What do you get when you combine three floors of arcade games, two complete bars and comfortable lounge seating? Gainesville’s latest arcade bar.
The yet-to-be-named arcade bar, located at 6 E. University Ave., opened May 5 and has already been more successful than expected, said Chad Darby, a bartender at the bar.
“We haven’t officially advertised yet because we don’t even have a name for the place,” he said.
The bar shares the same owners as The Top, where Darby worked for more than nine years before working at the arcade bar.
It features games such as skee-ball, pinball and foosball priced between 25 cents to $1 per game. The first and second floor are open Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and the third floor is open from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. All customers must be 21 or older to enter.
Preslie Martin, 21, said the bar’s affordable drinks attracted her and her friends multiple times since its opening. Martin, who works at the Five Bar downtown, said she goes after work with her coworkers. They refer to it as the “barcade.”
“My favorite game to play at the barcade is skee-ball,” Martin said. “I am not very good at video games but everyone is good at skee-ball.”
[A version of this story ran on page 12 on 6/18/15]
