CHICAGO AREA PINBALL 2019

Editor’s note:
Every year, just before Pinball Expo, our correspondent Dan Marquardt brings us his selection of the best places in the Chicago area to play the silver ball. This year is no different, so anyone visiting the Windy City for the world’s biggest pinball show who finds themselves in need of even more of a pinball fix might like to check out his recommendations below.
Dan has made a change this year, ordering them so you can go from one location to the next closest, making it easier to find locations which are close to each other.

It was twenty years ago Williams stopped making pinball machines. At that time I thought the days of playing pins on location were over for ever. It was bleak for finding a working pin on location for many years but now, due mostly to the popularity of barcades, pinball machines on location are plentiful in the Chicago area.

Thanks to Pinball Map for allowing me to use their awesome website to update some of the locations on my list.

1. Logan Arcade – Chicago See previous report Update: Many recent Stern pins, classic pins, and now the two pins from American Pinball (Houdini and Oktoberfest) are there too.

2. Emporium Arcade Bar (Logan Square) – Chicago Eighteen pins here with Oktoberfest being the most recent addition.

3. Lemming’s Tavern – Chicago See previous report Update: Jurassic Park (Premium) and Creature from the Black Lagoon with a ColorDMD are the current pins.

4. Emporium Arcade Bar (Wicker Park) – Chicago See previous report Update: Deadpool is the latest pin to be rotated into their line-up.

5. Lucky Strike Social – Chicago Seven very clean recent Stern pins all set on five balls per play.

6. Replay (Lakeview) – Chicago See previous report Update: Attack From Mars (Bally) and The Rolling Stones (Stern) are the current pins.

7. Uptown Arcade – Chicago They now have ten pins including a Stern Star Wars (Pro).

8. Headquarters Beercade (River North) – Chicago Sixteen pins with The Munsters (Pro) and Black Knight: Sword of Fury being the most recent.

9. Replay (Lincoln Park) – Chicago Update: No change since our last report

10. Emporium (Fulton Market) – Chicago See previous report Update: Star Wars Pro (Stern) is the most recent pin added here.

11. Bottom Lounge – Chicago See previous report Update: Ten pins there, with the The Munsters (Pro) and The Beatles: Beatlemania Pinball being the latest.

12. Brixies – Brookfield See previous report Update: An awesome wall of five super-clean top pins. Iron Maiden (Premium), Jurassic Park (Pro), Medieval Madness, Monster Bash and Star Wars (Premium) are the current titles.

13. Galloping Ghost Pinball – Brookfield See previous report Update: The Munsters (Premium) and Monster Bash (Chicago Gaming) are the latest additions here.

14. The Game Show – Lombard See previous report Update: Many recent Stern pins and classic pins available to play here.

15. Brauer House – Lombard Five very clean pins: The Beatles (Stern), Funhouse (Williams), Iron Maiden Premium (Stern), Metallica Pro (Stern) and Scared Stiff (Bally).

16. Pac-Man Entertainment – Schaumburg (formerly Level 257) See previous report Update: Deadpool and Oktoberfest are the latest pins added here.

17. Game Works – Schaumburg Update: No changes since our previous report

18. Round-1 – Aurora Four recent Stern pins. All four were unplayable when I visited there in August.

19. Prince Arcades – Bolingbrook Six well maintained pins: Austin Powers (Stern), Black Rose (Bally), Comet (Williams), F-14 Tomcat (Williams), Monster Bash (Chicago Gaming) and Total Nuclear Annihilation (Spooky).

20. Rock Island Public House – Blue Island See previous report Update: The wall of well-maintained pins has increased to nine, with Batman 66 LE (Stern) being the latest addition.