The best part about being an adult is getting to act like a kid while having the resources to support it. B Side Liquor Lounge & Arcade recently took that idea to a new level. The club below the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights has added a new wrinkle to its lineup of DJs and dancing: old school coin-operated arcade games.
The concept came from B Side manager Brad Petty, who visited a bar in Seattle 10 years ago that had loud music, hot dogs, Pabst Blue Ribbon and arcade games. "I kept that in the back of my mind as a potential concept to do in Cleveland," Petty says. "After 10 years of doing what we do here, we just wanted to freshen it up."
So Petty and Kathy Blackman, the owner of B Side and the Grog Shop, called Cleveland-based Cadillac Music, which outfitted B Side with more than 20 classic arcade games and pinball machines. Here are a few of Petty's favorites that you can throw a quarter or two into the next time you're in the neighborhood.
» The Simpsons: This beat-'em-up game lets you take control of the famed family to save Springfield. "I like Simpsons because it's multiplayer," Petty says. "You can have four people playing."
» Slugfest: It looks like a pinball machine, but it's actually a baseball game that spits out cards when you win. "I have thousands of baseball cards," Petty says. "I just bring stacks of them in and stick them in the machine."
» Area 51: This popular shooting game lets you partner with a buddy and take down hordes of aliens. "I love that game," Petty says. "I remember playing that when I used to hang out at the mall."
