Tanner Nielsen was 30 minutes away from making a call that could forever change the culture of his small business when he received an email from Jenna Ascher, 18, a recent high school graduate and long-time regular of Realms Arcade. Attached to this email was a large oil painting of her closest friends hanging out in front of the venue, adorned in dark clothes and face paint.
This call would be made to the Idaho Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC), who had performed an investigation on Realms Arcade early last week after receiving an anonymous complaint regarding the business’s alcohol to food sale ratio. The ABC determined that the venue, which has been serving the Treasure Valley as an all-ages arcade, bar and concert space since 2023, did not meet the requirements necessary to be defined as a restaurant due to their limited food menu.
Nielsen was left with two options — become a 21+ venue or temporarily cancel Realms Arcade’s beer and wine license until they could meet requirements.
“I got Jenna’s email and thought, ‘I know what I have to do’,” Nielsen, partial owner of the arcade, explained. “We make money with alcohol, but our community is all-ages. From the beginning, being all-ages was the most important part of Realms beyond anything else.”
Despite the financial risk, Nielsen stresses that remaining an all-ages space was vital for maintaining the morale of the venue’s diverse community of patrons. After all, that was his vision from the start.
“I’m in it for the culture,” he said of the decision. “As long as I can get it to be green enough to survive, that’s my secondary goal. My primary goal is fostering and giving space for young creatives to do whatever they want, socialize and see Realms in their journey as an artist.”
In March, Aidan Brezonick, the founder and Executive Director of Idaho Film Society (IFS), faced a similar situation. The ABC told Brezonick in order to remain an all-ages space and continue to serve alcohol, he would need to entirely wall off the venue’s bar or open a commercial kitchen — both options potentially costing the nonprofit thousands of dollars.
As an organization focused on providing artists with an affordable space to connect, Brezonick stressed the importance of keeping costs low, ultimately leading IFS to make the difficult decision to become a 21+ venue.
“The regret I always have is when we have a kid that tries to come in with a parent and we have to turn them away. Our venue is designed for people that really love movies. We built an entire community around that,” Brezonick said. “I see it as a loss of community every time we have to turn someone away. It is what it is — we’re going to adhere to the laws as they are and hope we can find a way to make a change in the future. “
Dean Shalabi, an employee of Realms Arcade, noted he’s experienced a wide variety of responses regarding the business’s decision while bartending.
“People have generally been pretty open to it. I don’t think it’s deterred anyone, but it has definitely made shows sadder. I’m also not making tips anymore, but I’m paid good. Realms has always looked out for me,” Shalabi said. “The community kind of speaks for itself — I’m just really happy that people are patient.”
Shalabi and Nielsen are currently working behind the scenes to efficiently expand Realms Arcade’s food menu in order to reapply for a new Idaho State Alcohol and Beverage License by early July.
The expansion will include, but is not limited to, a cold prep bar for sandwiches, an industrial air fryer and a variety of grab-and-go Japanese food.
“It’s a big move,” Spencer Capps, 19, musician and regular of Realms Arcade said. “They’re losing out on a lot of revenue and a lot of things that help this place run, but it is definitely the right decision. There’s so many people that really engage with the community who would not be able to even enter the building if it wasn’t all- ages. Being all-ages is very important for a community to build. No one here is excluded because of age or inexperience.”
“It’s really liberating,” Capps continued, speaking on the accessibility of the venue. “I could never go to Neurolux because it’s 21+, so having a space where I can both perform and entertain myself feels really great. It’s been a great space to learn a lot. If there wasn’t an all-ages space like Realms in Boise, [young artists] wouldn’t be performing the way they do. “
Capps was invited to play his first-ever show at Realms Arcade a few months after he and his friends began regularly attending shows at the venue. That night is immortalized in Ascher’s painting.
The oil painting, now hanging to the right of the stage, has become a testament to the culture Nielsen created and is determined to preserve at Realms Arcade.
“It’s stunning that a piece of art can have that impact, even if you didn’t originally intend that,” Ascher said, “I made the painting as a tribute to Realms because I’m so thankful that it is an all-ages space me and my friends can go to and connect. It gives me a great sense of gratitude that he’s keeping it an all-ages space. The fact that I had any amount of influence on that is just amazing to me.”
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Hopefully the state will realize what this is doing to these spaces, especially with the fallout from the Spacebar fiasco over this issue.