From vintage arcade games to state-of the art iRacing simulators, Gamehaus is a welcomed addition to the West Ashley nightlife scene
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
Asked recently if he would be interested in opening a restaurant and bar in Mt. Pleasant, local restaurateur Doug Allison, emphatically says “hell no!” with a chuckle. Adding, “I know West Ashley. West Ashley knows me. Anywhere else would just not be who I am.”
Allison is the owner of Southside 17, Whiskey Jack’s, CHS Golf, Ireland’s Own, and Jägerhaus Pub, all located within a 5-mile stretch along Savannah Highway, between Wappoo and Main roads. “I can just drive down Savannah Highway and hit all of them, one right after another. It makes it much easier to manage,” says Allison, who also recently relocated to West Ashley the warehouse for his other business Fresh 1 Distributors, which supplies juices, energy drinks, and mixers to bars and restaurants in the Carolinas and Georgia. ‘
And now he can now add Gamehaus to that list of West Ashley establishments.
“This is it,” he says, again with that chuckle that makes you wonder if even he truly believes this even as he is saying it. Regular customers and managers laugh at this statement, reminding him that they’ve heard him say this before, one or two businesses ago. But Allison is the consummate entrepreneur, always looking for an unfulfilled niche and unafraid to put his money where his mouth is and take a risk.
Allison did just that earlier this year with the opening of CHS Golf at 1919 Savannah Hwy. The unique concept is a golfer’s dream, a full bar with state-of-the-art TrackMan golf simulators and putting greens. And he’s done it again with Gamehaus, which is technically under the same roof as Ireland’s Own and Jägerhaus Pub.
As an extension of those businesses, Gamehaus offers a connected but separate area with a mix of games geared towards the over-21 crowd that includes everything from pinball, new and vintage arcade games as well as billiards, ping pong, and foosball. Like the golf simulators at CHS Golf, it was important for Allison to have top-of-the-line products.
“If you don’t do it right, don’t do it,” he says.
At the moment, Allison’s favorite game is a throw-back bubble hockey machine, where you play head-to-head with an opponent, kind of like foosball, but with hockey players under a clear plastic bubble. The blue home team takes on the red away team, but old-school arcade heads know it’s U.S.A. versus U.S.S.R., which is what the original teams were back in the ’80s when, in the midst of the Cold War, bubble hockey was popular at Chuck E. Cheeses and other game centers across the country.
Bubble hockey isn’t the only trip down memory lane for Gen X-ers at Gamehaus. The place is a kind of nostalgic wonderland with a half dozen pinball machines, including a Guns-N-Roses game, that as of press time, Allison had the high score on. There is also a row of vintage arcade cabinets, including Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Tron, Mortal Kombat, and Double Dragon. What’s even better, is that most of these games still take a quarter or .50 cents. But it’s not all classic offerings at Gamehaus, there’s also a full-size multiple-player Guitar Hero game as well a Jet Pong game (you might recognize it as “Beer Pong”).
Allison says he didn’t grow up playing a lot of these games. “We had a black-and-white TV when I was a kid. I remember playing Pong. We thought that was as good as it got,” he says.
The newest and most modern offering at Gamehaus are the handful of iRacing simulators that were installed late last month. For those unfamiliar, these are not the Turbo, Pole Position, or Outrun video games you might have grown up with. These are high-tech simulators that give players the feel of actual racing. Players will be able to rent the iRacing simulator for a period of time and can choose between NASCAR, Formula 1, or street racing.
Allison says he plans to hold iRacing tournaments as well as a Bar Olympics of sorts where people can compete in a variety of games. “I just want to give people more things to do that are interactive,” he says, adding that Gamehaus can also be rented out for private parties and events.
Gamehaus is located at 3025 Ashley Town Center Dr. For more information, call (843) 872-9488 or visit www.irelandsownsc.com.
