1UP Gamers Pub: Making a business out of passion in downtown Bucharest

In one of Bucharest’s busiest intersections, nestled between a kindergarten and a barbeque restaurant, is one of the newest pubs in Bucharest, dedicated to anime, manga, and board games.

From the outside, 1UP Gamers Pub looks much like the thousand restaurants and pubs dotting the Romanian capital, famous for its nightlife. Its black, spear-like gate and the house’s well-kept cream walls make one feel like a trespasser in the yard of a well-to-do family rather than at the door of a pub. Once inside, however, one can hardly mistake the large bar, the anime cut-outs, the wall of board games, old gaming consoles, and the mangas on display.