DTLA: EightyTwo Bar and Arcade Now Open

 

EightyTwo barcade is now open in Downtown Los Angeles in the Arts District. It borders Little Tokyo at 3rd and Alameda. EightyTwo features two rooms of games including one just for pinball. The other where the bar is located has classic video games. There’s a courtyard and EightyTwo plans on having food trucks and pop-ups.

 

 

Above the bar, EightyTwo will screen high scoring games and there’s a board to keep track of high scores. The bar program was put together by Billy Ray who was most recently at Formosa. There’s a fun vibe about the bar. Pictured above is Matt “Bodie” Bodenheimer making the D.J., a riff on an Old Fashioned.

Half the drinks list are coffee cocktails featuring LaMill coffee. We tried the Wizard Mode, a whiskey drink that reminded me of my college days of drinking tea made with coffee instead of regular water and sweetened with condensed milk. Caffeine addicts, rejoice!

Wizard Mode – rye whiskey, cold brew coffee, vanilla black tea, syrup

 

While I was at EightyTwo, I ran into top chef Brian Huskey (formerly of Mo-Chica, Picca, Paiche) and he grew up with the owners. He said the games moved around the friends’ apartments and it was really cool to see them all gathered in one space at the bar. Expect to see him doing some pop-ups at EightyTwo.

If you order the n00b, you might be reminded of the games you’re about the play. The bee pollen in the vodka drink moves around crazily before settling down.

n00b – vodka, lemon, honey, bee pollen, lemongrass, apple juice

 

Pinky reminded me of one of my favorite drinks from Billy at Formosa, the “To Cassie with Love.” Swapping out the rum for whiskey, the strawberry punch would be lovely during the early afternoon. EightyTwo opens at 2 on weekends!

Pinky – whiskey, lemon, agave, strawberry, sage

 

You can’t have a proper arcade without Ms. Pacman! Here it is next to the Tron machine.

 

EightyTwo covers all spirits bases. For tequila lovers, try the Tempest. It’s a take on a margarita with yuzu bitters and a little bit of mint. I’m always in favor of mint in food and drinks.

Tempest – tequila, lime, agave, yuzu bitters, mint

I’d like to come back to try the Multiball, another tequila drink that sounds spicy with jalepeno.

 

 

I probably would be happy drinking Mai Tais the rest of  my life and EightyTwo makes a fine version. Sure, it has pineapple juice which rum guys would probably sneer at but they’d be persuaded by everything else.

82 Mai Tai – rum, dark rum, lime, orgeat, pineapple, mint

Other classics to try would be the 82 Pimms Cup and the D.J., the Old Fashioned that’s lit on fire. I suspect the Dude under the cold brew list is similar to a White Russian.

EightyTwo is killing it so expect a wait time to get in on a busy night. It’s understandable though, you don’t want anyone breathing down your neck as you play Street Fighter.

Now are you ready, player one?

EightyTwo 

707 4th Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90013  —  (213) 626-8200

 

© The Minty 2014