Barcade, the Arcade for Adults, Is Coming to New Haven with Brews and Old School Gaming

Fall can’t come soon enough because that’s the scheduled opening of Barcade New Haven. Now, what is Barcade exactly? Think of it like this: it’s one part American craft beer bar with one part retro, classic arcade, and one part American pub grub mixed in for good measure. They started up in Brooklyn back in 2004, and have expanded to Jersey City, Philly, and St. Mark’s Place . . . and they have set their sights on New Haven.

We can confirm this after talking with CEO and co-founder Paul Kermizian. He shared that they will be setting up shop downtown in 9th Square. Opening in the fall is contingent upon a zoning meeting to be held in July, so let’s say our prayers to the arcade gods on this one.

Let’s look in a little deeper to see what Barcade New Haven will have and why it’s going to be so freaking rad:

American Craft Beer on Tap

Not only does Barcade source out some pretty awesome craft brews to put on tap, they have 25 lines for your drinking pleasure. And, one of the coolest features is their Exclusive Beer series. Paul explained to us that they partner with local, smaller breweries to feature beer that you can only drink at Barcade. He also plans to work with local breweries in the state (Two Roads is already on tap in some of their locations), so we just might see some CT beer with great distribution at their other locations. 

The Arcade of Barcade

So, you’ve got your Dogfish 120 Minute or your Allagash Session Brett and you’re ready to play some games, right? It’ll be super easy, explains Paul: “We’ll have around 40-45 classic video games from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.” Just looking over some of the games that they have reads like a pantheon of classics like Altered Beast, Centipede, Contra, Donkey Kong, Double Dragon, Dragon’s Lair, Food Fight, Frogger, Galaga, Golden Axe, Joust, Millipede, Pitfall, Tapper, Space Invaders, X-Men and more. And, you can work to get those top scores (they post them on their site, btw) with a killer rock and metal soundtrack playing throughout the space.

The Noms

Depending on the Barcade that you go to, you’ll have a variety of different options that will pair nicely with their selection of brews. Their menu is divided up into different sections such as Small Plates, Salads, Nachos, and Wings . . . it all depends on the location you’re at. Some of the standouts, to us, are Deviled Eggs, Pickles, Cheddar Jalapeño Hot Dog, Tacos, Meat & Cheese Plate, Fried Chicken Mac & Cheese, Pickled Hop Shoots, and a ton more. It’ll be fun to see what Paul and his friends/co-owners Pete Langway, Kevin Beard, and Scott Beard have in store for New Haven’s Menu.

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We know this is going to be a popular spot because when we first followed them a few days ago, they had about 7 followers, but now they are up to close to 500! Damn, that’s impressive. So, we’ll end you with some thoughts from Paul when we asked him why they chose New Haven:

“We’ve come up to the city several times over the past year or so and really like the feeling of downtown. It’s a great food and beer market and seems like a natural fit for us.” 

Yeah, we’d have to agree. Get ready CT!