Pop culture guru and coffee shop owner Sam Weston opens second Darwin CBD Mad Snake cafe

MAD Snake 2 – The Sequel is the newest franchise reboot to hit the streets of Darwin. But its not a film Top End geeks will be lining up for, instead it’s the CBD’s second retro themed coffee shop

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MAD Snake 2 – The Sequel is the newest franchise reboot to hit the streets of Darwin.

But its not a film Top End geeks will be lining up for, instead it’s the second coffee shop run by pop culture guru Sam Weston, doubling as a pop culture museum, games room and mini cinema.

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Mr Weston said the second coffee shop he was opening would be a little different to the original store in the Air Raid Arcade, featuring more of the fun side of his business.

“We’re going to try and go for the afternoon coffee and desserts because there is not a lot open after 2.30pm in the city and then at 5.30pm some of our night time events will kick in,” he said.

“It’s got a cinema room, room for big tables, bigger play area, more action.

“I won’t to do some social events as well … sort of like a community space.”

“(The first shop) will be the cafe, it’ll still have a couple of games and the nostalgic stuff but in regards to the actual games, the nerdy stuff, it’s going to be here from now on.”

Mad Snake coffee shop owner Sam Weston is opening up a second cafe in the CBD. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

Mr Weston said the coffee shop had grown beyond his wildest dreams and had a much bigger market than he expected.

“Everything was getting bigger and I didn’t have enough space for it,” he said.

“There really is a nerd market in Darwin. Two years ago my business plan wasn’t this, it was coffees.”

Mr Weston said despite the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it had on local business, there seemed to be others testing the market too.

“There’s a few businesses popping up though, this is the most I’ve seen the city buzzing,” he said.

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“People are taking a gamble, people are going out, maybe we’re not as silly as we think, maybe it is a good time to do something like this.”

Mad Snake Cafe will continue to operate from 6am to 4pm out of the Air Raid Aircade daily, while Mad Snake 2 – The Sequel will operate from 2pm-5.30pm at 28 Austin Ln

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Originally published as Pop culture guru and coffee shop owner Sam Weston opens second Darwin CBD Mad Snake cafe