It’s time for a new location update although I’ve been sitting on the news for some of these as many are announcements for arcade venues that are opening well down the road. Let’s get to it:
Subpar Mini Golf, Ghiradelli Square (San Francisco, CA)
With a new mini-golf facility opening up in San Francisco, an arcade has been added to it to entertain guests who are waiting for their turn at a round of golf. The game line-up is mostly modern with several titles from Raw Thrills, an upright Let’s Go Jungle by Sega, a few crane machines, some banked Skee-ball alley bowlers, air hockey, a Grumpy Cat Photo Booth and more. This particular arcade has been designed by site friend TJ Beyer who recently setup the arcade machines at Lvl Up, also in the Bay Area.
1985 Arcade Bar + Grill (Wichita, KS)
Bringing more retro arcade goodness to Wichita is this venue, set to open any time now. It offers “14 pinball machines and another 25 video arcade games” all set to play at a quarter; I guess true to the 1985 name, I cannot find any website or social media page for them. To read more about it, click here (kansas.com).
Ryan Family Amusements Adding Arcade Room Location In July (Plymouth, MA)
Reported by Replay Magazine today, an FEC chain by the name of Ryan Family Amusements is expanding their game room operations into the famous historical town of Plymouth. They are taking over a closed restaurant there and adding 35 new games to a 2,700 sq. ft. space. It will include video and redemption games and is opening next month.
Famous Hot Dog Stand Johnny O’s Prepping To Open A Bar/Arcade (Chicago (South Side), IL)
Also via Replay is this story in South Side Weekly about the challenges that the famous Chicago chain of hot dog stands in Chicago has been through as of late. As they recover from the loss of the “Johnny O” and one of his sons, John Jr., the sons who have taken over the business are setting about to convert one of their old closed locations into a bar/arcade. There isn’t much information on it yet nor an ETA but it sounds like it could happen this year. We’ll keep an eye on that along with news on the other locations.
Lois Lanes Set To Open In November (Watford City, ND)
It certainly is a rarity to report on a location opening up in North Dakota but here it is. The cleverly named Lois Lanes naturally features bowling (20 lanes) along with a trampoline park and a 1,500 sq. ft. arcade. That sounds a bit small given the facility is 30k square feet but once nice thing about such large facilities is that you tend to have a little bit of wiggle room. Read more about it at kfyrtv.com.
EVO Entertainment Headed To Schertz, TX
File this one in the memory banks of 2019 – it’s still a ways off. By the initial press release, it sounds like it will be rather impressive – the venue is being built with a $23 million investment and will land at 72,000 sq. ft. This will include a movie theater, laser tag, bowling and food as a part of the attractions and of course a video arcade with over 100 games to enjoy. We’ll keep an eye on this one too but click here for more info (mysanantonio.com).
Dave & Busters Updates
The first D&B to open in Utah did so a few weeks ago in downtown Salt Lake City. I wrote about this one a little bit already and from the sounds of it, they had a successful soft & grand opening. I saw people on social media networks writing about it, posting photos of their game floor. They also recently opened locations in Rosemont, IL, Madison, WI, Massapequa, NY and this week in Torrance, CA in case you missed that.
https://twitter.com/DaveandBusters/status/1006221529728856064
Round1USA Updates
Round1USA has also been busy although I have not heard a thing about the Utah location that they announced some time ago – it was supposed to open up this Spring. Either way, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for news. In the meantime they are preparing to open locations in South Portland, ME and Albuquerque, NM this Summer; for their games they continue to please rhythm game fans with the likes of Groove Coaster 4 and Dance Rush Stardom.
https://twitter.com/Round1USA/status/1005232863040528384
That’s all I’ve managed to come across for now – if you happen to find yourself near any of these locations that have (or will soon) opened, be sure to do more than just pay lip service in support – drop by, buy some credits and have fun!
