Boozing in the arcade
So according to Gearfuse.com, the Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Portland, Oregon, features this amazing ode to Dig Dug in stained glass along one wall:
And according to the official website, Ground Kontrol just got their liquor license this month! That means that, to my knowledge’s best, Ground Kontrol is the coolest place to grab a beer on the west coast (the east coast trophy goes to Barcade, of course).
Update (from the comments; thanks, Art!):
Hey, I’m Ground Kontrol’s manager and I just wanted to clear up a couple of things!We’ve had a beer & wine license since 2005, but were able to make some very helpful changes to our license just this past month: extending our serving hours to 5PM (from 7PM), and having more flexibility so we can now serve beer & wine during private events at any time of day, and also allowing minors during private events in which alcohol is served (so now your kid doesn’t have to stay home during your Best Birthday Ever should you want to include alcohol service!)
Also, we’re not yet serving hard alcohol. Beer taps are next on the list, so we can more efficiently serve your favorite beers. Hard alcohol (and the food required by the OLCC to serve it) will be the stage after that!
Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade
511 NW Couch St.
Portland, OR 97209
(503)796-9364
About the author: Jenn thinks the Atari 2600, Game Boy Micro, and Apple iPhone are all viable game consoles. Email her at jenn at infinite lives dot net. See also
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But does Barcade have an entire floor dedicated to pinball machines, old and new, like Ground Kontrol has? Noooooooo.
Is Barcade full of dirty hipsters and general douchebaggery, largely absent at Ground Kontrol?
Yesssss.
Ground Kontrol wins.
Yes YES Y…EEE….SSSS! Ground Kontrol is indeed the raddest joint since the quarter pounder in Up in Smoke. I have enjoyed a PBR tall-boy there whilst grooving to the incredible soundtrack of Moon Patrol well before this month, but apparently, now I can partake in a martini while discussing the finer points of Elvira and the Party Monsters. It’s no Monster Bash, but it will do nicely.
The competition for Ground Kontrol’s west coast title is fierce, with my two favs being:
Shorty’s – http://www.shortydog.com
and
Georgetown Liquor Company – http://www.georgetownliquorcompany.com/
Shorty’s is great too, forgot about that and they have pinball. I’ll have to check out GLC, never even heard of it! Maybe soon, yes.
As an upstanding Portlander (not only have I lived here my whole life, I also love indie rock and have no fashion sense whatsoever), I can vouch for Ground Kontrol’s incomprehensible levels of awesomeness. They’ve been serving beer there for years, but if they start serving Tempest-inspired cocktails then I’d never leave.
Hey, I’m Ground Kontrol’s manager and I just wanted to clear up a couple of things!
We’ve had a beer & wine license since 2005, but were able to make some very helpful changes to our license just this past month: extending our serving hours to 5PM (from 7PM), and having more flexibility so we can now serve beer & wine during private events at any time of day, and also allowing minors during private events in which alcohol is served (so now your kid doesn’t have to stay home during your Best Birthday Ever should you want to include alcohol service!)
Also, we’re not yet serving hard alcohol. Beer taps are next on the list, so we can more efficiently serve your favorite beers. Hard alcohol (and the food required by the OLCC to serve it) will be the stage after that!
Anyway, thanks for giving us a nod and I hope to see you all @ Ground Kontrol sometime!
(Never heard of Georgetown Liquor Company, so that will be a definite stop when I’m in Seattle next month!)
that looks amazing. i would love to see if someone could ever do a set of stain-glass windows to the early 8 bit nintendo games, like metroid, mario, zelda etc.
just check out this link
http://kotaku.com/5029525/the-.....t-mega-man
Oh, very nice. Thanks, Paul! You see traditional tile mosaics as ‘pixel art’ often enough, so the stained glass medium is way rad, kind of uncharted territory.
True story: My bachelor party was at Ground Kontrol. Fantastic!