Q: I want to open a video gaming cafe that sells fresh, made on the spot pizzas. Is there any law that forbids this?
My husband and I want to open a video-gaming cafe that will have a gaming portion and a small pizzeria portion as well as a snack bar. When looking around for commercial space, a leasing agent commented that someone had tried a similar business model but ran into legal complications. I am currently unaware of any laws that may prohibit a gaming cafe from running as a business model, as they are nothing more than arcades with updated machinery.
If clientele are charged an hourly fee or a flat rate for a block of time, is there a prohibition associated with this? The payments are not for playing the games, but for timed use of consoles, computers, and electronic accessories like controllers and headsets. A person paying to browse the internet on a PC would be paying the same price as someone who wanted to log in to their favorite online game and play.
A:
I don't see anything particularly concerning about this business model. It's just an updated arcade that serves food. As long as you obtain all proper business permits including health permits, and establish appropriate privacy and internet security safeguards, there shouldn't be anything uniquely difficult to deal with related to legal compliance.
The only other issue could be licensing problems if you offer video games that typically expect one user per product.
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