When drinking and dancing get boring, there are new “alternative sports” bars for the retronaut—and the kid—in all of us.
When was the last time you played a videogame? Or went to an arcade? How about bowling? Ping pong? I bet you probably haven’t had a meal in an arcade that you actually liked, or wanted. Chances are, these aren’t activities you indulge in frequently, nor are they things you’d think to make a “night on the town” out of, alone or with friends. Some people think it’s lame, others prefer to do things like gaming in private or, more conveniently, over the Internet.
Then there’s stuff like bowling and ping pong, which have gained a bad rap for their undesirable, pearl-clutching environments. A recent Grid article about Yonge Street’s seedy past even placed five pinball-playing locations on a stretch of the strip that once included at least half-dozen rub-and-tugs. But this long-lost pastime of doing recreational things other than drugs is resurging in the city’s downtown core. New businesses—from the very ’70s pinball palace to the all-American bowling alley—are making a comeback with the freshest of veneers, combining a refined dine-and-play experience with a new lease on showing patrons an old-fashioned good time.
On Boxing Day last year, the first such venue to re-purpose an “alternative sport” with a glossy touch-up was The Ballroom on John Street in the District. The 20,000-square-foot, two-floor, two-patio bowling alley took over the old Montana’s bar, transforming one little downtown corner into a trifecta of to-do’s, adjacent to MuchMusic and the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Acting as an anchor, the space is a sensory overload of never-get-bored activities with the added bonus being fully licensed and having above-average food options. “Right now, society is fast-paced, with quick communication that demands everything happen immediately, and a lot of people get bored with a simple ‘this what you get’ place,” says The Ballroom’s general manager Kate Hancock. Aside from your standard bowling lanes (there are nine, with rates ranging from $35-$60/hour), you can also play air hockey, foosball, Xbox on full-wall flatscreens and more. “You need to provide guests with everything for everyone; it’s about packaging those high-energy experiences with variety.”
So far, The Ballroom appears to be kicking every other Toronto spot’s ass. On Friday and Saturday, Hancock says the place is “absolutely insane” when the crowd goes 19-plus after 9 p.m with adrenaline from gamers of all disciplines. I mean, have you tried going bowling anywhere else in the city? Aside from Danforth Bowl at Coxwell, you’ve either got to travel to obscure parts of North York or way west to Islington or even Missassauga—and sometimes it’s not even worth the trek just for “something different,” especially not from the downtown core. But when you look at the nuts-and-bolts of a “concept bar” like The Ballroom, it serves a clear purpose for those urbanites with disposable income, often looking to satisfy the pleasure principle, or something like it.
When rumors that SPiN—the ping pong club with a New York counterpart and owned in part by Susan Sarandon—was coming to King West, headlines exploded with words like “massive” and “hot spot” as if nothing like this had ever happened to Toronto. That wasn’t the point though—it’s about creating, and then selling, an experience. “We have those people who get rowdy and become kids, and it takes you back. You remember playing when you were younger,” says Canadian co-owner Ryan Fisher. SPiN opened three months ago, and even though it’s located in a basement off an alley in one of the city’s most high-maintenance nightlife hubs, it’s still not a hard sell. “At first, I was a unsure of the area,” admits Fisher. “We have such a mix of people: those who really get it, those who don’t at all, financial types who come after work, Queen West artists who come to blow off steam. If nothing else, we’ve transformed a few people who usually go out to a dance club, and they still have fun.”
In the GTA, the ping pong experience has been largely limited to league-based playing or community centre rec rooms. It’s probably the nichest, most cult-like sport that can work in a bar setting, with a devoted global following that gets very little attention. To commoditize a sport like that, and make it available to all interested parties, is what ensures SPiN will be successful, and with good reason. The space offers a $500/year membership option for the most die-hard fans, yet offers by-the-hour rates for walk-ins. In January, the club will also initiate a monthly tournament and a kid’s and teen’s day camp during school breaks, alongside already popular glow-in-the-dark Tuesdays and family-centric programming on weekend afternoons.
Perhaps the most interesting option to come our way, and the one that’s most dipped in nostalgia, is The Pinball Café, set to open on Queen West in Parkdale on February 14. Conceived by husband and wife team Jason and Rachel Hazzard, the entire concept for the café revolves around vintage pinball machines—Jason is a collector with a 1967 model and an all-around superfan—and an alcohol-free environment. “Let’s face it, we’re not about being some sketchy bar with pinball,” says Jason, who plans to serve milkshakes, baked goods, retro candy, and charge just $0.25 per game instead of the current $2 standard. “It’s really about an alternative for people, for everyone. Not about making money off the game.”
The Hazzards plan to keep the 1,000-square-foot space—outfitted with free WiFi and a ’70s jukebox from the very heyday of pinball—open daily from early until midnight, especially for those who want “a different dessert place after dinner if you don’t have to continue drinking, but still want to have fun.” There’s already some early buzz on the place, and the clientele definitely seems to be there, for all demographics. “We’re not an arcade, we’re not a place just for teenagers,” elaborates Jason. “We’re not into any kind of intimidation, you can even bring mom.”
But don’t think Toronto is any sort of sole trailblazer in this revival; big U.S. chains have been here for a while now. Those places just take some arm-twisting and travel time. In 2004, Vaughan Mills opened with a Lucky Strikes bowling lane, almost identical to The Ballroom. A few years before that, Dave & Buster’s opened on Highway 7, offering the arcade redux concept in ridiculous spades. I took a serving job in school and know how competition and camaraderie can intoxicate any manchild. (I lasted mere months.) And let’s not forget the original to end all of this: Chuck E. Cheese. “It’s not fresh, but it’s certainly fun,” debates Hazzard. And that’s the name of the game.
