By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
For those '80s kids, a new bar will send you back in time when a roll of quarters equaled an afternoon of fun.
Arcade 11, 210 W. 10th, Hays, is a bar and grill that offers both classic and the latest in tech video games.
The arcade is owned by Jessica and Kalor Moore and Sarah and Kelly DePiesse. It opened on Dec. 18.
"We travel quite a bit, and we would seek out these types of establishments — arcades, bars and restaurants," Kelly DePiesse said. "We always talked about bringing this kind of establishment to Hays for families and us and our friends to enjoy. It finally became a reality."
Families are encouraged between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. After 10, the arcade, which has a full bar, caters to the bar crowd.
"The idea is that we want to provide a couple of different environments," Kalor said. "During the day we would like to attract families — people our age who have kids or grandkids. ... Then in the evening attract the college crowd who wants to get out and play games while having drinks. We can offer both environments."
All of the games take token. The cost of games are 25 cents to $1. Tokens are four for $1.
GenXers will recognize some of the games in the arcade, including Ms. Pac-Man, Ski Ball, Galaga, Donkey King, Duck Hunt, Mortal Combat, air hockey, a punch tester and dart boards.
"For the games, we talked about what our childhood favorites were and what we remember playing," Kelly said. "We also took a lot of suggestions from family and friends."
Kalor said some of the games contain new computers in reproduction boxes. However, some of the games are genuine from the era in which they were popular.
One of the new games is Killer Queen for 50 cents, up to 10 players can play one game. 4p Pac-Man is a twist on the classic game. When you eat a pellet, you can not only eat ghosts, but other players.
The grill menu features comfort food from childhood but with a grown-up twist.
"We definitely wanted to take the childhood favorites — the grilled cheese and corn dogs and make them more adult-style," Sarah said.
You can order grilled cheese sandwiches but with blackberry sauce and jalapenos, one-third-pound burgers, quarter-pound hot dogs, or a brisket dipper with gouda, bacon aioli and grilled onions.
You can get wings with six sauces from the sweet honey barbecue to the Caroline Reaper buffalo sauce.
The menu is appetizer-heavy with items such as pickle fries, jalapeno poppers and fluff fries, which are sweet potato fries with a marshmallow sauce.
Arcade 11 offers a full bar with a 20-beer self-pour tap wall. The bar has signature mixed drinks with arcade-themed names such as Frogger Tea or the Pacman.
The bar also has some canned beverage, including some IPAs, Twisted Tea and two Defiance beers.
The bar has energy drink options and non-alcoholic beer in addition to fountain drinks for those who do not drink alcohol.
From 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, the arcade offers a happy hour with 25 percent off draft beers.
From 8 to 10 p.m., appetizers are half off.
The arcade is in Hays' common consumption area, and the owners said they will apply for a license so people can take their alcoholic beverages outside.
The partners said downtown is a good place to be.
"We think we can work with [the other business]," Kelly said. "We don't want to be in competition with each other."
The bar has several TVs, which will show games, sports news or seasonal movies.
Murals featuring '80s characters grace several of the walls in the arcade. Most of the murals were painted by Monica Befort of Ellis. The doodle wall on the east wall was done by Sarah and her sister.
The partners are working on packages for both youth and adult parties. If you call ahead, the arcade will reserve a table for you. You can also bring in a cake for celebrations.
The owners hope to organize some video game tournaments at the arcade throughout the year, including Killer Queen and ski ball tournaments.
The name Arcade 11 came from the owners' kids. At one time, there were more partners in the business, and the families combined had 11 children.