So I remember when Whisky Bar was still around, right there by 5th and Lavaca. I especially remember the back room. Much darker and smaller. Fun times. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve been back there after it became Back Alley. Then Townhouse came around and I can count on 1 hand how many times I’ve stepped in that building. Occasionally I’d go in and try to say whassup to DJ Fndomntl but he’s way up there in that DJ tower you’d have to climb to request a song.

Anyway, I walked in there yesterday and I found out the back room has been turned into an arcade room. Well, 3 old school arcades and 3 pinball machines. One Family Guy machine. One Dracula machine. One Harley Davidson machine. 50 cents to play 1 game. I gotta admit, playing pinball was actually a lotta fun. You know that feeling. Unless you are a proud member of the National Pinball League (which actually exists, check it out here) in which case you get to bang on those machines everyday, your mouth just spouts out the following words at the sight of them: “Oh my god! Dude, you got 50 cents? I have to play this…” Or even better, you make your way back to the bar in the main room and ask for change for $1. Fortunately, the staff is prepared and actually have a jar full of quarters behind the bar. So you get your coins and you run back to the back room like a kid on his way to the candy store.

And off you go. Once those coins go into the slot, it all rushes back to you. The anticipation as you pull the plunger (that springy thing you pull to shoot the ball…I had to look that up). The stimulation from the sounds and the lights as the ball hits bumpers, goes onto a ramp, disappears into a hole and comes back out on the other side. The joy from winning an extra ball. The panic of having to follow 5 balls at once. The defeated look on your face when the last ball goes down the gutter. All that to say, I think they should put a camera in front of the pinball so you could see what you look like when you play. Either that or watch your friend while he/she plays, it is a spectacle. You’ll be surprised to find out a face can actually make such grimaces.

Anyway, it was a great time. I think the Family Guy one is pretty cool but pretty hard. I didn’t last 2 minutes. The Harley Davidson one is probably the most generous with the number of balls you get in 1 game. I guess I’ve realized that there’s more to Townhouse than a DJ tower and enough couches and armchairs to the square foot that it could become the downtown branch of the Roomstore. The arcade definitely adds to the place. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that people tend to hang in there. Oh well…More for us. So if you walk by Townhouse, remember that you’ll probably have dibs on the Dracula pinball machine. Get a good buzz going (I couldn’t help but notice their giant jars of stuff behind bars so they probably make crazy cocktails like Ben & Jerry’s makes ice cream…I don’t know. I haven’t tried but will soon) and you can probably end up playing the night away. Kung Fu, which is probably downtown’s playground for adults, does not even have pinball machines. So good call, Townhouse.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]