Pour Bros. Craft Taproom — which opened at 236 E Front St. in Bloomington last year — launched a new arcade two weekends ago. Dubbed the Pourcade, it features retro staples and modern classics from Skee-Ball and pinball to Guitar Hero. And Pour Bros. has a full-service bar along with a pour-your-own craft tap wall with beer, seltzers, ciders, mead and the occasional wine.
A unique experience
As of right now, it’s the only adult arcade in town.
“We look at the market, and we try to make it better, and we try to provide fun. That's what we're here for, is to provide a fun, good, safe, clean experience, and watch people smile and have a good time,” said manager Rob Mathisen.
Before 8 p.m., Mathisen emphasized the Pourcade is family-friendly. At the same time, it is primarily a bar.
Pour Bros. has four locations in Central Illinois — including the Bloomington spot — and this is the first to have a full arcade.
With roughly 5,500 square feet of room, Mathisen said he’d always intended to expand offerings beyond the bar and pour wall. He said he thought about food, but there was already great food surrounding the location, and he didn’t see a point in adding live music with the Castle Theatre so close.
He asked himself “what was missing?” and landed on the arcade.
“We knew there was an arcade here years ago,” he said, referring to 8 Bit Bar Arcade that was in the Pour Bros. location before closing in 2022. “It was well received. People really enjoyed it. So what we did was we brought that back.”
However, the two are not identical. The Pourcade is slightly larger than 8 Bit’s arcade and it’s got different games. Plus, there’s the pour-your-own drinks wall that makes Pour Bros. its own.
That could prove useful if 8 Bit returns to downtown, which it might. According to a Sept. 14 Facebook post, the owner was signing a lease on the old CVS Pharmacy building downtown. There hasn’t been an update since.
Already getting regulars
In the meantime, 8 Bit fans seem to be enjoying the Pourcade. Multiple former patrons of the old arcade bar were at Pour Bros. on Saturday.
For Sara and Frank Taylor, the retro games were a pleasant surprise folded into their normal date night routine: put their names in for a table at Anju and head to Pour Bros. for a drink while they wait.
“And just by magic, the arcade was open today,” Sara Taylor said.
The couple had just finished up a round of “not at all” competitive Skee-Ball — if you’re asking Frank Taylor — before chatting with WGLT for Sound Ideas. If you’d asked Sara, it was a “super competitive” Skee-Ball round in which her husband bested her by a meager 10 points.
WGLT didn’t get the chance to stick around and see how each of the Taylors faired in the games they played the rest of the night, but the couple assured they’d be back at the taproom again.
Lionel Joyce said he’s likely to become a regular at the Pourcade. He pointed out that “the community hasn’t had a place like this where you can have a drink and play video games with your friends” since 8 Bit.
“So it’s nice to see it return,” he said, adding if 8-Bit reopens, he looks forward to frequenting both establishments.
More change to come
While the Pourcade has been open for less than a month, Mathisen said he’s already thinking about the next venture for the Bloomington bar. He pointed out that the Pourcade was only phase two of the project and it’s time to focus on phase three.
“Maybe it's a food truck,” he said. “We're not sure yet, but we're going to keep working on the concept and adding different experiences that don't exist here, so that we make the area better.”
Phase three could also include league nights for both pinball and Skee-Ball, which Mathisen said he's looking into now.
