T&G readers say Joey's Bar & Grill is Best Date Night Restaurant in Central Mass.

After thousands of votes, many based on experience, perhaps others based on a whim, Joey's Bar & Grill has emerged as the Best Date Night Restaurant in Central Massachusetts.

A poll of Telegram & Gazette readers gave the nod to the Chandler Street restaurant in a four-round March Madness-like vote.

In the final round , which ended at 6 p.m. Monday, Joey's had the edge over The Sole Proprietor, collecting 73.65% of the 2,148 total votes.

The original field of 16 restaurants , compiled from reader nominations , was cut in half through a series of weeklong votes. A bracket format was used to pare the original field to eight , then to four , then two and now to one.

Joey's, owned by Erika and Joey Rovezzi, used its strong social media presence to keep its customers updated on the voting.

"We've had everything from proposals in here to first dates, first dates to 10-year anniversaries. It spans the gamut," Erika Rovezzi said in a recent interview. "We get a lot of first dates. We get a lot of engagements. We get a lot of people who celebrate their anniversaries…And it's not always the first date when you're 20. It's sometimes the first date when you're 40, 50, 60."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: T&G readers say Joey's Bar & Grill is Best Date Night Restaurant