165 King St W | 3 fl | Completed

[panamaniac]

As mentioned. Just barely.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...urney.html

I was there twice in that brief period it was opened prior to lockdown and it was fun and busy both times.  Good selection of beer too.  Love its back alley location.  Really hope they make it but they are even further handicapped than most bars in that a big part of their draw is the video games.  Will Public Health even allow these to be used when bars are initially opened? Even if they do, many may be wary of using them.

 I don't think there are any proven cases of covid-19 being spread by arcade games ...  One assumes they will be thoroughly cleaned between uses, no?

[taylortbb]

I was there twice in that brief period it was opened prior to lockdown and it was fun and busy both times.  Good selection of beer too.  Love its back alley location.  Really hope they make it but they are even further handicapped than most bars in that a big part of their draw is the video games.  Will Public Health even allow these to be used when bars are initially opened? Even if they do, many may be wary of using them.

 I don't think there are any proven cases of covid-19 being spread by arcade games ...  One assumes they will be thoroughly cleaned between uses, no?

I've never seen pinball machines or arcade machines that get cleaned between uses. They could, but that's definitely a lot of extra labour than their business model accounted for.

There's also much less than 6 ft between the machines, so maintaining space from other players is a problem.

[tomh009]

 I don't think there are any proven cases of covid-19 being spread by arcade games ...  One assumes they will be thoroughly cleaned between uses, no?

I've never seen pinball machines or arcade machines that get cleaned between uses. They could, but that's definitely a lot of extra labour than their business model accounted for.

There's also much less than 6 ft between the machines, so maintaining space from other players is a problem.

Every second machine in use. And adding $1 to the beer prices should cover the cost of cleaning them between customers.

[taylortbb]

I've never seen pinball machines or arcade machines that get cleaned between uses. They could, but that's definitely a lot of extra labour than their business model accounted for.

There's also much less than 6 ft between the machines, so maintaining space from other players is a problem.

Every second machine in use. And adding $1 to the beer prices should cover the cost of cleaning them between customers.

You certainly can do things like that, but paying more for drinks for half as many machines has got to affect the number of customers and the overall viability of business.

I managed to go to AOK twice before they closed, and I think it's an awesome addition to downtown. But the challenges to their business model are real, and IMO even worse than the average bar/restaurant.

[panamaniac]

Yes, many businesses will be challenged by the requirements/limitations imposed by the virus.

[tomh009]

Every second machine in use. And adding $1 to the beer prices should cover the cost of cleaning them between customers.

You certainly can do things like that, but paying more for drinks for half as many machines has got to affect the number of customers and the overall viability of business.

I managed to go to AOK twice before they closed, and I think it's an awesome addition to downtown. But the challenges to their business model are real, and IMO even worse than the average bar/restaurant.

Every bar and restaurant will be challenged. But I think it's actually easier for them to do the distancing than for a lot of bars where people stand in groups at the bar.

And I think we, as customers, should be prepared to pay more in the future. Will another $1 for a craft beer really break our budgets? I don't think so.