Among my favorite things, I count a pristine Asteroids machine. Also high on that list would be a dive bar. The kind where the light is minimal, the volume is at max, and the locals are all but paying rent. Put an Asteroids machine in that dive bar, and you get something like Miss T’s Barcade, a nightspot on the outskirts of Koreatown. This week I paid a visit, hoping to find something to tide me over until the next Game Night at Brian’s. Unfortunately, the experience came up short.
Miss T’s was featured on Gametrailers TV, with a montage of patrons slamming back Sake Bombs and queuing up to Donkey Kong. It looked dark, loud, and had no real sign, just a blue neon rendering of a Pac Man ghost. It was like a speakeasy for geeks. A Geekeasy.
Aside from the inherent mystique the idea holds, it’s a relatively easy place to find, wedged between a 24 hour Laundaria and a sushi restaurant on Western. As listed, the hours of operation are 8pm to 2am. I’ve heard it’s crowded on weekends, so I planned my stop earlier in the week to guarantee some playtime.
As of 9:15 PM there was abundant parking along Western and the side streets. My photographer and I zeroed in on the neon blue ghost in a blacked-out storefront. The door was open to the sidewalk and no one manned the entrance. Not unusual for a Tuesday night, but when we walked inside there was no one tending the bar either.
The lights were low and the air was a bit warm. A sparse décor of vintage toys, mostly He-Man figures, were fastened to the wall opposite the bar, above a row of small cushioned booths. I followed the music to the back, passed a customer at a Pac Man cocktail cabinet, and got the full blast from the DJ station as I turned the corner.
The selection winds along two narrow rooms and most of the square-footage belongs to the games, which are a good mix of familiar and hard-to-find: Gauntlet, Donkey Kong, Rampage, Asteroids, Punch Out, Paperboy, and a wheel-controlled Spy Hunter among others. I couldn’t wait to get started, but Miss T’s is strictly BYOQ (bring your own quarters). On my way out I noticed the sole customer aside from us had finished with Pac Man and was now behind the bar. Interesting.
After a fifteen minute interlude at a nearby gas station (where I pleaded with the attendant to exchange a ten for a roll of quarters) we had the place to ourselves yet again.
The bartender (?) finally took notice after we started snapping photos. I mentioned I was considering the place for a story, and he asked us to wait an hour for the owner to arrive. Sure, fine, no problem. We ordered drinks. $12 nabbed us two 16 oz cans of Heineken. It seems the “bar” in “barcade” is a bit of a misnomer. Miss T has no liquor license and nothing on tap, just a cooler with a variety of well-iced Tall(-ish) Boys.
I finally got playing and was happy to find everything well maintained. Everything but the Twilight Zone pinball machine. It ate two coins and abruptly shut down. Being that it was the Twilight Zone pinball machine I stood poised over it for minute, just to see what would happen. It rebooted and asked for more money. My subsequent conversation with the bartender went like this:
ARTIE: I just tried to play The Twilight Zone. It rebooted and kept my money.
BARTENDER: Yeah, it’s been doing that a lot, lately.
(long, uncomfortable pause… bordering on staring contest)
BARTENDER: So you want two quarters-
ARTIE: Yes.
We finished our drinks and left. On the way out I finally noticed the menu taped to a mirror behind the bar, scrawled out in black marker on pieces of copy paper. I can’t weigh in on the quality of the snacks, as by then I was ready to go. My patience wore out along with my welcome.
I’ve been to my share of bars, and I’ve been to my share of arcades, and I’m sorry to report that Miss T’s doesn’t quite fit either category. Tuesday is an off-night, but never should the customer come second to an ongoing game of Pac Man. LA retro-fiends should visit for a one-time fix of rare classics, just make sure to bring plenty of change and plan on heading elsewhere to celebrate that high score.
Miss T’s Barcade
371 Wilshire blvd
Los Angeles, 90004 (Map)
$ (CASH ONLY)
Photos by Smirker
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