New arcade and sports bar at Midtown Global Market set to open for Super Bowl
Game Time Sports wants to be more than another arcade and bar. It aims to be a hub for community in the East Lake Street neighborhood.
Co-owner Elvis Rivera and his partners are taking over the space that formerly housed East Lake Brewing in the southeast corner of the Midtown Global Market.
After more than a year of preparation, Game Time Sports plans to open Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 9), unveiling a bar and menu with stadium-style bites, as well as rows of arcade games that include darts, bubble soccer, foosball, claw machines, and classic arcade cabinets.
Co-owner Elvis Rivera at Game Time Sports
Photo by Dustin Nelson
However, Rivera sees the endeavor as more than a list of games and drinks set up in a neighborhood that has been a pivotal place in his life.
Rivera and his family moved to Minnesota from Guatemala City, following a brief stay in Texas, when he was just eight years old.
“People move from different parts of the world to come to the United States in the pursuit of a better life. I always tell people that, for us — my mom, my sister, and I — it was honestly the pursuit to stay alive," Rivera says, seated in front of the glowing arcade screens and sporting a gold Dodgers hat and Minnesota tattoo. "If I’d stayed in Guatemala, I probably wouldn’t be here today."
After a couple of days being put up in someone's home, they were homeless.
“[We] didn’t have anything but my mom’s grit and courage,” he continues. “We didn’t know the language. So, it was tough. We came across a person who said, 'If you go to Lake Street, there’s more Latino people there.'”
On Lake Street, they found someone who spoke Spanish and was willing to help. The family wound up at Mary’s Place just a few miles from Midtown Global Market. “That’s where our story begins,” he says.
Rivera, who grew up in north Minneapolis, met his partners in high school. They bonded, in part, over video games and sports.
As the George Floyd protests happened, they decided to do something to build up the community in the city and a neighborhood that was important to them.
Then the opportunity to step into Midtown Global Market surfaced.
They wanted to build a business that captured the spirit of what had been in the space before. “But also even more [of a] community space that’s welcoming of everybody," he says. "Rather than just a bar, another bar on Lake Street that people go to and get drunk, how can we make it a space where people come together… you know, make it a space for the community within the market, but also the community outside, and give our little contribution to hope in rebuilding what Lake Street was and maybe, even better, to where it can be in the future.”
Game Time Sports
Courtesy of Game Time Sports
The group initially hoped to open in the summer of 2024 but discovered around that time that they needed to add a kitchen. That delay, and others along the way, pushed the opening back to February of this year. Now, they’re finally ready to turn on Donkey Kong, Commando, and the rest of the games.
Those obstacles, he hopes, built the experience he needs to help others, as his community-building plans include founding a non-profit BIPOC business incubator.
"This is an inspiration for folks, so they can see themselves in the ownership, and they can come in here and see what can be," Rivera says.
When Game Time opens, it will serve Minnesota-themed cocktails and food that evokes a stadium experience — hot dogs, nachos, tater tot nachos, and more — offering patrons the chance to watch games on its TVs while playing its 20-25 arcade games.
