New Austin Landing pub to focus on vintage arcade games

The Bar 145 that is gearing up to open at Austin Landing has decided to add at least 20 vintage arcade games and seven Nintendo tabletop games that will be free for customers to play.

"Our 'Reset' is like a bar within a bar," Bar 145 founder Jeremy Fitzgerald told this news outlet. The back half of the bar will be devoted to vintage arcade games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede and Mortal Kombat, all free to play. Other Bar 145 locations offer a variety of live music. Patrons will be able to move back and forth between the two bars, Fitzgerald said.

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The 6,100-square-foot bar will seat 190 to 200, including a mezzanine that can hold 40 to 50 for private or special events, Fitzgerald said. Bar 145 will employ about 60, and hiring has begun. Fitzgerald said the pub is scheduled to open in late October or early November.

Bar 145’s neighbor, Bar Louie, opened more than two months ago in a similar-sized space. A large 12-screen cinema multi-plex is under construction adjacent to Bar 145.

This is the ninth Bar 145 for the small chain that started in the Toledo area.

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“I needed an A-plus location,” Fitzgerald said, and he saw the growth of Austin Landing, and its array of popular restaurants and retailers, and made the commitment. “I’m super excited about it,” he said.

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The addition of Bar Louie and Bar 145 will enhance the night-life aspect of the mixed-use retail development off I-75 in Miami Twp. The development’s restaurants close by midnight, Austin Landing officials have said. Bar Louie and Bar 145 are both known to operate from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Bar 145 will have 36 taps, including several devoted to local beers, Fitzgerald said.

The Austin Landing pub joins two other bars that are under development across the region that will embrace the arcade-game trend — although Hole in the Wall in Dayton's Oregon District has been offering free arcade games for nearly three years. Canal Street Arcade & Deli is in the works in the former Canal Street music space in downtown Dayton, and "D20: A Bar with Characters" is under development in the Oak Creek Plaza in Kettering.

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