What if we built the garage your dad always wanted?
A community bar for downtown Raleigh · 231 S East St
A true community bar,
back to life.
Right now 231 S East St sits dark. We want to give this neighborhood back the kind of bar it's been missing: one where the bartender knows your name, the regulars know each other, and people actually call it theirs. Pool, sports, cold drinks, games nobody else has, and a crowd that feels like family.
Built by someone who already runs the room.
I'm Steve Olson. I own three gyms in the area, and now Super Rad Retro Lounge. Dad's Garage Bar is how we expand our neighborhood bar program and offer more of it.
- 01Lessons from Super Rad
We're taking what we learned running Super Rad and building it into this bar from day one.
- 02A complement, not a copy
Super Rad is built around games. Dad's Garage Bar is neighborhood focused: less about games, more about interaction and local community.
We've done this before.
Super Rad Retro Lounge on Glenwood South is a retro arcade bar built to be unlike anything else in Raleigh: 40+ fully restored classic arcade games on real CRT monitors, nine real pinball machines, air hockey and a full craft cocktail bar, all under neon.
- 01Unique on purpose
No multicades, no reproductions. Original boards, real CRTs, plus tournaments and themed nights that keep people coming back.
- 02Same playbook, new room
Dad's Garage Bar gets the same attention to detail and the same focus on a cool experience, pointed at a neighborhood bar instead of an arcade.
Learn from what came before.
- 01The room worked against itself
The bar space was built inefficiently. We redesign it to maximize seating and capacity.
- 02Margins leaked out the door
COGS ran near 50%, an unsustainable number likely fueled by to-go beers that inflated revenue while adding work and dropping margins.
- 03A full liquor bar
Cocktails and spirits serve a different crowd at higher margins.
- 04Events Super Rad can't do
Karaoke, potlucks, music bingo. Nights built around neighbors, not screens.
The business math.
- +Slightly higher drink prices
A small bump per drink adds up across every night.
- +Liquor to pad our margins
Cocktails and spirits carry better margins than to-go beer.
- +Events to drive foot traffic
Karaoke, potlucks and music bingo keep the room full.
- +Every game on
And yes, we are going to play soccer too.
- =A bar built to last
A brand new floor plan.
- AThe bar anchors the room
An L-shaped liquor bar with seating on two sides, built to maximize seats and capacity.
- BGames in their own corner
Two pool tables and a row of arcade cabinets live together along one side, out of the way of the bar crowd.
- CAn open floor for events
Room to gather for karaoke, potlucks and music bingo.
Concept plan. Final layout drawn to the actual space after a walkthrough.
The crew is already lined up.
We've contracted Oak City Construction to handle the build-out. The heavy work that turns this space into a full cocktail bar is already spoken for.
ConstructionCONTRACTED
- Plumbing
New lines run to where the bar needs them.
- Wall removal
Opening up the room for the new floor plan.
- Moving the bar
Relocating the bar into its new position.
- Sinks + water for cocktails
Installing the sinks and water a full cocktail program needs.
A new liquor bar, poured for the neighborhood.
- 01Full liquor program
A brand new bar built for a full cocktail menu, licensed through North Carolina ABC mixed beverage permitting, plus cold beer on draft.
- 02Named for Raleigh
Every signature cocktail is named after a Raleigh neighborhood and built around its personality. North Carolina spirits and Triangle breweries come first.
Oakwood Old Fashioned
Bourbon, smoked maple, black walnut bitters.
Historic OakwoodMoore Square Mule
Vodka, ginger beer, lime, a little heat.
Moore SquareBoylan Heights Highball
Rye, sweet tea, lemon, soda.
Boylan HeightsFive Points Paloma
Tequila, grapefruit, lime, salt.
Five PointsCity of Oaks Sour
Whiskey, lemon, NC honey, red wine float.
DowntownOil Change
Dark rum, cold brew, coffee liqueur. Strictly after 5.
House SpecialDraft menu. Recipes finalized with our bar team.
Two tables. Always a game.
- 01Kept right
Two bar-size tables, leveled and re-felted on a schedule. Cues on a pegboard wall, chalk always stocked.
- 02Tournaments on occasion
Every so often we run a tournament to give the locals something fun to do.
Eight screens. Zero bad seats.
- 01One game loud, the rest captioned
The featured game gets the sound. Every other screen runs captions, so the room stays a place you can talk.
- 02Carolina first
Hurricanes, Panthers and Triangle college teams get priority on the big screens. Game-day specials when they play.
- 03Ask and it's on
Any guest can request a game on an open screen.
Games you won't find anywhere else.
- 01Made by independent developers
No chain-arcade lineup. We partner with indie game makers, starting with the Triangle's own, to put brand new games in custom cabinets.
- 02A lineup that rotates
New games rotate in, so there's always something nobody has played yet.
Grey steel. Warm neon. No rush.
80s service station vibes, rebuilt as a bar. Industrial grey bones lit up with neon beer signs. Laid back on purpose: no dress code, no velvet rope, no one hurrying you out.
LGBTQ+ friendly. Proud neighbors.
- 01Advocates of Stonewall Tavern
We stand behind Stonewall Tavern and the community it serves.
- 02Our next-door neighbors are excited
Our literal next-door neighbors are part of that community, and they're excited to see this happen.
- 03House rules, posted and enforced
A clear code of conduct at the door and staff trained to step in. Harassment gets you removed.
The block's living room.
A community bar runs on things to do together. Here's the kind of programming we're building, so there's always a reason to stop in.
The garage gets loud.
Name the song, mark the card.
Bring a dish, meet the block.
Raleigh-themed rounds.
Every game on. Yes, soccer too.
Every so often, just for fun.
Proposed programming. Shaped by what the neighborhood asks for.
The right tenant for this space.
A dark storefront becomes a busy one, bringing evening and weekend foot traffic that lifts the whole block.
A new layout, a new bar and finishes designed for the long haul. This is not a pop-up.
Trained staff, door policy, cameras, and a good-neighbor plan for sound, trash and closing time.
We run three gyms in the area and Super Rad Retro Lounge today.
A full liquor bar instead of to-go beer volume: a different crowd at higher margins.
Karaoke, potlucks, music bingo and tournaments that show up for the block.
From keys to opening night.
Agree on terms and measure every inch of the space.
Final floor plan, City of Raleigh building permits and NC ABC permits.
Oak City Construction on plumbing, walls, the bar and sinks. Then lighting, screens, tables and arcades.
A soft open for the block and nearby businesses before anyone else.
Doors up, neon on, first karaoke night.
Let's build the garage.
231 S East St · Raleigh, NC 27601