Opening a Rink Sports Bar and Restaurant

[sitzlejd 0]

You must - MUST - have the photo hunt game machine. That thing has kept me pumping quarters in for hours. Even considered getting one for my house but they're a bit pricey.

[flyerman 0]

That's what we are going for. A full step-up from delivery pizza, but not quite gourmet. Fresh and delicious with a lg. variety of toppings. Personal to Family sizes. My corny idea for sizes is: Player (personal), Line (sm), Team (med), NHL (lg) , Olympic (xl or fam). Or we could do Peewee, Bantam, Junior, Pro, All-Star etc. etc....

I would just stick with small, med, large etc... It eliminates any confusion and makes life simpler on both ends.

Of course the regular size names with measurements would be used as well, this is just a gimmick to use on the menu above each offering. Just a corny idea of mine....

you have to have bubble hockey :D

Yup - working on that and a bunch of other games for us to lease.

You must - MUST - have the photo hunt game machine. That thing has kept me pumping quarters in for hours. Even considered getting one for my house but they're a bit pricey.

Thanks, I'll check it out. Right now we are discussing Darts, Pool, Golden Tee, Bubble Hockey, Foosball, maybe a Jukebox. Leasing seems like an easy and no-lose situation, but I have not seen specifically what is stipulated in the contracts.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

That's what we are going for. A full step-up from delivery pizza, but not quite gourmet. Fresh and delicious with a lg. variety of toppings. Personal to Family sizes. My corny idea for sizes is: Player (personal), Line (sm), Team (med), NHL (lg) , Olympic (xl or fam). Or we could do Peewee, Bantam, Junior, Pro, All-Star etc. etc....

Stapple toppings are key and it's important to balance selction, but one thing to avoid is keeping stuff around that gets ordered once a week. That's a food cost killer and will drain the life blood of a restaurant. It's certainly true that hockey players and hockey families are going to be a core base of your clients and there's nothing wrong with tipping your hat to them. That said, gimmicks are used to sale crap. If you have good food you don't need them.

Given your venue individual portions are probably gong to be a necessary evil, what I recommend instead of personal pizzas (usually a loser in terms of profit) is offering service by the slice during key periods of busines in the rink. Such as during the busy weekend games. Also, pizzas above a large are also profit killers. If you charge enough to actually make up for the difference in product used people will not see them as a good value anyway, and if you don't you'll watch the customers carry your profits out the door in doggie bags.

[Griff 2]

Flyerman, I'm from Lincoln, NE we always went down there for the youth hockey tourny's and then when we "grew up" we've gone for the mens, we didn't go last year because we couldn't get in the right div. But our team name is the Wasabi Spicy Tuna's. Hope to see you this sping. I really need to get the registration in.

[flyerman 0]

Flyerman, I'm from Lincoln, NE we always went down there for the youth hockey tourny's and then when we "grew up" we've gone for the mens, we didn't go last year because we couldn't get in the right div. But our team name is the Wasabi Spicy Tuna's. Hope to see you this sping. I really need to get the registration in.

Not saying I know anything about this here tourney you're talking about, but you played in the Competitive Div, yes? You must be good cause our Competitive teams have ex-CHL and ex-Junior players. How did you guys do last year? Isn't there another team or two from Lincoln? I want to say the Nights?

That's what we are going for. A full step-up from delivery pizza, but not quite gourmet. Fresh and delicious with a lg. variety of toppings. Personal to Family sizes. My corny idea for sizes is: Player (personal), Line (sm), Team (med), NHL (lg) , Olympic (xl or fam). Or we could do Peewee, Bantam, Junior, Pro, All-Star etc. etc....

Stapple toppings are key and it's important to balance selction, but one thing to avoid is keeping stuff around that gets ordered once a week. That's a food cost killer and will drain the life blood of a restaurant. It's certainly true that hockey players and hockey families are going to be a core base of your clients and there's nothing wrong with tipping your hat to them. That said, gimmicks are used to sale crap. If you have good food you don't need them.

Given your venue individual portions are probably gong to be a necessary evil, what I recommend instead of personal pizzas (usually a loser in terms of profit) is offering service by the slice during key periods of busines in the rink. Such as during the busy weekend games. Also, pizzas above a large are also profit killers. If you charge enough to actually make up for the difference in product used people will not see them as a good value anyway, and if you don't you'll watch the customers carry your profits out the door in doggie bags.

Thanks for the info. I will pass this on.

[TBLfan 25]

That's what we are going for. A full step-up from delivery pizza, but not quite gourmet. Fresh and delicious with a lg. variety of toppings. Personal to Family sizes. My corny idea for sizes is: Player (personal), Line (sm), Team (med), NHL (lg) , Olympic (xl or fam). Or we could do Peewee, Bantam, Junior, Pro, All-Star etc. etc....

I like that idea. Just give the size in inches next to the size name for those that don't make the connection to hockey(or understand the connection). Obviously some will say "pan" or "medium" whatever. I think keeping a hockey theme through the menu is a good idea as long as you keep it simple.

[Deerok 3]

Avoid the term "sloppy seconds" for any food item and you should be ok.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

LOL!!

I know there are plenty of pizza shops that do quite well serving only beer and pizza primarily. The one I worked at did not have beer but was in a shopping mall and sold by the slice. The one in the town I live in does beer and pizza and it is by the slice as well.

I think going and selling by the slice is going to be your best bet.

As was mentioned, since it is just pizza in a hockey rink you really need to work hard to make sure the word gets out that this is not 'frozen, sit under the lamp for 3 hours' pizza that your serving but fresh good pizza. Giving away samples when you open, sponsoring tourneys and stuff like that is key as you know.

I think pizza is good to start and if you can get some fryers you can instantly add things that are basically impossible to screw up like

chicken fingers

mozzarella sticks

french fries

jalepeno poppers :)

Then you can worry about wings and 'special sauces' later :)

[flyerman 0]

Good stuff, guys! Keep the ideas coming!

Anyone a big screen TV buff? My next assignment is getting pricing info on leasing (for now) the following:

2 60" LCD HD TVs

4 42" LCD HD TVs

Need recommendations for brand and model, and any other relevant info. Thanks!

I think we are going with DirectTV as they have a great sports package, NHL Center Ice, Big Ten, etc. plus competitive commercial pricing and great customer service. The place is wired for either cable or satellite.

[TBLfan 25]

IDK but take a look at what Circuit City has left, should save quite a bit from them. Also a HD projector isn't a horrible idea, since they aren't very expensive.

[ArcArsenal 0]

I am a big fan of Sony when it comes to LCD's. I have never been disappointed with picture quality in the Sony V line or XBR at home or any sports bar.

Also, think about getting some of the power bars that have the power cleaning. This should help keep the picture crisp.

[ktang 34]

Protein shakes in capped paper containers with straws, for the parents to take to the kids after practice. And for the more serious weekend warriors wanting to kick-start their muscle recovery in the bar. You may need to make up a poster about the positive effects of this.

Do you think your rink will let the bar take orders for the players in the dressing rooms?

Keep one section of the wall clear to show the standings for the beer-league teams and the individual scoring races, if you have the time to update them.

Don't use round tables; they are hard to put together for larger groups.

[shooter27 116]

At the 60" level you may be able to save significant cash by going plasma instead of LCD. The "break-point" size where plasmas became significantly cheaper than LCDs used to be 42" but I think that has gotten larger recently.

As for brands, Pansonic is consistenly highly rated for plasmas and Samsung is consistently highly rated for their LCDs.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Given that you have a large venue you may considered reducing the size of the TV's and increasing their numbers. The goal should be that every seat in the house (save those over looking the rink for obvious reasons) should have a decent view of a screen. Also, if you can build a rep for being willing to put any game on at least a couple of screens it will be a major draw.

In a restaurant setting I would recommend using LCD's though, the screen life is quite a bit longer than the plasmas and when they run nearly 24 hours it can make a big difference.

[Chadd 916]

That's what we are going for. A full step-up from delivery pizza, but not quite gourmet. Fresh and delicious with a lg. variety of toppings. Personal to Family sizes. My corny idea for sizes is: Player (personal), Line (sm), Team (med), NHL (lg) , Olympic (xl or fam). Or we could do Peewee, Bantam, Junior, Pro, All-Star etc. etc....

I would just stick with small, med, large etc... It eliminates any confusion and makes life simpler on both ends.

Of course the regular size names with measurements would be used as well, this is just a gimmick to use on the menu above each offering. Just a corny idea of mine....

If you do go that route with the names, "mite, pewee, bantam..." idea is probably the better way to go.

[djm 0]

Not sure leasing a tv is the way to go. Not sure what a 42" lcd leases for but I would guess that you can buy one for less than you'd pay to lease one for six to 12 months.

As far as the lcd/plasma goes here are a few things I'd take into account if I were in your situation:

-stick with the 720p, 1080i resolution tvs, which you should be able to get for relatively cheap since 1080p is the newest technology. As far as I know, the only thing that even outputs 1080p is blu-ray, which I doubt you'll use.

Ex:

Here's a samsung 720p 50 inch plasma for $879 w/free shipping (today only)

http://shop4.frys.com/product/5542410

-along the same lines, don't be afraid to buy the not so well known brand such as vizio, olevia, etc. The people watching the tvs won't care what brand they are, and many times can provide nearly as good picture quality for less money.

-don't be afraid to buy online, just make sure it's a reputable site such as frys.com or 6ave.com. Many times they offer free shipping and are usually tax-free.

-check out bargain sites such as fatwallet.com and slickdeals.net and do a search for lcd or plasma for good deals.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Hows this going?

[jmiami 4]

Damn, I'm coming into this late, but what a fun thread.

Names: The CrossBar, Reggie Dunlop's Bar & Grill (in case this is before anyone's time, Reggie Dunlop was character Paul Newman played in Slapshot), I noticed someone already suggested Five Hole, which I like too. I'm sure "The Rafters" would work fine though if you want to keep it friendly to figure skating-types. But then again, how many figure skaters are going to hang out after their workout and get hammered? Hockey players, on the other hand, will gladly do that for you. I would go with Reggie Dunlop's, I think. Put a bunch of pics/poster from the movie up there with the other hockey memorabilia, you can't lose with that. Picture the scene in a locker room after rec league game "whaddya say boys? Up to Reggie's?" Certainly...!

Food/beer: keep it simple, as others suggested. Absolutely have one dark beer. Make sure you have at least one drinkable white wine and red wine on hand as well.

TV's/games: be great if you can always have some kind of hockey on of course. If not, consider getting dvd's of old series or games from years gone by. Can't lose with that either. Pool tables probably enough, dartboard won't kill ya either. But I see someone suggested Bubble Hockey, which is great idea. Hell, you can have tournaments.

I'm quite envious of the OP to have an opportunity like this! I live in NYC and have always thought about scraping up some bucks and opening a hockey-themed bar. I play at Aviator rink in Brooklyn sometimes, and they do have a bar that overlooks the two rinks, it seems to do quite well. A lot of guys go up there after there games.

So to re-iterate the last poster, how's the bar coming along OP?

[in da crease 0]

I don't know if it's been said, since I didn't read through all 8 pages, but wifi will get people up to your place. I would put some sort of rotating passcode on it so somebody can't sit down stairs and access it. But if somebody comes up and wants to use it, as long as they buy something, they can get the code. Our rink has free Wifi and you can't believe how much it gets used. Especially during the day by the figure skaters parents. It might also help pull the crowd off the street during lunch.

Best of luck to you. I hope it works out! Everybody dreams of having such a place at their local rink.

[flyerman 0]

Hows this going?

Well, I'm very sorry to say that the whole deal has completely fallen through. My buddy just decided he wasn't going to be able to make it work financially and sustain it during the lean summer months. Apparently, the "investment" money available was peanuts and there were many conditions put on it; plus there was a lot of red tape with the City and rink management involved. The amount of cash he (we) needed to get it open by next month for our big tourneys -- only to have it basically sit idle this summer with little going on there -- was simply too much. So, at least for now, this project has been derailed.

Bottom line is that to make this work, we need to find investors who care about what the rink offers and supporting a restaurant up there. And I think we would prob need to partner up with someone already running a sports bar who wants to take a risk and expand. I know it's possible, it's just tough right now in this biz climate.

Let me know if you guys have any ideas on where to go from here.

And for the guys coming to Wichita (I guess it's okay to say where we are now since this thing is not happening right now!) for our big Kansas Cup tourneys next month, all I can say is I'm as bummed as you and hopefully the rink will at least have some minimal food and beverage offerings. If not, bring your grills and coolers and come find my team, the Lucky 7's, we'll BBQ together outside!

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Hows this going?

Well, I'm very sorry to say that the whole deal has completely fallen through. My buddy just decided he wasn't going to be able to make it work financially and sustain it during the lean summer months. Apparently, the "investment" money available was peanuts and there were many conditions put on it; plus there was a lot of red tape with the City and rink management involved. The amount of cash he (we) needed to get it open by next month for our big tourneys -- only to have it basically sit idle this summer with little going on there -- was simply too much. So, at least for now, this project has been derailed.

Bottom line is that to make this work, we need to find investors who care about what the rink offers and supporting a restaurant up there. And I think we would prob need to partner up with someone already running a sports bar who wants to take a risk and expand. I know it's possible, it's just tough right now in this biz climate.

Let me know if you guys have any ideas on where to go from here.

And for the guys coming to Wichita (I guess it's okay to say where we are now since this thing is not happening right now!) for our big Kansas Cup tourneys next month, all I can say is I'm as bummed as you and hopefully the rink will at least have some minimal food and beverage offerings. If not, bring your grills and coolers and come find my team, the Lucky 7's, we'll BBQ together outside!

One of my jobs years ago was as a sous chef at a resort restaurant. A common method resort use to attract restauranteurs is to offer a profit/loss sharing scheme. The vast majority of resorts are seasonal, to compenstate for the off season losses the deal is arranged so that the restaurants overhead rent is low and the resort gets a percentage of the profits on top of that. This allows the restaurant to stay in the black year round. It's also not uncommon to have an in season menu and an off season menu. This allows you to take items off the menu that are high cost and/or high turn over during slow times to prevent as much loss as possible. You might consider approaching the rink with this kind of an arrangment.