When the first Barcade opened in a former metal shop in Williamsburg in 2004, the groundbreaking bar was all about old-school arcade games like Space Invaders. Barcade’s newest iteration, which opened this month in Lower Manhattan, is all about the space. Lots and lots of space.
The arcade and craft beer chain has made its downtown arrival at 10 Cortlandt St., in a 5,500-square-foot space carved out of what was once Century 21’s cavernous shoe department. Barcade has expanded to four locations in the city since its 2004 debut, with several other outposts across the country, but the new Lower Manhattan space is the biggest one yet. Filling that space wasn’t the hard part, co-founder Paul Kermizian told the Downtown Alliance.
“We have so many games, that’s not the problem,” he said. “It was generally the biggest project we’ve ever done. The most amount of money we spent, the most amount of work we’ve had to do. It was daunting in that way.”
The payoff is worth it: the bar boasts more than 80 games, including old classics from the ’80s, newly released large-screen games and unique imports from Japan. The expansive location gave Barcade the opportunity to install arcade machines from its collection that don’t usually fit within the confines of your regular local bar, including big multiplayer sports games like The Grid and a remake of NBA Jam.
“We often buy these big games and we rarely have room to have more than one or two of them,” Kermizian said. “In all urban markets, square footage is at a premium.”
The collection includes more than 25 pinball machines alone, making it both the most the company has ever had in one location and the biggest public collection of pinball in all of Manhattan. The bar’s ample square footage afforded the Barcade team the opportunity to go beyond the crowd-favorite games and pull out some fun deep cuts, including a Dolly Parton game and one based on “Baywatch.”
“When you get over 20 (pinball games), you can have some fun and put out some weird titles,” Kermizian said.
The new location in Lower Manhattan will feature a similar pub-inspired menu as the one at its Chelsea space, along with several dozen rotating brews on tap and signature cocktails. The downtown outpost also offers something new: weekly family days on Sundays between noon to 5 p.m. Other locations have hosted sporadic family days, but this is the first time it will be part of regular programming.
photos: courtesy Barcade
