberty with this one, I wouldn’t dwell on it.
My guess would be that the writers just made that one up. If you couldn’t find it on an internet search, either could they! At the Office Convention Writer’s Blog (dontcha love when I pull this stuff out?! ha ha) they mentioned that Google was definitely their friend when it comes to referencing local Scranton-stuff. While they were in Scranton, they were busy running around checking out different sites, etc…But I’m sure they couldn’t possibly hit every eating establishment in the brief time they were there. And “Botticellis”? Pretty safe fake-name for an Italian restaurant I think!
Here’s the way my twisted mind works: I’m picturing some pathetic, shopworn Scranton-area Italian restaurant, that is one step away from going out of business. In a desperation move, they quickly slap the new name “Botticelli’s” on their broken-down front porch, and they begin to advertise themselves “as mentioned on the TV show The Office.” Hmm… they would get extra points from me if they misspelled “Botticelli’s” on their hastily painted, crookedly-hung sign.
My cousins own an italian restaurant called Botticelli’s in Austin Texas!
Botticella’s is an upscale Italian resturant ran by brothers who use family recipes, one of their good friends is a writer for the show. It is located in Austin, TX however.
Botticelli’s***
Thanks, Olivia! I’d like to think that your cousins’ restaurant got a little “bump” because of “The Office.” I know I WOULD go eat at a place called “Botticelli’s.”
What’s the name of their good friend who is a writer for the show? Maybe that writer suggested the name “Botticelli’s” because of your cousins!
The Italian eats in and around Scranton are great! Hello? La Festa Italiana!? google it, go to it, you won’t be dissapointed!