Good news, retro video game fans: Up-Down Milwaukee, the arcade bar long in the works for the old Comedy Cafe (615 E. Brady St.) is opening. On Friday, August 24. Like, tomorrow. YES.
To celebrate its opening, Up-Down will be giving away 20 free tokens to the first 100 people through the door. The fun begins tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
Up-Down will feature more than 60 games, many of them from the ’80s and ’90s. Pinball, skee-ball, and classic console gaming will also be available. All games will cost 25 cents.
More than 50 beers will be on tap, and there will be food. “We have a great craft beer list, great patio seating,” Up-Down’s Joshua Ivey told Urban Milwaukee earlier this month. “If people want to escape the hustle and bustle, they can go outside to enjoy a pizza.”
Here’s the current beer lineup.
Up-Down’s hours of operation will be 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday, and 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s a 21+ kind of joint.
Ivey and his partners also operate Up-Downs in Des Moines, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. They first announced plans to build a Milwaukee location on August 24, 2017—exactly one year before tomorrow’s opening date.
Crews have been working seemingly nonstop in the past month to get the arcade bar online. Way back in January, when the Comedy Cafe building was demolished, a “ghost sign” from the ’50s was uncovered.
Here’s the current game list, per Up-Down’s website:
ARCADE
Track & Field Cocktail
Hydro Thunder
Area 51
Carnevil
Aliens
House of the Dead
X-Men 6 Player
RBI Baseball
Popeye
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong JR
Goonies
Dr. Mario
Mario Bros
Punch Out
Q-Bert
Dig Dug
Pac-Man
Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition
Battletoads
Punk Shot
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Time
Bucky O’Hare
Sunset Riders
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Simpsons
Killer Queen
Tapper
Burger Time
Ms.Pac-Man
Galahad
Tron
Centipede
Bubble Bobble
Moon Patrol
Bubbles
Championship Sprint
Defender
Joust
Spy Hunter
Ice Cold Beer
Terminator 2
Splatterhouse
Snow Bros
Mystic Warriors
Smash TV
Paperboy
NBA Jam TE
NFL Blitz 99
PINBALL
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
World Cup Soccer ’94
South Park
Metallica
Iron Man
Walking Dead
Ghost Busters
Tron
Medieval Madness
Game of Thrones
Family Guy
Spider-Man
Attack from Mars
Addams Family
