New ‘barcade’ entertainment venue coming to downtown SLO. Here’s what’s in store
A new entertainment venue is coming downtown San Luis Obispo, complete with a video game arcade, bar, food, live music, pool tables, board games and other options for fun.
Atascadero resident Robin “Rob” Peterson, a father of three young children, plans to fill the 8,400-square-foot former Aaron Brothers space with an amusement center that will allow minors by day before pivoting to entertainment options for those 21 and over at night.
The “barcade” business, based on a model he’s seen in other cities such as San Jose, will be called BA Start Competitive Arcade & Taproom.
The application for the project at 647 Higuera St. received the go-ahead from city planning on Monday.
The project was granted a minor use permit through an administrative hearing with senior SLO planner Brian Leveille, pending building permit approval.
Peterson described his concept as a throwback to the video game arcades popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
“This is going to be something fun for everyone, and for families to enjoy and to have a place to come together and play some fun games,” Peterson said at Monday’s permit hearing.
Peterson said the daytime focus of the venue will be the arcade, but when the sun sets and “it turns around 8 or 9 p.m., we can flip a switch to 21 and over because we will have live bands and things like that.”
He added: “It just wouldn’t be appropriate for kids to be running around when you’re having live music.”
A bar will serve beer and mead (fermented honey water with alcohol often served at Renaissance festivals) but no mixed drinks or wine under the alcohol license allowances, Peterson said.
Besides live music, which will include The Molly Ringwald Project and other local groups, he envisions hosting stand-up comedy and karaoke competitions, among other events.
And in addition to video games, and gaming tournaments they plan to host, BA Start will offer shuffle board, air hockey, ping-pong, foosball and board games, Peterson said.
As for the types of video games, he told The Tribune: “We plan to go heavier on the older stuff like ‘Street Fighter’ and the big games from the ‘90s. But we’re going to bring in some newer ones like ‘Halo’ and some some bigger, newer games.”
He even has a vision to set up a mock-up of his childhood living room with old Nintendo and Atari consoles that people can play for free.
“That sounds really weird, but it’ll be fun,” Peterson said.
The name of the business was inspired by the The Konami Code, the cheat code for many video games that is activated by pressing “up up down down left right left right BA start” on the controller (the code gives 30 extra player lives in the game “Contra,” for example).
Plans for opening
Peterson’s goal is to open his doors to the public by April, though he’ll need to apply for a city building permit for the necessary changes prior to the business’ opening, said Graham Bultema, a SLO assistant planner. Then, they’ll need to complete construction to renovate the building.
The business will need to comply with all other conditions of approval of the use permit prior to opening, including accommodating for bicycle parking and forming a security plan.
The approved hours for operation are 3 p.m. to midnight on Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays.
Beers will come from local companies as well, including microbreweries, in addition to brands such as Pabst Blue Ribbon and Coors Light.
The food menu will feature “tasty” sandwiches, soups, salads, breads and other foods, partnering with local restaurants, bakeries and vendors.
Peterson, who’s opening the venue with his wife Sarah, said they attended Chico State University together and had a longtime goal to open a bar, a plan they re-envisioned the plan after having kids (their youngest is 8).
Peterson works remotely as the program manager for the Mountain View-based company Intuit (the company that makes TurboTax).
He plans to be on site at BA Start each day after finishing his daily tech role duties (he has an earlier shift that ends about 2:30 p.m. each day).
“I wanted to get back to our dream of having a bar but putting a twist on it,” Peterson said.
Noise concerns
One of the area residents, Ursula Bishop, who lives on nearby Dana Street, said she is concerned that noise coming from the venue — including live music — will bother those who live in the closest neighborhood.
Bishop said she can hear sound emanating from a nearby bar, The Mark, on a regular basis, even when doors are closed.
“My main concern is noise currently, every weekend Thursday through Saturday,” Bishop said.
Bishop called for the minor use permit decision on the BA Start proposal to be postponed to work out the noise concerns and allow for some modifications.
In response, city officials said compliance with the city noise policy is required, along with other conditions.
“Staff recommends conditions of approval including the closing of windows and doors,” city officials wrote in a staff report. “Staff has included conditions requiring a manager be present and available for contact by a city representative and/or adjacent property owners/tenants during live entertainment to minimize the need for police response related to noise.”
Peterson said that he would be flexible in working with neighbors about when live bands might play and to resolve any other noise issues, perhaps ending band sessions at 10:30 p.m. or another time deemed appropriate if needed.
“If that’s a serious issue, we can modify what we need to do in order to make make everyone happy,” Peterson said. “I want to make sure we’re all working together.”
Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the Konami Code. The code is “up up down down left right left right BA start.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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