Throwback Bar Hopes To Entice Crowds With Nostalgia From Yesteryear
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The bar is called Eighty Two and with just one step inside, you'll know why.
The mood, the prices, the music, the feel — it's all a throwback to 1982. Pinball machines (Pac Man, of course) are just one highlight.
Pop up throwback bars are the new rage — in New York and Portland to name a few places — and LA is getting in on the action.
Take a trip down memory lane at Eighty Two (707 East 4th Street) in downtown Los Angeles' Art District.
Serene Branson, reporting for KCAL9, attending Friday night's opening.
"It reminds me of being a little kid back in the 80's," said patron Cliff Lim who ventured down from Studio City.
In addition to Pac Man, there are also TRON games, Space Invaders and vintage pinball.
"People play games for different reasons," said Noah Sutcliffe, an Eighty Two co-owner, who added that "1982 was the start of the Golden age of the arcade."
He opened the bar/arcade place with Scott Davids — the two have been friends since they were five.
The bar will also feature handcrafted cocktails and $5 beers.
The two owners hope to bring back the social aspects of arcades — the days before video and gaming for many became a singular thing they did on home computers.
They were decidedly going for a vintage feel. It took them a decade to collect the 25 arcade games and some of the pinball machines date back to the 60s.
"I'm getting to relive my childhood all those times in 80s when I didn't have a quarter in my pocket. Now I'm finally able to live the dream," said Glendale resident Steve Braden, a married father of one.
