Battle and Brew’s Re-Re-Re-Opening!

If you’ve been a regular on this blog, or if you happen to be a geek in Atlanta, you may have heard of the gamer bar and restaurant Battle and Brew. You may have also heard that they closed forever in the early morning hours of November 6th, 2017. What you may not have heard, though, is that “forever” really meant three weeks as new owners snatched this Atlanta geek institution from the jaws of oblivion mere hours after their farewell party.

So what does this mean for the southeastern fandom and gaming community? I reached out to General Manager Nate Sanders for more information about Battle and Brew’s Re-Re-Re-opening:

“We’re bringing back the focus on the guest and the community. We dove back into training from my first day back. Knowledge is power in this industry, and I want our staff to not only know the culture and the community but know the offerings we have in the building. Beer class, Cocktail class, Culinary shows, etc. — all of these aspects while focusing on a guest-first mentality is going to help right the ship. We’ve also been taking the feedback from the community and really focusing on how we can grow and change things to the communities benefit. We’ve doubled the amount of gaming space since the relaunch and plan on continuing to make positive changes.”

“We plan on continuing to do all of our successful events (geek trivia, cosplay nights…so on) while adding a few new events into the mix. Again we’ve been listening to the community on this one and bringing what people want. We had a guest ask for a onesie night on Facebook. We told him if you can get enough people behind that idea we’ll make it a reality and now we [had] a onesie night in January on a Friday night!”

“Our goal is to really listen to the community and make this place even more special for them. They are, after all, who keep us open, so we want to make sure they feel like they’re a part of the success.”

“I was always a huge fan of the Ultimate Grilled Cheese. When I was a regular at the bar YEARS ago, it was all I ordered food wise when I came in. It’s awesome to see it back on the menu and doing well. Another throwback that I got the most requests for was the Rainbow Dash ( a cotton candy martini) as much as a craft cocktail guy as I am it’s nice to see this playful drink back on a menu. The crowd absolutely loves it.”

“The Café has been very near and dear to my heart, and I really wanted to make it a successful use of space. We’ve trained up our old café manager Sam to be full-fledged craft bartender. She now can offer the lovely coffee drinks of the past as well as creating anything off our current cocktail menu from the café space. Think of it as a satellite bar so that when the main bar fills up, there is still another bar with more space for seating and enjoyment.

“I’m very proud of what she’s done up there since the re-launch and have high hopes. As far as hours go, we’re running 5pm-2am from Tuesday to Saturday and 5pm-12am on Sundays. We’re discussing the possibilities of possibly opening on the weekends during the day, but we need to staff up a bit and really figure out what we’ll need to do from a marketing standpoint to make those daytime hours a success.”

“We have doubled the console space in the room by adding gaming to the dining side of the building as well. This has really helped on busier nights when we typically would get on a long wait for gaming. That’s no longer the case anymore, and the community has really enjoyed having more access. We’ve also added Nintendo Switches in the dining room — a console we hadn’t offered before. Our next big step is an overhaul on the PC in the building. We’re currently working on making into some beasts for our PC gaming community.”

“Our biggest challenge thus far has been getting the word out to the community that we’re still in the same location and [that] we’re back open under new management. We’re very happy to get our regulars back, but some of the guests that had only been to the bar once or twice in the past or never tried us out still think we’re closed. The old owners did close the business, and it was purchased by a group of silent partners. New management was brought in, and we’re back and better than ever. We’re very excited to make this place the best it’s ever been.”

Not a Place, But a People.

Well, there you have it, folks. Battle and Brew is back in business and kicking ass in the Atlanta geek community. Do stop by if you ever happen to be in the Sandy Springs area. I’ve always found it an excellent place for food, drink, and friends old and new. As Nate said on the eve of its last closing, “Battle and Brew is not a place, it is a people.” I could not agree more.

In related news, stay tuned for my re-cap of Battle and Brew’s Wizard-themed New Year’s Party. While not exactly in the same vein of their previous dinner events, the food and drink offered in the VIW (Very Important Wizard) section made bringing in the new year magical.