Barcade Jersey City

[MCA™]

Beer and Arcade Classics at Barcade
By LXTV
Sep 16, 2012
1st Look's Ali Fedotowsky grabs a beer and tries her hand at the arcade classics at Barcade.

[Bad Circles]

Can't believe it's only been a year.  The tap list for tonight is insane. 

[MCA™]

TONIGHT!



What’s on Tap

[MCA™]

The Village Voice's Best Arcade of 2011.

[MCA™]

Footage from the grand opening. Nice job, TheBlackZebra.

Barcade Jersey City Grand Opening

[Woodsy]

“They are adding to the community in many ways,” Floros said. “It’s a great addition.” The Barcade is open from Sunday to Thursday from noon to 2 a.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to 3 a.m.

Not any more.  It's now 4PM-2AM Monday-Thursday, 12PM-3AM Friday and Saturday and 12PM-2AM Sunday.

[Binky]

You heard it here first!

[MCA™]

Barcade, a combination beer bar and video arcade, has ribbon cutting in downtown Jersey City
Published: Monday, August 08, 2011, 3:00 AM
Stephanie Musat/ The Jersey Journal

A room with 34 video game machines is paradise for any kid circa 1989.

Add a rotating selection of 25 different kinds of beer, and you have Barcade, a new establishment that hopes to attract those same kids, now grown up, and their younger cousins (21 and older), lured by the games people played when there were still new episodes of “Saved by The Bell.”

“It’s great to play these original, old-school games and have a beer at the same time,” said Katrina Spiratos, who was trying to avoid Pinky in the Ms. Pac-Man game, while at the same time balancing a tumbler. “Plus, it’s only a quarter. Can you believe that? Just a quarter.”

The Barcade, at 163 Newark Ave., held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. The Jersey City Historic Downtown Special Improvement District supplied the giant scissors as Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy welcomed the bar into the neighborhood.

The mayor said the only game he recognized was pinball.

“Many young people are going to like this place,” Healy said. “It’s popular in Brooklyn, and now it’s here. I can see it being very popular for the young people here.”

The Barcade is a transplant from Brooklyn where the original concept had a dual focus: a rotation of American craft beer and an equally eclectic lineup of classic arcade games.

Co-owner Paul Kermizian said he thought the Brooklyn model would fit well in the Downtown Jersey City scene. Since its opening three months ago, it seems he was right.

The reception has been “better than good,” Kermizian said.

The bar has 34 video game machines and boasts a rotating 25-beer tap. As soon as one beer runs out, a different type is put in, Kermizian said.

The addition of the bar is a sign that the area is beginning to form an identity, said Nikol Floros, executive director of Jersey City Historic Downtown Special Improvement District. Since the bar opened, Barcade has sponsored several events and participated in HDSID programs, Floros said.

“They are adding to the community in many ways,” Floros said. “It’s a great addition.” The Barcade is open from Sunday to Thursday from noon to 2 a.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to 3 a.m.

[porkchopsoda]

Jersey City residents Jolyn Villanueva, 26, and Raquel Rodriguez-Fadraga, 31, who were fighting each other in Karate Champ, say retro night-life revivals are another step toward a hip, young community -- anchored by the influx of artists -- around Grove Street. Still, Barcade needs time to develop the magnetic personality of its older brothers to the east. "It doesn't fit now," Rodriguez-Fadraga says, "but it will."

huh, it doesn't fit now??  if anything doesn't fit, it's Vilanueva and Rodriguez-Fadraga

Yuppies vs hipsters karate challenge for the next groove on grove! 

[shahaggy]

Jersey City residents Jolyn Villanueva, 26, and Raquel Rodriguez-Fadraga, 31, who were fighting each other in Karate Champ, say retro night-life revivals are another step toward a hip, young community -- anchored by the influx of artists -- around Grove Street. Still, Barcade needs time to develop the magnetic personality of its older brothers to the east. "It doesn't fit now," Rodriguez-Fadraga says, "but it will."

huh, it doesn't fit now??  if anything doesn't fit, it's Vilanueva and Rodriguez-Fadraga

[MCA™]

I know everyone's been waiting for the Star Ledger's review:


Barcade review: Jersey City bar attracts crowds with vintage video games
Published: Friday, May 13, 2011, 8:15 AM
Updated: Friday, May 13, 2011, 10:45 AM
By Mark Maurer/The Star-Ledger

They enter with pockets of clanging quarters and a thirst for Pilsner lagers. In a building with a glass façade and plain white walls, they use joysticks and press stiff buttons on antique machines below a chalkboard of high scores mounted overhead.

Patrons of Barcade, which opened last month in downtown Jersey City, represent a new kind of Jersey bar crowd, drawn to a venue where vintage arcade games outnumber the on-tap craft beers 33 to 25.

In a state without Dave & Buster's (the food-and-arcade chain) or Brooklyn's old-school gaming at dives, this video games-and-alcohol combo stands out. It joins Jersey City bar-restaurants such as Skinner's Loft, LITM (Love is the Message), Lucky 7 Tavern and Bar Majestic as an unofficial hangout for hipster professionals.

Barcade is the offshoot of an establishment with the same name in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood; a third location is slated to launch in Philadelphia by July. The five co-owners also run the Williamsburg bar and bowling alley the Gutter.

The Brooklyn operation opened in 2004, the same year as the release of filmmaker and Barcade co-owner Paul Kermizian's feature-length indie "American Beer," which documented a craft-beer road trip he took with friends. The initiative for a gaming outlet arose from parties at Kermizian's one-bedroom townhouse apartment, cluttered with arcade cabinets of Mappy, Zaxxon, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Tetris; for him and his pals, Barcade became an extension of collective nostalgia and high spirits.

"We try to have it be as close to the same feel while staying true to the space," says Kermizian, 36, a Bound Brook native. "It's like a baby. You've got to let it grow up a bit, and we want the customers to be a part of that."

Star Wars, BurgerTime, Millipede, Golden Axe and the other games generate only about 7 percent of Barcade's profit, so the businesses also banks on quality beer. Draft selections, such as Dogfish Head Hellhound and Founders Imperial Stout, change daily.
 
The menu makes Barcade seem like a diner where munchies qualify as entrees. The kitchen is open from noon to midnight, serving up Nutella and bacon on toast ($5), deviled eggs ($3 for two), and other small plates and sandwiches.

A broken coin machine and at least four malfunctioning games, including Frogger, are early kinks being ironed out. One man hoping to break a $10 bill into quarters was overheard saying, "I'll come back when I see someone not banging on the machine."

When Spy Hunter freezes as the car veers to the side of the screen, Stuart Kiczek of Manhattan knows it's time to move on to the next game.
"I find it fun remembering how annoying the games used to be, and how good my attention span used to be," says Kiczek, 26.

Experience with old games constantly breaking has brought the owners closer to cynical acceptance. Within days of opening, the bar's "tube shooter" Tempest (a game featured prominently in Rush's music video for "Subdivisions") broke down, just as it did many times before at the other Barcade spot.

"Tempest is the worst game to ever own," says Kermizian, who held the high score in Joust and Tapper as of press time. "In Brooklyn, it's kind of a joke that it sits there broken all the time. Impossible." A repairman from Long Island drives to Jersey City regularly to make fixes, he says.

The owners tracked down most of the cabinets from eBay or individual collectors. They assure inquirers that skee-ball and pinball do not fit the vibe and will never come to Barcade. Next up, though, is sidewalk seating along Newark Avenue and Barrow Street, Kermizian says.

Around the games, players hover behind other players, watching their avatars leaping to safety or sliding off a cliff. Be it a group of dudes in '80s-referencing T-shirts or an overdressed couple, they love to hate the games, and share laughs over their frustration.

Jersey City residents Jolyn Villanueva, 26, and Raquel Rodriguez-Fadraga, 31, who were fighting each other in Karate Champ, say retro night-life revivals are another step toward a hip, young community -- anchored by the influx of artists -- around Grove Street. Still, Barcade needs time to develop the magnetic personality of its older brothers to the east. "It doesn't fit now," Rodriguez-Fadraga says, "but it will."

Barcade
Where: 163 Newark Ave., Jersey City
When: Sundays to Thursdays noon to 2 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays noon to 3 a.m.
How much: No cover. All games cost 25 cents. Beer prices range from $6-8. Call (201) 332-4555 or visit http://www.barcadejerseycity.com.

[duke_of_earl]

I went yesterday afternoon (opening day for the rest of us) and it was busy.  Still not a uniform crowd, let's hope it stays that way.  Brother Thelonius on tap was quite nice.  I tried a few games and then left.

Tried to get in later at around 9PM and it was very busy, didn't wait to get a beer so went to LITM for an hour...went back by and there was a line of about 50 people trying to get in.

duke

[Bad Circles]

As long as it's not Hobokenites looking to get slizzerd, I don't care who frequents this place.  The tap list on their website is amazing.

[jehu]

I heard there is going to be a hipster quota. First twenty get in.

[MCA™]

Barcade craft beer bar and arcade to open in Jersey City tonight
Published: Friday, April 22, 2011, 11:30 AM
Updated: Friday, April 22, 2011, 12:50 PM
By The Jersey Journal

Barcade opens in Jersey City gallery (5 photos)

Barcade, a craft beer bar/arcade, is opening a new location in Jersey City tonight.

The exciting new venue, located at 163 Newark Ave., will serve food from a seasonal menu unlike the Brooklyn Barcade, according to the Jersey City Independent.

Jersey Journal correspondent Adam Robb visited the venue and took shots of what they had to offer including games like Centipede, Spy Hunter, Mr. Do!, Ms. Pacman, Tuthankamen, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Alien and even rarities like the original Pong and Star Wars Cockpit.

Each game costs 25 cents and a change machine will be available, according to Barcade's website.

Barcade will be open from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. from Sunday through Thursdays and from 12 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

[MCA™]

List of games is up at http://barcadejerseycity.com/games/

[Rabelais]

From their site:

Special Announcement!!

on April 15, 2011

Opening day will be Friday, April 22nd!!

[Soshin]

They have the cockpit version of Star Wars!   Now I'm sold.

[PuddinPop]

Methinks that is true Fang!

So, I was just looking through all the pictures and noticed something amazing, that I hope is true and I didn't just miss it, there are no TVs in the bar! No TVs! How amazing! I'm totally willing to give this place a lot more of my money now if that is the case.

[Bad Circles]

Absolutely.  You can count the number of tv-less bars in JC on one hand.  Let's hope they start a trend.

[TheFang]

So, I was just looking through all the pictures and noticed something amazing, that I hope is true and I didn't just miss it, there are no TVs in the bar! No TVs! How amazing! I'm totally willing to give this place a lot more of my money now if that is the case.

[MCA™]

Barcade has officially passed all inspections and will open "around April 21, though [co-owner Paul Kermizian] says the specific date won’t be known until the end of this week,"according to the JC Independent. Check out their article and pics here. And there are more pics over at Jersey City Bar Guide.

[jehu]

Isn't it?

From the Barcade facebook:

Dear friends,

We were very close to being ready to open but we were told to add some additional sprinklers. Consequently, our architectural plans and calculations need to be re-drawn and then approved by the city, which takes time. Hope to resolve this setback soon.

Barcade

Woofers.

From the reactions of some of the locals, you would think this is the first bar ever.

[Bad Circles]

From the Barcade facebook:

Dear friends,

We were very close to being ready to open but we were told to add some additional sprinklers. Consequently, our architectural plans and calculations need to be re-drawn and then approved by the city, which takes time. Hope to resolve this setback soon.

Barcade

Woofers.

From the reactions of some of the locals, you would think this is the first bar ever.

[porkchopsoda]

"Money" - Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey (The video's owner prevents external embedding)

Mone Makes Ze world go alound!