PINBALL ARCADE JOLIET FULL
PINBALL ARCADE JOLIET PLUS

Because as it turns out, the same resources that made the city a boom town for meatpacking and other manufacturing trades in the early 1900s also made it ripe to be the world headquarters of pinball. The game was cited as a form of gambling and barred throughout much of the US for more than three decades - putting a damper on Chicago's burgeoning industry. Pinball wasn't always the kind of pastime you could build a night out around, however. ItвЂ™s the kind of chaos that feels like home, especially during TuesdayвЂ™s magician night and the barвЂ™s monthly Night Names queer dance party. Last year, the bar melded its Halloween and winter holiday decorations into a big mess of plastic pumpkins, Santa Clauses, and glowing masks. Regular menu itemsВ include a half-pound of wings for $14 (but keep those sticky fingers off the machines!) and a variety of вЂњhandheldsвЂќ like the Mamma-Mia Burger (Italian sausage, beef, fresh mozzarella, marinara) and the French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich (caramelized onion & gruyere, sliced steak optional).ДЄt Logan, which has the largest public collection of pinball machines in Chicago, the 20 beers on draft include regional picks from Chicago's Off Color Brewing and Half Acre Beer Company, Warrenville's Two Brothers Brewing Company (including the aptly-named Pinball American pale ale), as well as hard cider from West Michigan-based Vander Mill.

PINBALL ARCADE JOLIET FULL

Headquarters is also the only arcade bar in this group to offer a full food menu (though the others welcome outside food) including occasional themed Sunday brunches around concepts like Disney Sing-a-Long and '90s Nickelodeon. The decor at Headquarters is a two-story trip back to the вЂ™80s: Vintage microphones serve as beer tap handles, cassette tapes line the walls of one nook, and old-style TVs are displayed behind the bar. Replay counts 14 pinball machines, a craft cocktail menu with inventive options like the Irish Goodbye (Jameson, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, NOLA coffee liqueur, nitro cold brew coffee, cinnamon stick) and the Violet Crime (which includes a double shot of Stoli Blueberry, homemade blueberry syrup, and a Blueberry Red Bull ice cube) as well as rotating art themes that have included Simpsons and Rick and Morty-themed pop-ups.

PINBALL ARCADE JOLIET PLUS

At Fulton Market, you get a summer patio (with corn hole set-up), plus it's the only location with a craft cocktail program.ДЄll games are on free play at Replay and Headquarters, so both are a great place to get in practice. The full stage at the Wicker Park location hosts concerts, cosplay events, movies, and more, and their bar offers 24 beers on tap and more than 40 different types of bourbon. The Logan Square offshoot has 80-plus craft beers, a sometimes-open indoor food truck (past tenants have included Mexican sandwich shop Cemitas Puebla and Filipino fusion concept Hapa Chicago), as well as six pool tables, bubble hockey, air hockey, and vintage bowling games. Both Emporiums, as well as the Fulton Market location that opened in 2017, feature large open spaces, great for group gatherings or parties, and more than a dozen machines. While a handful of other arcade bars have opened throughout the city since (including FTW Chicago, Uptown Arcade), the aforementioned five spots are a great starting place for a new pinball enthusiast. ItвЂ™s ridiculous to keep them in my basement and polish them all day long.вЂќ But, вЂњat this point, these are devices that are meant to be played. Prior to opening Logan, as itвЂ™s known to regulars, Zespy says he was a little worried about people spilling beer all over the machines.

вЂњBefore any of the places were open, me and my old head tech would just walk around to every bar on a Sunday that had one game and hit them all, and play anything in horrible condition,вЂќ Zespy says. (Though Zespy hates the portmanteau вЂњWeвЂ™re an arcade that serves beer, or weвЂ™re an extreme bar with games,вЂќ he says.) The deluge began with Emporium Wicker Park and Headquarters Lakeview (now Replay Lincoln Park) that summer, followed by Logan Arcade, Headquarters River North and Emporium Logan Square in 2014.

But 2012 saw the rise of the so-called вЂњbeercadeвЂќ in Chicago. In the early 2000s, Chicago pinball was essentially limited to two outlets: corner bars with one or two choices, or dedicated hobbyists with a basement full of machines.

Pinball arcade joliet