The Irvine location of Houston’s, an upscale dining chain, boasts a tightly-knit staff. Many of the restaurant’s bartenders and servers have been there for 10 or more years.

“I’ve been here 11 and a half years,” Rachel told Irvine Weekly. Incredibly, her sister has also worked at Houston’s for over a decade. “My sister met her husband here, they have three kids. I met my husband here and we have kids. There’s a lot of moms and dads here, it really feels like a family.”

Despite the obvious bond between Houston’s employees, their love is put to the test every fall at the start of Fantasy Football season. For over a decade, at Houston’s Irvine location, Fantasy Football has dominated the workplace and often relationships within the workplace. 

“I used to not love Sundays because my man was always going into the day extremely worried, and excited, about Fantasy Football,” Rachel recalled.

According to Anastasia Pirrotta, a fixture in Houston’s Fantasy Football scene, half of the men’s league members have significant others that work at the same location. Over the years, the Houston’s Sunday tradition has been a point of contention.

(Courtesy of Houston’s)

“Most of the guys in the league have girlfriends that work at Houston’s, so I found that every Sunday all the women would complain and complain that all their boyfriends wanted to do was watch football,” said Anastasia. 

Anastasia is a hardcore NFL fan, and apart from founding the women’s fantasy football league, she is also the acting commissioner of the men’s league.

“I had an idea to start the women’s league so they could have something to do on Sunday so they wouldn’t be mad at their boyfriends for watching the games all day,” she explained.

Upon introducing the women’s league, many of the participants had little football knowledge and saw the events as a time to drink and commiserate with other female coworkers.

“It took some convincing and they were hesitant at first. I even had one girl ask me what a touchdown was,” Anastasia confessed.

“The baseline for football knowledge was pretty low, but I told them it was an excuse for us to go out and drink and have fun, and if you don’t want to pay attention to the games, you don’t have to.”

That was four years ago. Since then, the women’s league has flourished into a strong, 10-team fantasy league boasting expensive prizes and, of course, plenty of smack talk. 

“Nowadays, they’ll text me with questions about secondaries and defenses. They really do their homework. They even show up to the draft with notes on each player,” Anastasia continued.

Although Anastasia has never won the league, Rachel, being a former league champion, expounded on the developed intensity of the league.

“I am a champion and I have a silver and bronze title from previous years. My fantasy football trophy case is hands-down the most impressive,” Rachel told Irvine Weekly. “The highs are amazing. The lows are depressing. I think there are several of us that appreciate it for the health of our marriages and relationships. We get it now. It’s awesome.”

Although it sounds like a great time, the Houston’s women’s Fantasy League is far from merely fun and games. There is a $50 buy-in for the 10-team women-only league these days, making the competition as fierce as ever. 

“We do a lot of passive-aggressive stuff,” Rachel admitted. “Last year, I found the most embarrassing pictures of the people I was playing and would make it my profile picture for that week. This year there’s photos of ex-boyfriends being thrown around. We’ll cut as deep as we possibly can. But we all truly love each other!”

The men of Houston’s welcome the women’s league with open arms, often collaborating and discussing NFL news together. Anastasia’s boyfriend, Matt Nelloris, is a member of the men’s league and had nothing but positive things to say about the women’s interest in professional football.

“I think it’s awesome that the girls like playing. Some of the girls didn’t know what a touchdown was when they started playing, and now they don’t miss a beat with injuries and player rankings. Also, it’s just fun to have that competition with your friends you see all the time at work.”

This year, the standings are close, but it’s evident that the fantasy leagues within Houston’s impress and entertain regardless of the outcome.

“It’s awesome, I’m always so proud of all my ladies!” Commissioner Pirrotta concluded.

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