In the increasingly crowded world of social entertainment, the three-unit Level99 has a powerful not-so-secret weapon as it prepares for national expansion:
Ron Shaich.
Shaich, of course, founded and built the Panera Bread bakery-café chain into a fast-casual powerhouse before selling it in 2017. His investment vehicle Act III Holdings went on to back concepts like the fast-casual Cava, the bakery-café concept Tatte, and the health-focused Life Alive.
Last week, Act III announced a $50 million follow-on growth equity commitment to grow Level99, a unique social entertainment restaurant concept created by Matt DuPlessie, who is founder and CEO. The first Level99 opened in Natick, Massachusetts, in 2021, followed by a second in Providence, Rhode Island last year. Both are in former big-box retail stores.
Those initial units were supported by an initial $10 million investment from Act III, DuPlessie said, and those locations have doubled initial projections.
Last month, the third Level99 location opened in the Washington, D.C. area (Tysons Corner), and a fourth is coming next year to Corbin’s Corner in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Then, No. 5 will be a bigger flagship planned for Disney Springs in Orlando, a high-volume tourist location that will likely raise brand awareness as Level99 looks for national expansion.
DuPlessie said another lease is signed for a sixth location, but he could not yet reveal where. All units will be company owned.
DuPlessie, whose background includes work with theme parks, museums and big stage shows like the Blue Man Group, said Shaich’s involvement from the beginning was “a marriage made in heaven,” giving the concept a strong food-and-beverage focus.
“What people really want on a Friday night out is an amazing social entertainment experience, something mentally and physically active, that they can’t do at home and haven’t seen before,” said DuPlessie. “And they want to combine that with fantastic chef-driven food and beverage, both in terms of craft beer and cocktails, but also the menu itself.”
Detroit-style pizza is a current core offering at Level99. | Photo courtesy of Level99.
The menu at Level99 rotates with handhelds, like burgers, and shareable plates, but a star offering is a Detroit-style pizza, for which the dough and sauce is all made in house.
“My favorite is the Figgy P, which has our house cheese blend, fig jam, burrata and basil,” he said.
Tom Sadler, a former vice president on the culinary team at Panera Bread under Shaich, is Level99’s executive chef and vice president of culinary strategy.
Level99 units also partner with local craft brewers and offer a taproom to showcase local beers. The first two spotlight Night Shift beers, for example, and in the Tysons Corner unit, it’s Victory Brewing.
DuPlessie said about one-third of revenue comes from the food-and-beverage side.
“It’s absolutely critical to have an amazing menu and to get the drinks right for corporate events,” he said. “Corporate events are about 70% of or events business, and they’re not going to book with you if you don’t have an amazing venue.”
Level99 units range in size from about 30,000- to 45,000-square-feet.
On the game side, Level99 has a variety of experiences to choose from, from certain themed rooms where groups work together to complete challenges, to player-versus-player “duels” and explorable art installations.
Rather than playing video or arcade games, Level99 is more like being a character in a video game.
It’s designed for a 21- to 39-year-old demographic, so the challenges appear more sophisticated than the typical social entertainment venues. (There are no age restrictions, but minors must be accompanied by an adult.)
Guests can buy tickets for two- to four-hours of games, and they can pause their play time to stop for food or drink, if they choose, or eat and drink before or after. They can also bring their drinks into the games.
Once called “eatertainment,” social entertainment restaurant concepts boomed after the pandemic, as consumers appeared to look for opportunities to gather and play. More recently, however, there have been signs of trouble in the sector.
The bowling-and-bocce chain Pinstripes filed bankruptcy earlier this month. Dave & Buster’s and TopGolf have also struggled with weak sales as consumers cut back on spending.
Without calling out specific brands, DuPlessie said the struggles in the sector are likely the result of a few design decisions.
“People will detect very quickly if the food and drink is a bolt-on and not authentic, and not worthy of standing on its own right,” he said.
Craft beers are a focus, but so are cocktails. | Photo courtesy of Level99.
Secondly, most social entertainment venues are not designed for repeat visits. People might go and find it fun, but once you’ve experienced it, there’s no compelling reason to go back, he said.
At Level99, both the games and food will rotate twice each year, so it’s designed for longevity.
After getting the flagship Disney Springs location, DuPlessie said the company expects to open about four units a year, starting in 2027.
Shaich, in a statement, said the goal is to scale Level99 into a nationally dominant entertainment brand.
“At Act III, we invest in companies that are shaping the future of how people eat, connect and play,” Shaich said. “Level99 is leading the transformation of the entertainment industry by delivering a truly differentiated and better guest experience.”