Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Brooks.
Allen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was 8, my mom brought home an old Commodore 64 and said “apparently this can play games, and if you can make it work, it’s yours.” So I set to work learning about video games, computers and leading to a lifetime of love for the art form. After a career in the arts as an actor, director of a high school theater program, and a producer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, I became the chief storytelling officer at a small government contractor in Alexandria, opened the Alexandria Drive In Movie Theater during the COVID 19 pandemic, and eventually was given the opportunity to take a small warehouse in Old Town Alexandria and turn it into something magical. Continues Arcade opened over the summer and fall of 2025, fast becoming a wonderful space for people to come together around great games, food and drink. Our restaurant and arcade features more than 60 pinball machines and arcade games, a full scratch kitchen from Chefs Spike Mendelsohn and Brian Lacayo, and a bar program from Cassie Womack and Amber Bryson.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course not, opening any brick and mortar is difficult. Especially in the small business space, there are not a lot of incentives for small vs. big businesses coming to town, so it’s very much contingent on us to do everything on our own. Cashflow, inventory control, and staffing are always challenges in the hospitality industry, all made more difficult by uncertainty and cost increases, inflation, etc…
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am so deeply proud of coming from the arts community. Being trained as an actor and working in the spaces that I’ve been privileged to has given me an ability to pivot, try and fail and try again, and push through challenges that are not uncommon in ANY industry. At the start of the pandemic, my wife and I were trying to figure out how to entertain young kiddos around the house for yet another weekend, and she said “we could go to one of those pop up drive ins,” and I said, “what if I opened one?” So I gathered some incredible friends around me, and we set to work, opening in late spring of 2020, and in just 10 months, earning more than $600,000 and using that money to support more than 200 families with free desks for at-home learning, providing more than 30 jobs, and supporting 8 non-profits around our community.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk is vital to small business. We can’t grow and thrive without risk, but it does bring that sense of “oh no, this might be the worst idea ever,” and sometimes, it is. But mostly, even when the ideas are not the best, I find that they ultimately lead to something great. We risked a great deal to open last year, financially, personally, and frankly, emotionally. But it’s paid off so far, we have a wonderful staff of incredible people, and our guests consistently tell us how great they feel when they spend time with us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.continuesarcade.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/continuesarcade/
