Flying a Boeing 737 in a simulator is typically reserved for flight school students, but a new entertainment venue in San Mateo is allowing kids, teens and adults to do so — alongside myriad other simulators and games.
GAMA Ride has been a Peninsula-based operation for over a decade, starting out with bounce houses and arcades in Belmont, then moving to the Shops at Tanforan several years later. Now, the owner, Hossein Yavari, has decided to move locations again, making room for a host of other rides and attractions.
“My father started the company after emigrating from Iran. It started in 2013 in Belmont and eventually grew and moved it to Tanforan. From 2016 to 2024, we were there, but we took a big hit during COVID and shut down for 14 months, and we weren’t able to make a lot of income after that,” said Parsa Yavari, who runs the day-to-day operations. “This one has 20,000 square feet of space, it has two stories, and it’s both for kids and adults … it’s much bigger than Tanforan.”
Located at Bridgepointe Shopping Center in the same building as the ice rink, the venue is not only a larger space, but it also features several motion simulators, such as Max Flight — where you can choose from over six different types of planes to fly, ranging from fighter jets to an amphibious flying boat — and Valkyrie, a virtual, eight-seater ride that can take you through different types of environments as well.
“Our main thing is to stand out from anyone else. We wanted to come up with a space that does everything an amusement park does … nowhere in Northern California has something like this,” Parsa said.
GAMA Ride, owned and operated by Parsa Yavari, has been a Peninsula-based operation for over a decade, starting out with bounce houses and arcades in Belmont.
Alyse DiNapoli/Daily Journal
Recommended for you
GAMA Ride was supposed to open in June but was held up by permitting and construction delays. Despite opening right before the start of school, however, Parsa said the recent launch has already proved successful.
“We wanted to come to San Mateo, because it has much more foot traffic, and it is more family oriented. There are a lot of schools nearby, so it’s better than being around a dying mall,” Parsa said, referring to the imminent closure of the San Bruno shopping center.
Between bumper cars, several pool tables, arcades, mini-bowling and a full bar and kitchen, he said the idea was to make the space enticing for all ages.
A grand opening will be held sometime in September. Go to gamaride.net for more information.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(1) comment
Welcome, GAMA Ride, to San Mateo! We're sure glad you're here!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.