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Heard about this a few weeks ago. Sounds like he has some significant backers.
Behind the scenes, not affiliated with the museum in Lake Geneva.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/2021/11/19/dungeons-and-dragons-lake-geneva-restaurant-experience-being-planned/8650011002/?fbclid=IwAR3g_ksNJj2gs80ovnORDgTNdSVIh6VPMLDWQXJTym9uR5G5IISeZAVnKQ8

The renders look nice but I don't think Lake Geneva is a big enough town to warrant a 350 seat destination themed restaurant nor is D&D mainstream enough to generate the traffic just on the strength of the brand regardless of my personal interest. I know it's the birthplace of D&D but I think Milwaukee would have been a better choice.

 warboss wrote:
The renders look nice but I don't think Lake Geneva is a big enough town to warrant a 350 seat destination themed restaurant nor is D&D mainstream enough to generate the traffic just on the strength of the brand regardless of my personal interest. I know it's the birthplace of D&D but I think Milwaukee would have been a better choice.

Got to start somewhere. That seems like as good a place, and cheap.

That building (as pictured anyway), especially with all the custom work, will not be cheap.

The land might be, but that's mostly a sign of low demand in the area (an argument against a 350 seat themed restaurant). I live in an actual tourist town with an established reputation as a destination, much closer to major cities (and airports). None of the restaurants (themed or otherwise) are that big. Not even close.

The biggest is maybe half the size, if that. And these days, sufficient staffing is a problem, on top of everything else.

Voss wrote:
That building (as pictured anyway), especially with all the custom work, will not be cheap.

The land might be, but that's mostly a sign of low demand in the area (an argument against a 350 seat themed restaurant). I live in an actual tourist town with an established reputation as a destination, much closer to major cities (and airports). None of the restaurants (themed or otherwise) are that big. Not even close.

The biggest is maybe half the size, if that. And these days, sufficient staffing is a problem, on top of everything else.

They have financial backing from the owner of GenCon and also the owner of Dwarven Forge.

People are entitled to throw away their own money as they see fit.

To be fair, anybody living in UK would have said exactly the same thing about Warhammer World in Nottingham.

Nottingham was a high crime rate, low income area with a not so great reputation.

The idea of building a bespoke exhibition centre/shop/restaurant for a niche hobby such as Warhammer probably met similar scepticism.

However, it's a pretty successful destination venue now, and D&D is, tbh, the bigger brand name.

To be fair Warhammer World is basically just a corner of the Manufacturing plant. GW didn't really custom build it as an entertainment site, its more an extension of staff facilities (food) and an open room with some place to play.

So they are slightly different, if WW had failed GW would likely not have lost much; the staff on site would have still used it; the food would have been sold to them and they'd have just downsized facilities without much fuss.

GW doesn't need WW to function, its nice but not essential.



A restaurant that is built around providing food and food alone is 100% reliant on customers. If they don't get htem it won't work .

 ProtoClone wrote:

Voss wrote:
That building (as pictured anyway), especially with all the custom work, will not be cheap.

The land might be, but that's mostly a sign of low demand in the area (an argument against a 350 seat themed restaurant). I live in an actual tourist town with an established reputation as a destination, much closer to major cities (and airports). None of the restaurants (themed or otherwise) are that big. Not even close.

The biggest is maybe half the size, if that. And these days, sufficient staffing is a problem, on top of everything else.

They have financial backing from the owner of GenCon and also the owner of Dwarven Forge.

Ok..? Spending other people's money might mean they can afford all the custom work required to make that building, but it doesn't solve any of the issues of staffing or attracting customers.

Voss wrote:

 ProtoClone wrote:

Voss wrote:
That building (as pictured anyway), especially with all the custom work, will not be cheap.

The land might be, but that's mostly a sign of low demand in the area (an argument against a 350 seat themed restaurant). I live in an actual tourist town with an established reputation as a destination, much closer to major cities (and airports). None of the restaurants (themed or otherwise) are that big. Not even close.

The biggest is maybe half the size, if that. And these days, sufficient staffing is a problem, on top of everything else.

They have financial backing from the owner of GenCon and also the owner of Dwarven Forge.

Ok..? Spending other people's money might mean they can afford all the custom work required to make that building, but it doesn't solve any of the issues of staffing or attracting customers.

We are currently experiencing a staffing problem, currently, for places of employment, currently.

I don't forsee a problem with attracting customers.

Edit: To bring this to a close "You have your opinion, I have mine"