Nostalgic arcade and videos games with good bar food and a modest alcohol selection.
5/5 - Venue
3.5/5 - Food & Drinks
4/5 - Overall
I visited this bar on an early Friday night, at around 8:30pm. Cover was $5 and that includes all the games inside which are free to play. Coat check is a separate cost. This place gets uncomfortably packed around 11:00pm, so plan accordingly.
Venue: The bar is located on a quiet stretch of Brunswick Ave. near Bloor st. You might even miss it given how quiet the area is. There is an front area for you to smoke and get some fresh air, as the inside of the bar can get humid. The walls of the bar are lined with pinball machines, and other arcade games although a good 40% of them are just pinball machines. There are two TVs with gaming systems; one seems to be a Gamecube and the other a Sega. There's a bar near the front, and at the back there's a small counter serving a limited selection of food and snacks. There's live music playing, and a few standing tables but no dance area. Tons of people chatting and having a drink though.
Food & Drinks: I can only comment on the dill pickled fries, which you can see in my photo. They were delightfully prepared in a pickle brine, then gives them a tangy salty crunch after frying. There's a mediocre selection of beers on tap with a couple local brewers and other common imports. I don't think there were any cocktails available, or at least nothing too fancy. Definitely not a place to enjoy a meal, as there are very limited food offerings, and limited seating.
Overall: This place is a must-go for the experience and the few hours of fun with the arcade games. However, with many of the machines being just pinball, you might lose interest. As the night wore on near 11:00pm the bar became very crowded, almost to the point of a club. There were no where to walk without needing to squeeze past people or bump into them. There were lines for all the machines, and the inside became quite warm and humid. I decided to leave soon after, as we had played all the games we wanted, and saw no point in socializing while standing up, packed like sardines in a can.