BART is like your buddy’s living room, but better

BART

Address/phone/web:
1205 N. Mills Ave., 407-796-2522; bartcade.com

After work or after hours?
after hours

Beer/wine or liquor too?
mostly beer; some wine

Check all that apply:
☐ fancy cocktails
☐ make ’em strong and keep ’em coming
☐ wine list (5 choices or more)
(X) craft beer
☐ beer: the usual suspects
(X) wide selection of bottles (more than 15)
☐ wide selection on tap (more than 15)

Food?
☐ Y
(X) N  
But sometimes a food truck will post up out front on Mills.

Smoking allowed?   
☐ Inside
(X) Outside

Outside drinking:  
☐ Y
(X) N     

Dog-friendly?  
☐ Y
(X) N  

Bathrooms: nightmare or not bad?
very much not bad

TVs?   
(X) Y
☐ N  
What’s on? Movies: sci-fi, horror or Marvel Comics film du jour

DJs?    
☐ Y
(X) N

Loud music or background music?
Pretty low background music (White Stripes, Postal Service, that kinda thing), mixed with game noises.

Games? Check all that apply:
☐ pinball
(X) video (touchscreen variety)
☐ pool
☐ darts
☐ shuffleboard
☐ other:

Essay question: Why should I drink here?
Cool art on the walls, a great selection of craft beers, spot-on curation of the Netflix queue – if your college buddy had a dozen vintage arcade games in his living room, you’d feel like you were there. The room fills up late with a young crowd ready to drop cash on the serious beer selection – the cost is balanced out by free play on almost all the games (plus there’s usually a happy-hour deal to be had). Clean, comfortable, clubhouse vibe.

This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2014.