Get your index fingers ready, because Continues Arcade is opening next week near the Braddock Road metro station.
The inside of Continues Arcade is still being finished, but features more than 60 classic arcade games, as well as large leather couches and sectioned off tables to hook up TVs to classic gaming systems like the Nintendo NES or Sega Genesis.
Founders Allen Brooks and Doug Bauer have spent the last two years traveling around the country buying dozens of vintage and modern arcade games. Now the team behind the restaurant/bar/arcade at 1050 N. Fayette Street are beta testing their menu.
“Want to play Goldeneye all night long?” Brooks asked. “We got you. You want to play Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64? Totally.”
Continues isn’t open to the public just yet, and staff inside are still being trained. Next Wednesday (July 23), the arcade will open with a dinner-only service to its newsletter subscribers. After that, Brooks said it will be open consistently until the grand opening in September or October.
On Thursday (July 17), Continues Arcade opened their breakfast window, The Warp Zone. They’re serving a limited menu of coffee and breakfast sandwiches as the final details inside are being ironed out. The team behind Continues includes chef advisor Spike Mendelsohn and chef Brian Lacayo, who created a gamer’s menu with dishes like the Game Boy chicken sandwich with power pellets (tater tots).
What’s the future hold for the arcade? The Continues team is taking it one token at a time.
“We’ve talked a lot about other locations that we could possibly partner with, whether it be at the airport or across from the ballpark,” Bauer said. “Where else could we take this idea and make it work?”
The story behind Continues Arcade started a few years ago, when Brooks was contacted by property owner Jeff Yates Jr.
“We’re friends, and Jeff asked me if I had any ideas for this empty warehouse space,” Brooks said. “I had this idea. Games have always been incredibly important to me. They’re where I found escape and spaces to play in when I was a kid. I found community, friends, and family through games.”
Brooks said that updates on the business will be shared on social media.
“We’ll announce what our hours are gonna be,” he said. Basically, from Wednesday on out, our dining room will be open for dinner service, and then we’ll work backwards into brunch and lunch.”
