New ‘gamebar’ coming to downtown Columbus brings nostalgia with Pac-Man and Mario Kart
Columbus’ first gamebar is coming to the former Vertigo location downtown on 12th Street in 2024, promising to bring nostalgia for gamers of all ages.
Bytes and Brews will be an immersive experience with a curated collection of classic arcade games like Pac-Man, Street Fighter and pinball machines.
Co-owners Ben MacMinn, Chris Poirier, Jack Rosenhammer and Michael Woodham met through StartUP Columbus, an entrepreneurial support organization and startup incubator. MacMinn is the executive director of StartUP Columbus, while the other three co-owners went through the program while starting different businesses of their own.
Earlier this year, the group started talking and thought that Columbus needed a business like Bytes and Brews.
There are a lot of great restaurants in Columbus, MacMinn told the Ledger-Enquirer, and there are places where people can find entertainment. People can eat anywhere, he said, but if they want to have entertainment afterwards they have to go somewhere else.
Many communities have businesses combining restaurant food with an arcade setting, MacMinn said, and that gap is something the partners felt they could fill in Columbus.
“We need a place to go to have good food and entertainment in the same space,” he said.
What to expect from Bytes and Brews
The group wanted to bring something different to downtown when it comes to entertainment, MacMinn said. They wanted a concept that talked to the gaming community, he said, and appealed to all age groups, especially millennials.
“We wanted to bring back the nostalgic feel of arcades — that music, that sound that you get out of it,” MacMinn said.
Bytes and Brews could appeal to millennials’ memories of arcades while also appealing to the generation’s children.
The games will remind the community of a simpler time, MacMinn said, and that’s why classic arcade games remain popular.
“You’ve got a joystick and two buttons,” he said. “And that’s all the options you get. It’s just so fun, but we realize that’s not going to be for everybody.”
Along with arcade games like Pac-Man and Pinball, tabletop games such as Dungeons and Dragons will be available. Customers can play console games such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, MacMinn said.
The complete menu for the restaurant is not available yet, he said, but the restaurant will have a selection of craft bears and signature cocktails. Food options will include gourmet burgers and appetizers.
Visually, the business plans to pay homage to a popular mural that was on Vertigo’s wall until it was recently removed, MacMinn said.
“We want to do something to pay tribute to it because we were just as disheartened as the rest of the community when that mural was covered,” he said.
Bytes and Brews plans to host live music, tournaments and themed events. MacMinn expects to open the gamebar in January 2024, he said, and the business will start accepting job applications in October.
People interested in keeping up with Bytes and Brews latest announcements about the grand opening or events should follow the business’ Facebook account, MacMinn said.
“It’s going to be a family-friendly restaurant,” MacMinn said. “So, we want it to be welcoming to everybody.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
