Love, Community Brought This Family Business to Main Street

Neither Russell nor Amber Sebastian planned to own and operate an escape room for a living when they started their live together. How could they? The concept has only been around for a decade or so, with its soaring expansion interrupted by a public health crisis that made being locked in a room with friends a little less fun. But, like so many pioneers before them, the Sebastians fell in love with an idea... and let it carry them to Grapevine, Texas. 

Then an IT professional and a dental office manager by trade, the couple tried their first escape room in 2012 and couldn’t wait to bring the concept back home. They took a year to build and test a travel escape room concept, then started dreaming about a brick-and-mortar space. When the time came to pick a permanent home, there was only one choice. 

“We started doing Runway Theater in 2004, fell in love with the City, and we knew we had to move here,” Amber said. “We moved here as quick as we could to be close to the theater… volunteered for everything under the sun, and so when we decided to open an escape room there was no other option.” 

Fortunately, the City loved them right back. 

A Unique and Innovative Use 

While Grapevine has a reputation for hosting world-class hospitality and entertainment, some concepts emerge suddenly enough to require extra context in a pitch meeting. Opened in 2014, the Grapevine Escape was one such use. Escape rooms were new enough at the time that City code didn’t have the language to accommodate them specifically, and at first blush, the very idea sounds absurd.  

You want to lock strangers into a room and charge them by the hour? Is that even legal? 

“Back in 2014, ‘15, and ‘16, nobody knew what an escape room was,” Russell said. “We would tell people we wanted to build one and charge by the hour, people were like ‘no, that’s not what we do here in Grapevine.’ Would you believe, on Main Street, there’s only one building that fits the criteria we could actually be in? We happen to be in it.” 

A combination of building requirements, code restrictions, and the City’s land use map left the Sebastians with one perfect site near the center of town, down the street from the theater that brought them here. When their search began, none of the storefronts in that development were available. But they made the most of their time, working with City staff to be sure they met every requirement for opening and honing their trade in the meantime. 

“It was actually a blessing that we didn’t have a brick-and-mortar from the beginning because what about if we really were bad?” Amber said. “That would be bad! So we built travel escape rooms and started taking them to people, and people enjoyed them. That’s when we said ‘we can do this.’” 

A site opened at 160 North Main Street that year, and they were more than ready to take it. 

Roots That Lead to Flourishing 

Now approaching a decade in operation, the Grapevine Escape boasts a perfect 5-Star rating on Google reviews with over 500 satisfied customers weighing in. They’ve become one of the premiere entertainment offerings on Main Street, partnering with businesses from every sector to execute events of every size and shape. And they’ve done it all with a mind for community. 

“The social interaction of our game lends itself for people to go afterwards and have a glass of wine or go eat some food. Or do that beforehand and then come see us, and afterward go back downtown to go play. This is just a fun activity that complements so many other things that Grapevine already brings,” Russell said. “When we got started, we actually had some owners – that were friends of ours before – help us build this place. Why wouldn’t we help build their business, as well? It’s just such a wonderful community of incredibly smart and talented people.” 

“That’s really important after you get out of an escape room,” Amber added. “You want to talk to your players; you want to talk to your team about [the key moments]. So we always try to encourage them to go have dinner or drinks at a local small business right here... our friends who own restaurants kind of know if we call and say ‘oh my God, I have a party of thirty. Can you get them, like, right now?’” 

Working with complimentary operators in the Historic District, the Sebastians created space for groups to plan a full evening in the heart of Grapevine. And that’s not the only collaboration that defines their business: they’ve partnered with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to extend the City’s free shuttle route to their shopping center, adopted the “Show Your Badge” program to offer discounts to convention attendees in the City, and created special events and activations in support of Grapevine’s legendary festivals and events. 

Most of those innovations are fueled by two core values: a community-centered spirit that defines small businesses in Grapevine, and a nimble adaptability that has shaped the Grapevine Escape since 2013. 

Solving Puzzles as They Come 

Having launched with a traveling escape room in 2013, the Sebastians were better prepared than most of their peers when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shuttered brick-and-mortar businesses in 2020. Thanks to their theater backgrounds and an extensive network of fellow actors, they pivoted to online murder mystery shows that could sustain revenue and provide jobs in an industry heavily impacted by efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The remote model proved to be more than a stopgap. 

“We were in a unique situation with our theater background, and our ability to write scripts. We write a script that is an escape room story, and you take that out and build murder mysteries with live actors instead. We found we could do that, and of course, we had a City that was receptive to entertainment. So we decided to amp it up, and our last iteration – Spooky Soiree and Vineyard of Good and Evil – both of those are murder mystery escape rooms,” Russell said. “You take elements of a live performance and combine puzzle elements in there... we started doing this combination and found, I believe, gold. In doing some research, not a lot of companies are building these experiences. And we can have up to 150 people playing this game at one time.” 

The Grapevine Escape team has partnered with Grapevine Parks and Recreation to host an interactive Mystery in the Park every year since the lockdown ended, leading to new opportunities all over the City. They paired up with Sloan and Williams winery to craft a special ticketed event and launched a first-of-its-kind fundraising experience with the Grapevine Young Professionals through the Chamber of Commerce. The first iteration, the aforementioned Spooky Soiree, is now available as a privately bookable group experience. A second installment is slated for Fall 2024, marking the launch of a new revenue stream that will supplement the ever-evolving collection of rooms at the original building. 

“People are falling back in love with these murder mysteries that have a lot of intricate plot, because people are smart. They don’t want a simple plot. You know, a typical murder mystery is very cheesy – very campy, very over-the-type – and we wanted to create something that was more of your Agatha Christie feel,” Amber said. “We didn’t mean to have all of this stuff, but it’s kind of cool to have all this stuff... when somebody calls me, I’ll say ‘ok, you have a party. What were you thinking?’” 

It’s hard to think of a sentiment more fitting here in Grapevine. 

For more stories like this one, visit the News Center. To contact Economic Development staff about bringing your business to Grapevine, please visit our Staff page or send a message using the Contact form on this site. For an audio version of this story, check out the ‘Growing Grapevine’ podcast online or in your favorite streaming app.