Emporium Arcade Bar

emerge077

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | $$

Dark and loud with punk and 80's Metallica playing, also Heart...huh. Early evening it was already fairly crowded on a friday after 5, but after returning from dinner, things took a turn for the weird. First a large tourbus pulled up, then a stream of 80's themed LGBT revelers packed in the place. We spotted Boy George, Michael Jackson, Pac Man, a tennis guy chicken hawk,lots of spandex and florescent colors.

The night before there was an east coast tap takeover, so the drafts were exclusively from Allagash, DFH, Sixpoint, Smuttynose, Southern Tier, Victory, plus a handful of others. Interesting stuff such as Braumeister and a Berliner from Victory, Interlude, Smutty Baltic Porter, and more.

Vibe was kind of young, early 20's, card everybody at the door, grey hair(s) or not, lol.
Bartenders were quick and on point, despite the pub crawl and general bros whooping it up. Overall just about what you'd expect, but a nice focus on local craft with some interesting events coming up for CCBW. Seem to rotate taps, so worth a stop in, near quality food spots like Cumin, Harolds, & Antique Taco. Thanks Tbone for the tip!

04-20-2013 03:38:35 | More by emerge077