Date: February 2020
Location: 336 Pearl St, New Albany, IN 47150, USA

Louisville’s well-known arcade bar, Recbar, has recently opened a satellite location in Indiana named Recbar 812.

Recbar 812 in New Albany
Recbar 812 in New Albany, IN

Recbar 812 is truly massive, and the pictures in this review do not do it justice. The best way to describe it is a Dave and Busters on steroids.

Two floors of games
Two floors of games

Recbar’s original location in Jeffersontown, which opened in 2016, is Louisville metro’s biggest arcade bar. I am told that Recbar 812 is twice the square footage of the original, with row after row of classic arcade games (list at the end of this review), colorful decor and a wide selection of food and drinks.

Recbar 812 is ‘all ages’ until it switches to 21+ at 10 pm. Recbar 812 has dining, bars and games on both levels, and about 80 pinball machines.

The pinball collection
The pinball collection
Some of Recbar 812's pinballs
Some of Recbar 812’s pinballs

Recbar 812 boasts one of the biggest pinball collections available to the public under one roof in North America. One of the highlights is the Hercules pinball machine in the restaurant’s front corner. The game, released by Atari in 1979, is the largest pinball machine ever made, and Recbar’s is one of ten known to be in working order for public use.

Hercules by Atari
Hercules by Atari

All games are token operated, and Recbar 812 has commissioned custom tokens for you collectors out there. There are token machines on both levels.

Recbar 812's tokens
Recbar 812’s tokens
Lots of tokens
Lots of tokens

The food at Recbar includes pub staples such as hamburgers (including the burger of the month), tacos and sandwiches. Tater Tots (or ‘tots for you Napoleon Dynamite fans) are one of the restaurant’s specialties. Recbar 812’s “totchos” are covered with toppings such as queso, pulled pork, and bacon.

The dining area
The dining area

Something on the menu we found fascinating but not brave enough to order was the Cougar Bait (Country Boy Brewing beer-battered) fish tacos. We did try the Grilled Mac that is beer cheese Mac topped with Gouda cheese stuffed between Texas toast which was excellent with a side of tots.

The dining area
The dining area

On the lighter side the I Was A Roman Emperor And All I Got Was This Salad is available topped with grilled chicken after being tossed with that familiar dressing. Recbar 812’s restaurant’s general concept is to use stuff you liked as a kid and turn it into an adult menu.

The bar features many craft and local beers, with about twenty beers on tap and another forty-to-fifty can/bottle options. Draft options include Ciderboy’s First Press, Sun King Brewery’s Sunlight Cream Ale and Against the Grain Brewery ’s Citra Ass Down. The complete tap listing can be found on their website.

The bar area
The bar area

Recbar 812 also offers speciality cocktails, and will eventually have Recbar’s famous Buffalo Trace Bourbon Slushie when Recbar 812 completes installation of a shiny new slushie machine – ETA late February.

The menu offers sugary ‘Bonus Level’ treats such as breakfast cereals, candies and other sweet treats, including Oh Cinapp! ice cream coated with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Saturday Morning Ice Cream Sandwich which is Fruity Pebbles and ice cream served between mini-waffles.

Some of the cocktails will include garnishes such as the Sour Patch Kids, Scooby Snacks candies and Cocoa Puffs.

The walls are adorned in colorful murals by local artist Braylyn ‘Resko’ Stewart depicting images ranging from Mario Kart to 1980s movies such as Back to the Future. The plan is for the murals to be an “evolving art piece” with images added over time.

Some of the wall art
Some of the wall art
Some of the wall art
More of the wall art
More of the wall art
More of the wall art

Terri and my time here was limited and our visit was during the ‘adult time’ so we had to rely on the ‘locals’ for information about the crowd that Recbar 812 draws during the daytime.

It would seem as though many adults over fifty are bringing their grandchildren to experience Recbar 812’s retro gaming experience.

Enjoying the pinballs
Enjoying the pinballs

The following game list was provided by Recbar 812 on 4th February, 2020.

Pinball Machines:

  • Ali
  • Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle
  • Barb Wire
  • Batman 66 Premium
  • Baywatch
  • Big Guns
  • Black Knight: Sword of Rage LE
  • Breakshot
  • Class of 1812
  • Corvette
  • CSI
  • Cyclone
  • Demolition Man
  • Dracula, Bram Stoker’s
  • Dirty Harry
  • F-14 Tomcat
  • Family Guy
  • Flash
  • Flintstones, The
  • Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Galaxy
  • Getaway, The: High Speed 2
  • Gilligan’s Island
  • Gladiators
  • Goldwings
  • Hard Body
  • Hercules (World’s Largest Pinball Machine)
  • High Roller Casino
  • High Speed
  • Hook
  • Judge Dredd
  • Jurassic Park (Data East)
  • Last Action Hero
  • Metallica Pro
  • Millionaire
  • Monday Night Football
  • Mousin’ Around
  • Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man
  • No Fear: Dangerous Sports
  • No Good Gofers
  • Oktoberfest
  • Party Animal
  • Pin*Bot
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (Stern)
  • Police Force
  • Popeye Saves the Earth
  • Rescue 911
  • RoboCop
  • Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, The Adventures of
  • Roller Coaster Tycoon
  • Sea Hunt (shaker pin)
  • Secret Service
  • Shaq Attaq
  • Shadow, The
  • South Park
  • Space Jam
  • Space Shuttle
  • Space Station
  • Spring Break
  • Star Trek Pro VE
  • Star Wars (Data East)
  • Stargate
  • Stars
  • Strange Science
  • Street Fighter 2
  • Tales from the Crypt
  • Theatre of Magic
  • Time Machine (Data East)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Tommy, The Who’s
  • Viper Night Drivin’
  • Whodunnit?
  • Wipeout
  • World Challenge Soccer
  • X-Men Pro
The video games area
The video games area
Upright videos
Upright videos
Sit-down driving games
Sit-down driving games

Arcade Games:

  • Aliens Extermination
  • Altered Beast
  • Ameridarts
  • Arachnid Shuffleboard (2)
  • Arch Rivals
  • Bad Dudes
  • Battle Shark
  • Beer Pong Master
  • Blitz 99 (4-Player)
  • Boom-a-Rang Air Hockey
  • Boxer (3)
  • Bubble Hockey
  • Bust A Move
  • Capcom Bowling
  • Carnevil
  • Centipede (2)
  • Crazy Taxi
  • Crime Fighters
  • Crisis Zone
  • DDR Extreme
  • Defender Cocktail
  • Donkey Kong
  • Double Dragon
  • Dunk N Alien
  • Dynamo Air Hockey
  • Extreme Hunting 2
  • Fireball (Spectrum)
  • Football Fever
  • Frogger
  • Galaga Cocktail
  • Gate of Doom
  • Gauntlet (4-Player)
  • Ghosts and Goblins Cocktail
  • Golden Tee
  • Gravity Hill
  • Gyruss
  • Hoop Fever
  • House of the Dead (2)
  • House of the Dead 2
  • Hungry Hungry Hippos
  • Hydro Thunder (2-Player Linked)
  • Ice Ball (2 Lanes)
  • Ice Cold Beer
  • Jubeat
  • Jump Bug
  • Jurassic Park 3
  • Kung Fu Master
  • Ladybug
  • Looping
  • Lunar Lander
  • Madden (4-Player)
  • Mario Kart (6-Player Linked)
  • Millipede
  • Missile Command
  • Mortal Kombat II
  • Motocross Go
  • Nascar Racing (2-Player Linked)
  • NBA Jam (4-Player)
  • NBA Jam Tournament Edition (4-Player)
  • NFL 2 Minute Drill
  • NHL Open Ice (4-Player)
  • Off the Wall
  • Offroad
  • Outrun
  • Pac-Man
  • Pac-Man Cocktail
  • Pac-Man Plus
  • Ping Pong (2 Tables)
  • Pit Fighter
  • Popeye Cocktail
  • Powerputt
  • Punch-Out
  • Rastan
  • Revolution X
  • Road Burners
  • RoboCop
  • Rough Ranger
  • Silver Strike Bowling
  • Soul Calibur
  • Space Gun
  • Special Forces Elite Training
  • Spider-Man
  • Star Wars Trilogy Stand-up
  • Stock Car Challenge
  • Super Kixx Bubble Soccer
  • Super Mario Bros
  • Super Monaco GP
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4-Player)
  • Tekken
  • Tekken 2
  • Tekken Tag Tournament
  • Tempest
  • Terminator Salvation
  • Time Crisis 4
  • Title Fight
  • Wrestlefest (4-Player)
  • X-Men: Children of the Atom
  • X-Men vs Street Fighter
Recbar-branded merchandise is also available
Recbar and Recbar 812 branded merchandise is also available

We have Recbar 812 on our radar for a more in-depth visit sometime this summer, but this overview gives you an insight into this new arcade bar in the Louisville KY metro area.

There is wall art on the outside too
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One Comment

  1. Jeff Welch

    12th May, 2020 at 8:20pm

    We could use one of these in Orlando around I Drive.

    Reply

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