Opening a Rink Sports Bar and Restaurant

[crazy-luke-finch 0]

we have the same thing at our local rink.

It is basically split into 2 half's, one with cafe tables and chairs, the other with sofa's and coffee tables.

Make sure you hire friendly and knowledgeable staff, good service will keep 'em coming.

As well as a wide range of meals and drinks, offer snacks as well for people to eat between games or on the go etc.

Also, have music playing in the background, keep it nice and warm, and make sure there is a good view of both rinks.

[Lucky27 1]

Dont forget the peanuts...........

[RadioGaGa 162]

Dont forget the peanuts...........

In this day and age, peanut alergies are so common (especially if the rink has youth hockey) you'd be better off to skip it.

[JR Boucicaut 3803]

Ain't nobody eatin' peanuts right now, allergies or not.

Top Shelf was the name of the bar my old rink (jrhky - yes, Kensington)

[Gummer12 134]

Yeah, no peanuts...Get a good sized popcorn machine, and keep it heavily salted, and free access to the public, with a stack of giant chip bowls beside it

[RadioGaGa 162]

Ain't nobody eatin' peanuts right now, allergies or not.

Good point. But, like anything that hysteria will pass.

[Chadd 916]

Ain't nobody eatin' peanuts right now, allergies or not.

Good point. But, like anything that hysteria will pass.

and the people that do eat peanuts throw the shells everywhere. No need to make extra work for the staff.

[interpathway 9]

Besides, pretzels are much better.

[troy 12]

If you want to attract a more general, but still hockey related base, maybe advertise as a place to eat and watch a local HS/Junior/AAA program, whichever might be most prominent in the area.

[silverclrk 0]

You could check out tab ramos sports center in aberdeen Nj they have a bar over lokoing the hockey rink and football/soccer field. The business is pretty steady but it is spoty only during game times and really only gets crowded if there are good teams playing or one team brings some fans. My father had looked into purchasing this facitlity at one point rink and bar the guy wanted something like 3 million for the whole place, It was going to take somewhere around 30 years to even break a profit. Good luck with the endevor.

[flyerman 0]

Your feedback has been awesome, guys. I really appreciate it.

Law Goalie: I really like "The Rafters." Then hanging team banners and US/Canadian flags up there. Your sports memorabilia ideas are excellent. Top Shelf is good too, but I like the notion of "going up to the Rafters." We'll see how it tests when we survey our potential customer base.

A popcorn machine with free popcorn -- I like that idea too. Pint of peanuts in the shell for sale -- maybe. Food is likely going to be simple offerings, but tasty. A step up from concessions for sure, but not full restaurant fare.

Most likely we will start pretty bare bones depending upon the amount of resources available just to get it up and running. So, this may be a multi-phase project. Apparently, they want it going by May before our big Spring adult hockey tourneys and city-wide festival.

We have a pretty good idea of this already of course, but anyone with experience in actually opening a bar of this kind: please let me know what your start-up costs were (not how much, but the actually line items). The space is furnished and the bar and kitchen are for the most part fully-equipped, although some refurbishments and decor will be needed. But we definitely don't want to overlook anything, even as we use a business plan template.

[Jackal_17 0]

Great stuff guys! I really appreciate your ideas and advice.

How about a fresh, clever (but not too clever), non-cliche, easy-to-remember name for this establishment? Suggestions?

When Canlan operated the rink it was called Icesports, and the huge sign outside the front entrance still reads that, even though the official name of the rink has changed. It could still carry over though -- ICESPORTS BAR & GRILL -- but perhaps it's a little boring and too rooted in the past.

Also, in addition to the pool tables, video poker, big screen TV, and jukebox, have you guys ever seen a hockey shooting chamber in which you put money, pucks come out, and you get to shoot on a target?

We had a target chamber at CAN/AM in which you shot pucks at 9 illuminated boxes (3 rows of 3). When you hit the box, the light when out. Fastest to shoot all 9 won a price. But this was not coin operated.

This could be a lot of fun for drunken hockey players, but on the downside it could potentially break quickly and be very noisy.

How about Pucked up? It's a team name in my league and I just like it... Might be a little vulgar for the little kids though...

As for the target chamber, they have them at Prohockeylife stores. From what I see, the floor is all scratched up now and it does get pretty loud when the machine is on.

I don't know if you know what Restaurant Makeover is, but it's a Canadian Show that makes over different restaurant, with a well known interior designer and a famous chef to train your chef. You might want to check that out.

http://www.foodtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=86270

[Gummer12 134]

I love the Rafters idea. Brilliant!

[RadioGaGa 162]

Law Goalie: I really like "The Rafters." Then hanging team banners and US/Canadian flags up there. Your sports memorabilia ideas are excellent. Top Shelf is good too, but I like the notion of "going up to the Rafters." We'll see how it tests when we survey our potential customer base.

My dad always said if he opened a bar he'd call ilt "Next Door"

"Hey hun, I'm going Next Door for a beer..."

stuff like that.

But in a hockey context "The Rafters" is pretty awesome.

[TBLfan 25]

For food, stuff that can be frozen and dropped in a deep fryer are great. Great beer food and quick prep work. Mozzarella sticks, fries, chicken fingers, wings, etc.... Grilled cheese sandwiches also do pretty well for the kids and moms. If the bar doesnt have a concession stand to compete with hot chocolate, coffee and even Icees do well.

Here, they have about 5 beers on tap and a small selection of bottled beers. They also have maybe 8 bottles of liquor. I've never heard anyone complain about the lack of anything there... and with the fryer being soo quick, they can easily serve a limited menu until close with a short staff.

[flyerman 0]

Just got back from a meeting with our group and did a walk-through. As many times as I've been up there, I've forgotten how huge the space really is. The seating area spans from one end of the Olympic rink all the way to the far end of the NHL rink; the bar (and kitchen behind) sit back, centered between the two sheets. I don't know square footage, but it's BIG. So much potential. This would be an absolute gold mine in any Canadian city or big hockey market city in the States. Amazing it's fully equipped and just sat empty for five years!

We have to have a number for our start-up costs in a couple of weeks. Then we will know more from the resource side and our status (independent ownership or employees of the rink).

The old name of the bar was Skates Bar & Grill, which we might be stuck with unless we have ownership control. My favorite is still THE RAFTERS.

There are 10 draught beer taps, so we can have a decent selection. Here's some possibilities:

Bud

Bud Light

Coors Light

Miller Light

Labatt Blue

Molson Canadian

Sam Adams Lager

Boulevard Pale Ale

Blue Moon

Fat Tire

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

What do you guys think?

[Rustyhole 1]

my fav so far is "Next Door" FWIW :)

[kosydar 0]

As far as beer goes I think you might be overdoing it with Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light and Coolers Light. I'd take at least the Miller Light out and put in something from a local brewery. I'm sure that you can find one that has seasonal beer, which you could then rotate. In fact I would even try to put in multiple local beers. I know a lot of what people drink is regional and around here people definitely like the local stuff. Hell even Pabst has a big following.

[Reaper 0]

as for names

the five hole

the red line

center ice pub and grub

lockeroom eatery

the house of hockey and food

Ummmm... gross. If the notion of eating food in a room that smells like rotten asscrack on a humid summer day is one that tests well with any focus group then I'll retract my statement.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Typically you should have naming rights, and I don't see why the rink would fight you on it. What better way to demonstrate new ownership than with a new name?

I have quite a bit of experience in the restaurant business and have often found that rink restaurants tend to fail because they offer inferior product and experience to their competition. I don't really blame rink owners, after all they're running an ice rink which doesn't automatically spell out restaurant experience. A lot of them simply fail to understand that their restaurant has competition and needs to be competive in order to succeed. A huge part of the restaurant business is just getting people through the front doors after opening. From the sounds of things this restaurant hasn't been operational in awhile and might not have been very good when it was. So right off the bat your competing with all the spots in the area that families from the youth leagues and players from the adult leagues have established for their post game refreshment. Starting off you're going to have to give out a lot of specials and happy hours to get people at your tables. I'd suggest working with the leagues and clubs that operate out of the rink, it's good advertising for your business and it's cheap.

I like your idea of not offering a full restaurant menu, many restaurants fail because they're trying to be more than they really are. Not a lot of people are really looking for full meals after games. What that does mean though, is that you need to make sure what you are offering is the best caliber you can get. Restaurants live and die on word of mouth advertising, and if anything, I would imagine operating at an ice rink would only make that more true. So John Doe telling his teammates about the great wings and beer he had at your place for a reasonable price is the most potent advertising you've got.

Experience is going to be another major competive angle that you can use. With so much space you might consider creating two sections in the restaurant. One that's very family friendly and one that appeals to the adult players. Most parents don't want to take their kids to a place that feels like a sports bar on one hand. On the other, beer leaguers tend to want a sports bar experience as drinking in something that resembles a family dinner usually doesn't cut it. I would recommend using hockey to your advantage here also. Get Center Ice and sport packages that will provide you with coverage of hockey events like Juniors, international competition, and so on. Most sports bars will put world series of poker on before hockey, so you could definately get an edge among hockey players here.

As for line item costs, what exactly does your liquor licesne entitle you to serve? A full bar is quite a bit different than a beer and wine only establishment.

[Law Goalie 147]

Love the idea of split sections. If you're going to physically divide the space, the obvious flow-through would be along the glass wall that overlooks the ice surfaces. You just don't want it to feel like a barn. Nobody enjoys drinking at the first table in an aircraft hanger unless it's Oktoberfest.

What is your local competition like, by the way? You could always take a fairly aggressive Starbucks'-esque approach and really target them: offer their most popular items and beers just a hair cheaper, plus other stuff of your own. SB's stated practice is to open cross-corner from an existing coffee house and steal their customers; that's more or less what you're doing here, except that you have a huge advantage in proximity and major disadvantages with history, as RLH hinted. That bar was probably awful before, and you need to convince people you're a totally different operation. If the rink balks at renaming, I would make it a written condition of the deal that you control the name (whether or not you use mine, though I'm glad you like it). The last thing you want is to appear to be the second coming of a bad bar.

Another thing to consider would be the drinking-and-driving issue. Obviously, teams will start to carpool (well, van-pool) with designated drivers if they really start to drink seriously at your place, but it might be worth investigating what cabfare would be for a van from the rink to the main residential areas, and working out a flat-rate deal with a local cab company that you could pass on to your customers, or cover outright if the bill is over X. If someone has a big night and wants to get bladdered, you've got them covered. You don't want to turn into the place where everybody has a snack and a pop and then goes home before heading to 'the real bar'.

[Gummer12 134]

Might wanna have a dark beer on tap, like a Killians, or a Guinness

[Law Goalie 147]

Whoa, I just assumed you couldn't open a bar without Guinness on tap. Isn't there a law against that? :)

If it were me, I'd insist on Harp, Smithwicks and Kilkenny too, but that seems like a bit much for a rink-bar. I'd love it, but I don't think it's a recipe for financial success unless you're in exactly the right neighbourhood.

As to the draught options generally, I have a few ideas, but please bear in mind that my knowledge of the cost/distribution is zero.

I agree with kosydar, who noted that the multiple light beers and pale ales are a little redundant. I also love his idea about rotating one local beer a week (or month, whatever) through your last tap as a special. You could do something kind of neat by having a bunch of Canadian beers on tap. Blue and Canadian aside (they're pretty ubiquitous), you could get Keith's and Sleeman's pretty easily, I imagine, and they'd be something just a little different.

Ultimately, it's a balance between having what sells big in your area or doing something interesting and different; you might just blend in with all the others bars and not be much of a draw, or you might alienate people who just want comfort-drinks and aren't interested in curious beers after hockey. I think a balance of popular American draughts, three or four Canadian beers and one local special would achieve that nicely.

[shooter27 116]

How about "Ms. McGill's Tea Room"? Might be a little obscure in the rest of the world, but in a hockey setting I've got to believe most of the people, particularly adult leaguers, would get it.

[minwookie 0]

Not sure if someone mentioned it, but maybe offer free wifi internet. Gives the hockey parents somewhere to go and perhaps spend some coin. It really isn't that expensive to provide.

Hiring competent and motivated staff is key. As is knowing your market. Most people here are gonna give the beer-leaguer's (or occasional hockey parent's) opinion, but consider the other patrons of the rink including the underage ones. Having a blender for making protein shakes and smoothies could be a nice way to get the health conscious into your establishment.

What type of kitchen equipment/storage do you have? I'm guessing some burners, flattops and fryers. Anything cool like a salamander?