Opening a Rink Sports Bar and Restaurant

[flyerman 0]

A friend and I are involved in initial planning to (re)open and operate a sports bar and restaurant located upstairs in our local rink overlooking two sheets of ice. This spacious, fully-equipped space has sat dormant for about five years as no one has wanted to take it on as a business venture because of the challenging location (rink) and market (Midwest). However, due to some possible resources and a fortuitous opportunity, we are attempting to make a go of it.

We both have management backgrounds and he has considerable experience working in bars/pubs as a bartender, and he has pulled in other friends and colleagues from the food service sector. But this is our first endeavor at starting our own business, if in fact we go that route (and not simply become employees of the rink).

From what I understand, in the past a bar/restaurant upstairs has succeeded at times, but not in a sustainable way because of flux in managers, customer base, operating hours, and quality of service.

One of the biggest challenges we face is our potential customer base, which is probably limited to those that use the rink regularly -- youth hockey players and their parents, adult hockey players and their spouses/partners and kids, figure skaters, and public skating participants -- unless we can creatively and strategically find a way to market this to the greater community.

As part of the research phase, I thought I would post this topic and see if any of you might be able to offer some expertise and advice to help us plan effectively, esp. those who have actually opened a bar/restaurant or are running one now.

Thanks much!

[Fire0nIce228 1]

If it is a full service bar make the drinks strong and cheap! Do everything you can to attract all the beer leagers in there after their games.. specials for them would be great too. For the parents gotta have hot chocolate and coffee

[Jarick 5]

So is the bar & restaurant in the same building as the rink? If so, I can see a whole litany of health and liability issues. Conceptually though, it seems cool. Might want to investigate the Blaine, MN complex as that has something similar (don't know if they serve booze though). Otherwise, I couldn't tell you much.

I do know that it's probably one of the greatest guy dreams you could ever want to have. My recommendation would be to have a lot of finger foods and partner up with some local brewers.

[fatwabbit 93]

try and get something that no one else would have, or super tasty that people just keep coming back for more.

There's a place near my house in Singapore that serves chicken wings... everytime I go back to visit I always stop by with my cousin and we'll order a dozen wings each. The taste is really nice that you dont need any sauce or anything, everything is already marinated into the wings.

One way to get the guys to try would be to give out a few as tasters for the first few customers, and then the word of mouth would spread.

[noodle3872 40]

Keep your food quality high with good portion sizes, your drink prices low, keep a good variety of alcohol in stock, hire well trained and motivated servers (another drink is always offered before the one being drank is empty), keep a good rotation of appy specials and advertise (sponsor a team). Nothing kills a pub faster than shitty food and poor service.

I hope it all works out for you!

Mike

[noodle3872 40]

Keep your food quality high with good portion sizes, your drink prices low, keep a good variety of alcohol in stock, hire well trained and motivated servers (another drink is always offered before the one being drank is empty), keep a good rotation of appy specials and advertise (sponsor a team). Nothing kills a pub faster than shitty food and poor service.

I hope it all works out for you!

Mike

[laquinta 0]

Hire the right kitchen staff. I have worked in a few restaurants where the right people weren't hired, and the job sucked, had the health board come, the place would have been shut down for good.

[Gummer12 134]

Burger and Beer $5, and Pizza specials for teams. Don't forget about birthday parties as well. If the rink has a concession stand, they should be the Coffee/Hot Chocolote and finger food providers. You want to create an atmosphere for people to have a reason to hang out after their game. TV's with all the NHL games you can provide, and not too loud and overpowering music and just good food, big portions and reasonable price. Also the waitstaff is a big factor too as you should already know. For specials ideas, maybe do some game related specials, like for a player getting a shutout, or a hat trick, or whatever else you can be creative with.

[laquinta 0]

Burger and Beer $5, and Pizza specials for teams. Don't forget about birthday parties as well. If the rink has a concession stand, they should be the Coffee/Hot Chocolote and finger food providers. You want to create an atmosphere for people to have a reason to hang out after their game. TV's with all the NHL games you can provide, and not too loud and overpowering music and just good food, big portions and reasonable price. Also the waitstaff is a big factor too as you should already know. For specials ideas, maybe do some game related specials, like for a player getting a shutout, or a hat trick, or whatever else you can be creative with.

I would love to find a burger and beer deal for $5.00.

[Gummer12 134]

Our LHB (Local Hockey Bar) does on tuesday nights

[laquinta 0]

Sweet, how big is the burger?

Any type of beer, or limitations?

[interpathway 9]

I love the idea, in theory. Do you really believe a USAH rink would allow a full service bar (beer, liquor) to operate in a facility serving USAH tournaments? We all remember the hockey dad massacre of a referee in Massachusetts. Could USAH really be willing to host any kind of games in a place where parents and spectators could find themselves loaded, furious, and willing to argue?

[pantherfan 0]

The comfiest sofas you can possibly get, worked for a couple rinks near me that overlook ice. It's not rare at all to see parents sit down at the start of the day to watch juniors skating lessons and stay perched on the sofas watching various kids games till late evening with a steady stream of food and drink.

A couple of healthy options are always good aswell (smoothies, fruit, protein shakes, pasta pots etc.) a nice little deli selection would allow you to cut down on backroom staff at slow times.

[TBLfan 25]

Here the rink and the bar aren't separately owned, so they give free wings for the league champions after the championship games. It's a full service bar and does pretty well. I see a lot of guys/girls hang out in the bar even if they aren't playing that night. Pretty decent food and reasonable prices are nice, add in a few HDTVs and "center ice" ...they do pretty well.

[flyerman 0]

So is the bar & restaurant in the same building as the rink? If so, I can see a whole litany of health and liability issues. Conceptually though, it seems cool. Might want to investigate the Blaine, MN complex as that has something similar (don't know if they serve booze though). Otherwise, I couldn't tell you much.

I do know that it's probably one of the greatest guy dreams you could ever want to have. My recommendation would be to have a lot of finger foods and partner up with some local brewers.

Yes, the bar/restaurant is in the same building as the rink. There's no separate entrance; you have to go in through the rink doors at either end of the facility and then turn and go up the stairs.

This is a former Canlan-run facility with the "Canadian" model of the sports (hockey) bar overlooking the ice. Gryph's Sports Bar at the U of Guelph is a good example, although there are others in the States located in strong hockey markets like the Northeast and Minnesota.

Good ideas so far. Keep 'em coming!

[laquinta 0]

I love the idea, in theory. Do you really believe a USAH rink would allow a full service bar (beer, liquor) to operate in a facility serving USAH tournaments? We all remember the hockey dad massacre of a referee in Massachusetts. Could USAH really be willing to host any kind of games in a place where parents and spectators could find themselves loaded, furious, and willing to argue?

What happened?

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

Some potentially handy advice from a guy that always goes upstairs to the bar & grill after games, and I have worked as a Bartender in night clubs too.

1. A league i used to play in always gave the player on each team in the mens league an MVP award following every game, as voted on by the opposition team, a $10 Gift Cert as the prize...usually the whole team or a good chunk would accompany said MVP upstairs for a beverage and a plate of wings or nachos

2. Price discounts on more than 5 players from a team (ie 5 or more xyz hockey team players come upstairs and 10% off their bill instantly)

3. By two, get one free on jugs/pints of beer

4. Hire good looking female servers

5. Food has to be good, not fine dining, but good. Burgers, Chicken Strips/Fingers, Fries with Gravy, Nachos, Wings etc...(Pub fare)

6. For success I'll echo the above comment on asking customers if they want another before the current bevvy is done. Nothing makes me want to get up and leave more than sitting staring at my empty pint wondering if Ms. Server will ever come around again.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

Seperate here too. Full bar its actually nicer than the rink/facility. (had cones on the ice in the middle of our last game where there was no ice just holes). They actually have bocce and cornhole leagues (its upstairs overlooking one of the rinks). Nice set up. See,s pretty busy usually. Good luck to ya

[Gummer12 134]

Sweet, how big is the burger?

Any type of beer, or limitations?

Normal good sized burger, and I thought it was just Domestics...but I THINK last time I was there they let me have a Blue Light.

[djm 0]

Here's something that I don't think anyone has brought up. Buy a cheap camcorder/tripod and pay a kid $10, free food or something to videotape the games. After each game ends, hook the camcorder up to one of the tvs and show a replay of the game. Obviously you'll have to make it known to the teams that the game is being shown in the bar, but I think it's a great way to get people into your place who might not otherwise want to stick around.

[interpathway 9]

What happened?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Junta

Now add in drunk fathers and "future NHLer pee-wees" (in Dad's eyes of course) and this becomes all the more likely to happen; again.

[Gummer12 134]

yeah, we tried the camcorder idea...let's just say it didn't last very long :P

[flyerman 0]

I love the idea, in theory. Do you really believe a USAH rink would allow a full service bar (beer, liquor) to operate in a facility serving USAH tournaments? We all remember the hockey dad massacre of a referee in Massachusetts. Could USAH really be willing to host any kind of games in a place where parents and spectators could find themselves loaded, furious, and willing to argue?

I don't think this is a liability issue as the bar was up and running for years in the past whilst the leagues were USAH sanctioned, but I will check on that to be sure.

The only time the bar would be open during youth hockey would be on a practice night. We prob. would just have the restaurant open during youth hockey games on the weekends serving breakfast and lunch for the kids and parents. So, I don't even think alcohol would be available, but these are among the hundreds of details we will be discussing.

One of the biggest issues will be the relationship among stakeholders. We are not sure at this point whether or not we will be incorporating as a separate business entity, or simply be running the bar for the rink -- which is owned by the city and managed by an outside management co. I expect a some bureaucratic hurdles and a few rolls of red tape.

Here's something that I don't think anyone has brought up. Buy a cheap camcorder/tripod and pay a kid $10, free food or something to videotape the games. After each game ends, hook the camcorder up to one of the tvs and show a replay of the game. Obviously you'll have to make it known to the teams that the game is being shown in the bar, but I think it's a great way to get people into your place who might not otherwise want to stick around.

Yes, we've talked about this way back when. Great idea!

[Chadd 916]

As the resident cynic/skeptic, let me add a few things:

There is a ton of liability in running a bar, be very careful. Training your staff is going to be critical on that front. While you want to make as much as possible, they need to know when to slow down the service for the guys that are knocking them back too fast. Especially after something as taxing as hockey, the alcohol will hit you faster than a normal night out on the town. Having at least one big guy on staff should help prevent any of the guys that want to settle scores a few beers after a tough game.

If you give anything away, give away food. Pizza, wings, etc... and let them buy their own booze.

TVs, lots of TVs with a variety of programming.

Don't put a million things on the menu. Do what you do and do it as well as you can afford to do it.

Good waiters/waitresses and bartenders can make or break a bar. Make sure they have some hockey knowledge and are friendly.

[Too Old 1]

Seperate here too. Full bar its actually nicer than the rink/facility. (had cones on the ice in the middle of our last game where there was no ice just holes). They actually have bocce and cornhole leagues (its upstairs overlooking one of the rinks). Nice set up. See,s pretty busy usually. Good luck to ya

Yikes.... a cornhole league.... :lol: