Two Bit’s Retro Arcade Opens This Week at 153 Essex

Local gamers, get those quarters stacked and joystick hands primed. Three months after announcing itself, the hotly-anticipated Two Bit’s Retro Arcade is now mere days from opening at 153 Essex Street. Word on the street is that the soft opening is Wednesday, while the full-blown launch is slated for this Friday. Much of the window paper is gone, replaced with logo leafing.

As the name suggests, Two Bit’s features a modest selection of classic arcade crowd-pleasers alongside standbys like pinball and foosball. Thankfully longtime favorites like Ms. Pacman, Frogger, and Donkey Kong will all have a permanent place here on the Lower East Side. Cost is the way you remember it – 25 cents per play.

To keep you pumping quarters, Two Bit’s also sports a small bar in the rear of the establishment with a number of stools. Meaning the young’uns under 21 can’t frequent this Essex Street game room. Community Board 3 signed off, and the restaurant wine license is still pending with the State Liquor Authority.

Two Bit’s is the second arcade in the immediate vicinity, just a year behind the front-of-store arcade at urban styles boutique Community 54.

How do you feel about having a dedicated arcade-bar on this stretch of Essex Street?