Students with a taste for beer, Pac-Man and live music can now enjoy all three without leaving the comfort of their barstools.
Mars Pub and Laser Tag transformed its laser tag arena into an arcade. Eight cabinets feature racing simulators, rail shooter and classic arcade games: Frogger, Galaga and Donkey Kong to name a few.
Air hockey and billiards tables have been added to the 3,000-square-foot room, too. The games cost anywhere from 25 cents to $1 to play.
“We’re trying to keep the more retro games everyone loves,” said Melissa Del Valle, a co-owner of the bar. “Skee-Ball has been the No. 1 game people have been asking for.”
The north side of the room is dedicated to live music performances. Six shows are scheduled for July, she said.
The renovations stemmed from a lack of demand for laser tag during summer months, when fewer students attend UF.
“We figured arcades are reminiscent of summers when you were a kid,” Del Valle said.
The bar will add a jukebox to the arcade next week, and three more arcade cabinets will be installed in the near future.
The bar’s laser tag equipment will receive maintenance and upgrades during the summer, Del Valle said. She said she wasn’t sure if the bar’s laser tag arena would be redesigned to fit around the arcade cabinets.
“We always intended for the laser tag to come back in fall,” she said, “but the arcade is doing really well.”
