After two years of hard work, Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar (Facebook) will soon be opening at it’s new home on the second floor of 69 E. Pine Street [Gmap]. We first wrote about Joysticks back in May, 2015, HERE.

Joysticks is full of ’80s nerd references from a Star Wars-themed side room, to arcade games, custom decorations and seating cubbies, to the classic soundtrack playing in the background. An old-school Nintendo game is rigged up with a life-size Q*bert sculpture holding court on the couch.

The cocktail menu is a nod to a myriad collection of nerd trivia, allowing guests to sip on drinks like the Dagobah Swamp (Star Wars), Chester Copperpot (Goonies), Red Shirt Dead For Sure (Star Trek), Shark Attack (Jaws) and more. The working food menu currently features savory and dessert tater tot dishes.

The owners also happen to have been prop and scenery designers for the theme parks and, according to them, are responsible for a large percentage of things that were built for the Harry Potter park at Universal, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. They’ve taken a break from working for the parks to focus on hand-building everything in their new downtown venue, including the bar, the tables, and the sofas. They made basically everything in the space.

Joysticks hit a roadblock when their new downstairs neighbors, a new location of Shots Miami (Website), were a bit overzealous in their demo. Co-owner Addie Hassel told us that she expects to pass receive their Certificate of Occupancy paperwork from the City in the next couple of week and they’ll be in soft opening very soon, so keep an eye on their Facebook page for more updates.

Hassel also told us during the tour that they’ve already had a number of offers to help franchise the bar, but she’s waiting to get all the kinks out of this first location first before she goes counting her chickens.

The venue will have live music, theme nights, trivia, and of course game nights. People who come in cosplay outfits will receive a steep discount.