January 19, 2012
Roundup: Our Guide To Restaurants And Bars In Philadelphia With Extracurriculars, From Ping Pong And Shuffleboard To Jenga And Pac-Man

Yahtzee! Philadelphia's food and drink scene truly has it all, including delicious eats, one of the nation's best beer scenes and award-winning chefs and bartenders, not to mention a ton of bars and restaurants offering extracurricular activities of all types. (Photo credits: top right courtesy Frankford Hall, remainder by G. Widman for GPTMC)
Sometimes your vision of an ideal night out includes a few great beers for a solid price, delicious eats, an energized, friendly vibe and… games.
Good thing a sizable handful of Philadelphia bar and restaurants offer games and other means of entertainment in the form of everything from ping pong and foosball to darts and vintage arcade games.
If this sounds like something you’d be into for an evening out on the town, we’ve put together a complete guide to the restaurants and bars in Philadelphia that offer such a wide range of extracurricular activities.
Check it below, and then use it to plan your next game night.
• Barcade: For fun and games of the 25-cent variety, head to Barcade, a grown-up (but not too grown-up) arcade in Fishtown. Enjoy classic 80s arcade games — the lineup includes classics like Frogger, Ms. Pac-Man, Tron and Donkey Kong — and a rotating line-up of American craft beer. Happy hour takes place each weeknight from 4-7 p.m. and includes a dollar off all beers. And the kitchen puts out a menu of solid sandwiches for under $10 until midnight daily.
• Buffalo Billiards: Skee ball alert. At Old City’s Buffalo Billiards, there’s a game for just about everyone’s taste, from pool and shuffleboard to darts, foosball and skee ball. For those who prefer to watch a game, there are 17 TVs. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 6-8 p.m. and includes half-priced appetizers.
• Frankford Hall: Jenga! Besides delicious burgers, beers to no end, 18+ heat lamps and a bunch of fire pits, Stephen Starr’s Fishtown beer garden boasts ping pong tables and perfect-for-groups card and table games like Jenga, dominoes and Uno. Happy Hour hits every Tuesday through Friday, from 4-7 p.m., when you can pair any half liter of beer with any sausage for the ridiculous deal of $8. Other happy hour deals include $3 fries and $10 liter drafts.
• The Twisted Tail: Shuffleboard, anyone? Head to this new spot on Headhouse Square for live music, bourbon, Southern food and a round of shuffleboard.
• Sugar Mom’s: Have a seat in a (stationary) bumper car, play some pinball, play some arcade-style hockey, or try your hand at Galaga. All while enjoying some of the cheapest beer in the city (which isn’t to say the worst quality).
• Druid’s Keep: Head to Northern Liberties for Golden Tee, board games like Trivial Pursuit and the obligatory pool table and dart board. Awesome bonus: they have cornhole in the back yard during the summer.
Lots more, below.
• Doobies, Tangier and Raven Lounge: All three of these spots have board games for you to play at booths or tables at the bar. Sansom Street’s Raven Lounge stocks old school games at each ground-floor table. Think Connect Four, Hungry Hungry Hippos and Jenga. Perfect ice-breaker for a date, or activity to keep you occupied while your friend waits at the bar for your drinks.
• Earth Bread & Brewery: Hand crafted beer, hearth-baked flatbreads and ping pong! This Mount Airy hotspot always has four taps of onsite-brewed beers, and is proud to have never repeated the same recipe. Seven other guest taps rotate suds from local breweries. The libations perfectly complement the flatbreads, made from locally sourced ingredients. Ping pong takes place on Tuesdays, quizzo on Thursdays.
• The Bards: This classic Irish pub (adjacent, as a matter of fact, to The Irish Pub), offers the classic bar game: darts. Knock back a Guinness and test out your throwing arm.
• North Bowl: Besides the obvious (bowling), you can play pool, pinball, foosball or any of an entire wall of arcade games. Bonus: there are two bars, one upstairs, one down.
• McGlinchey’s Bar & Grill: Yes, it’s a dive. Yes, you will emerge reeking of smoke. Yes, they have an awesome old-school Ms. Pac-Man table, plus a pool table in the (less smoky) second floor bar called Top’s. There’s also photohunt, a videogame that caters to a, er, more adult clientele.
• Bob & Barbara’s: On Tuesdays, paddle connoisseurs and novices stretch their arm muscles during ping-pong happy hour at the legendary Bob & Barbara’s Lounge. The rest of the week, the diverse crowd enjoys bands, DJs and other entertainment including a drag show on Thursdays.
That’s our list. If we missed any great additions, let us know in the comments.











(5 responses)
January 19, 2012, 10:30 am
Pete says:
you left off Play 2 Interactive Sports bar at Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philly and at Parx! It’s the only console gaming based sports bar of its kind on the east coast, and it has all the landmark Chickie’s food favorites, drink specials, and sports talk from you expect from North America’s #1 Sports Bar!
January 19, 2012, 10:30 am
Nicole says:
Franklin’s (3521 Bowman Street in East Falls) has skeeball, basketball, and arcade golf. Franklin’s and Buffalo Billiards BOTH offer a skeeball league. That’s right, a league! USSphilly.com.
January 19, 2012, 10:30 am
riss says:
standard tap 2nd floor has some board games too
January 19, 2012, 10:30 am
Hannah says:
Where is the picture on the lower left (with the band playing) taken?
January 19, 2012, 10:30 am
Allison Stadd says:
That photo is at Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown.
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