Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Ley and Johnny Martinez.
Brandon and Johnny, please share your story with us.
It was a stormy night when our dark lord sent us an Ouija message.
That was how we began looking for an opportunity to open our own space. After stumbling blindly through the process and anti-praying over the pentagram secretly installed under the floorboards, Joystick emerged. We had, and continue to have, no idea what we are doing.
What we hope we are doing is helping create a home for weirdos and nerds (an Island of Misfit Toys, if you will) since those are the places we always seek out. If what we end up doing is joining the dark forces on their hellish crusade then, hey, that’s how the cookie crumbles.
We’re not sure how much of the actual story you want. Most of it is just banal details where we fill out paperwork, meet our blood sacrifice quotas, and learn how to navigate financial shit. We’re not looking to bore your readers.
Has it been a smooth road?
Our road has been smoother than some, but does anyone really think they’ve had a smooth road? We all want to be the heroes in our own stories because deep down all people are incredibly selfish. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from having some fun on the humps in the road along the way.
Our story isn’t a unique one, we had to overcome our own ignorance. So, we educated ourselves, asked for help, and tried a lot of things that didn’t work.
Our biggest takeaway from the past 6 years is probably a lesson we were supposed to learn as teenagers. Basically, there are no real adults, but if you get enough well-intentioned humans together then maybe some good can come out of it.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Joystick Gamebar is a dive bar with a surprising bar selection. Joystick Gamebar is a working arcade, not a museum. Joystick Gamebar is an indulgence in nerdy pleasures.
We host Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and other tabletop gaming events. We host Mean Rock Band Karaoke on the PS4. We host a Friday night dance party called Cheat Code. We host Film Bar Mondays, All the Nerdy Ladies, ASIFA Animation Society, and any other meet-up you want. We host Bump In the Night Ghoulesque and Fandom Nerdlesque (we love a good ‘lesque). We host 8-Bit Comedy night and the Nerdlanta Live! talk show.
We are most proud of the Joystick family, those poor socially awkward souls.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is a great place for all businesses to start out. Atlanta is very diverse and the Atlanta spirit embraces that diversity. We hope Atlanta City Hall recognizes that is what makes us stand out — not getting into a dick measuring contest with other cities to see who has the biggest stadium. City Hall is always talking about making Atlanta a “World Class City”. They why did they sell all of Underground Atlanta to one entity from South Carolina instead of breaking up it up into smaller parcels and selling the store fronts to entrepreneurs and families and immigrants with some good ass food to sell us in a paper boat. Damn it, now we want bahn mi.
As for our specific location within Atlanta, people who want to do business on Edgewood have to understand what Edgewood is like. You have to be comfortable doing things not in a standard way. You have to be comfortable having neighbors that like different things than you. You have to be comfortable seeing what homelessness looks like. Unfortunately, not everywhere can be a glorified mall food court. But we got one of those too and it’s done better (holla at Sweet Auburn Market, a joint where you can buy produce AND a flaky, delicious meat pie!)
Pricing:
- $5 Cathead vodka
- $5 George Dickel whiskey
- $4 Tecate tall boy
- $5 Brooklyn Lager
- $8 Cowboys & Indians (whiskey and housemade chai soda)
- $7 Bourbon/Coffee slushie
Contact Info:
- Address: 427 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
- Website: joystickgamebar.com
- Phone: 404-525-3002
- Instagram: instagram.com/joystickgamebar
- Facebook: facebook.com/joystickgamebar
Image Credit:
Headshot – Joe Stewardson, Building reflecting in cocktail – Dan Durnell, Joystick neon sign – Chris Linder, Crowd playing DnD on couches – Dr. Bradley Goodnight, Both pics of people playing games and black light dance party – J. Cassoni, Coupe glass on the bar – Josh Overstreet
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
