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Popular Columbus-based 16-Bit Bar+Arcade will bring its 'barcade' concept to Lakewood.

(Courtest 16-Bit Bar+Arcade)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Drinking with Punky Brewster. Hanging with Ms. Pacman. Partying with a bunch of goonies.

This might sound like an acquired taste. To Troy Allen, however, it’s a part of fine-tuned branding strategy that will land in Lakewood in July.

The owner of Columbus-based 16-Bit Bar+Arcade will open a second location in the old Five Guys location, on Detroit Avenue. The "barcade" concept brings together classic video games and a variety of specialty beers and cocktails.

“We see it as more than a barcade,” says Allen, a Stow native who moved to Columbus 12 years ago. “It’s about stepping back to that era -- to the ‘80s and ‘90s.”

The bar will feature 50 classic arcade games, like Galaga and Teenage Ninja Turtles. No quarters needed; the games are free. There will also be themed evenings, appealing to retro gamers and movie fans -- like Mortal Mondays and Way Back Wednesdays.

“Our Wednesdays will have movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s,” says Allen. “We will also be doing old-school, craft cocktails with names that recall that era.”

Like the Dolph Lundgren, a Moscow Mule-like elixir named after the actor that played Ivan Drago in the cartoonish 1985 flick, “Rocky IV.” Or the Kevin Bacon, which comes with bourbon and, yes, bacon. Or something called a Punky Brewster.

The "barcade" concept started in 2004, with a Brooklyn, N.Y., bar called, yup, Barcade. It has since spread around the country. Last year, the B-Side Liquor Lounge in Cleveland transformed itself into a barcade.

Allen, a marketing and branding specialist by day, thinks it’s far from game over for the concept.

“We’re doing something more upscale than Barcade in Brooklyn or some of the other places,” says Allen, who runs Columbus-based ad agency Elevate Thinking. “We had a five-market strategy and we always figured that Cleveland would be location number two, but we had no idea it would happen so quickly.”

The first location opened six months ago and exceeded expectations, says Allen. He had considered Ohio City, downtown and Tremont, but settled on Lakewood – close to Melt Bar and Grilled and World of Beer, which opened in May.

“We’re not doing food, but there are a number of places in the area like Melt that do,” says Allen. “Having them in the area was one of the draws, but we aren’t relying on foot traffic – we see ourselves as a destination because we appeal to a broad but particular audience.”

It all comes down to the concept.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” he adds. “You’re still going to want to kill your opponent in a game of Mortal Kombat.”