We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hassan Mahmood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hassan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My foray into the hospitality industry was around working at and frequenting other craft cocktail bars. I used that experience to launch another business a few years ago around parameters usually associated with and expected of great cocktail bars.

In starting another business, I wanted to create a setting where we could offer quality cocktails and a thoughtful beer list, but a far contrast from the sit-down & speakeasy vibes that often go hand-in-hand with cocktail bars.

In evaluation of upbeat and energetic spaces, one place really stuck out in my memory: a skating rink that I frequented growing up in New Jersey. My friends played on the high school hockey team and would practice there. Myself, with no experience on ice, I would just hang out and play arcade games. It was always fun and time would fly by. And at that point, it was decided that an arcade bar would be the path for this business.

We certainly were not the first in the country to open such a venue. Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR was one of the leaders of this revolution and with Barcade in Brooklyn, NY, many others have taken this route for their business. We wanted to stand out and differentiate by taking the time to have an intentional aesthetic direction and offer high quality beverage programming.

The intent was to create a warm and welcoming space with service and product quality as the main driver. The arcade games should serve an ancillary purpose… so even if you remove the games, it’s still a cool looking place with good product. Let’s find folks with hospitality in their hearts and go create memorable experiences for our guests.

With that ethos in play, we thought it would be a worthwhile endeavor to open. Offer something unique to the area and provide a great place for groups and individuals alike.

Hassan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I overdrew my bank account when I was 20 years old and in the market for the first employer to hire me, I started working as a busser in a restaurant in my college town. I studied journalism and got into media production in New York after graduation but I kept my restaurant job, now bartending, for my weekends. I enjoyed hospitality and my work place, and it was a chance to socialize and meet new people, and build upon existing relationships.

In the 2008 recession, I got laid off from my media job and could not procure anything due to hiring freezes. After a deep evaluation on what was important and enjoyable, I decided that the hospitality and restaurant business was where my passions lay and ended up writing a business plan and moving across the country. In 2011, that business plan came to fruition as I was able to open my first restaurant.

I’ve been lucky enough to be a partner in opening 5 other restaurants since. For this project, Playfield 76, we were excited to identify a space in Downtown Reno as a landing spot for our arcade bar project. I take a lot of pride in helping expand and grow the food and beverage scene in a locale and this venue gave us that opportunity. It’s exciting to see changes come about a City and excited to be a part of it.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

In our previous project, it was a great learning experience in how to operate a restaurant. We intended to open as a craft cocktail bar with some elevated bar food. With evolution into the food menu, we got named the “Best New Restaurant” in San Diego the year we opened.

Although we were a darling among our patrons and business volume was heavy, we had no real control of costs and our first 9 months were spent trying to figure out whether we would be able to last the next month or two. This experience ended up being a Masterclass in restaurant operations and luckily we were able to figure it out and stabilize and move on. This restaurant is now going on 13 years!

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing people is the hardest part of our business. The key here for us has been to find emphatic but stern management. Our management has done a great job of recognizing where each individual colleague is and meet them there to maximize their potential and help them grow. It’s tough to put everyone in the same bucket and expect them to follow your needs and requirements. Individualization has been our path to get some success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://playfield76.com
• Instagram: @playfield76

Image Credits
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