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When someone calls a person a “game player,” it can mean one of two things. The negative connotation means a person who misrepresents their intentions, someone filled with deception and dishonesty. The other game player is someone who likes to have harmless fun playing interactive games, such as video games, tabletop games and card games.
Michael Sarnelli is the good kind. Last August he turned his love of game playing, especially those old school arcade games popular in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, into a business in Agawam called the Brewcade.
It was an idea that began to brew while on a family vacation early last year.
“My wife is a high school English teacher. We have three kids, ages 8, 10, and 12. She wanted them to see Salem and learn about all the history surrounding the town. While looking for other fun things to do, we stumbled upon a place called the Bit Bar, which was a bar with oldschool arcade games which I grew up on,” Sarnelli said, who grew up playing games and bowling at the former Games and Lanes in Agawam.
But it was a trip just a few months later to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they found a similar place called the Boxcar Bar + Arcade, that really cemented the idea.
“My wife and I were talking and I said, ‘We should open something like this. There’s nothing like it around here.’ I’ve owned a barbershop for 15 plus years and know something about running a business. I talked with the people in Salem and Raleigh and their places seemed to be making money. So, the decision was to give it a shot,” Sarnelli said about eventually finding a location at 303 Walnut St. in Agawam.
“I found the games through a customer in my barbershop who knew someone who just happened to have these old treasures in a warehouse,” he added.
And they were in business.
Once inside the Brewcade, visitors can step back in time playing such games as Pacman, NFL Blitz, Terminator, Centipede, Defender, Virtual Fighter, Asteroids, Silver Strike Bowling, as well as Tokyo Drift, a driving game, and UltraCade, an arcade system in which the player chooses a classic game to play such as Space Invaders. If pinball is your game, there are two vintage machines — a fullyrestored 1969 Gator and 1977 Vulcan — as well as virtual pinball with over 600 playing fields. There are also two dart boards, pool table, shuffleboard and a foosball table for added fun.
The retro-theme vibe at the Brewcade continues with its motif.
“I have a friend who is a tattoo and graffiti artist who has decorated our walls with Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Rubik’s Cube graffiti,” Sarnelli said.
Tony Tessicini, 23, loves playing pool and his favorite game, Pacman, while at the Brewcade.
“It is somewhere fun to go where you can kick back and escape reality for a little while. I got hooked on playing when I was just a little kid after stepping up to my first machine in an arcade,” Tessicini said.
He learned about the Brewcade while on Facebook.
“Someone posted on the Agawam [Facebook] Forum about the place and I decided to stop over,” Tessicini said about now being a frequent visitor who “loves to go there as many times as I can.”
“Me and my buddies often go and spend the night there. It’s an affordable evening out,” he added.
On the bar side, Brewcade currently has on draft: Shock Top Belgian White, Down East Cider, Fort Hill Fresh Pick IPA, Sam Adams Winter Lager, Grey Sails Captain’s Daughter Double IPA, Harpoon Blueberry, Fiddlehead IPA, and Amherst Brewing Massachusetts Lager. There are also cans of domestic beers, Truly, and Twisted Tea to purchase. Wine lovers have a choice of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
For the children, and non-drinkers, there are cans of soda, juice boxes, and bottled water.
While there is no kitchen at the Brewcade, it is BYOF — bring your own food. There are, however, bags of chips and cookies for sale and popcorn and pretzels at the bar and on the tables. There are also menus at the bar where you can order food for delivery from local pizza, taco, Chinese and other eateries.
If playing arcade games isn’t really your thing, you can belly up to the bar for a cool one and watch your favorite sports team on three big screen televisions. But don’t let the word “brew” in their title scare you away.
“It’s very much a family atmosphere here. Families come in with their kids to play together and our bar is located in the back with our arcade in the front,” Sarnelli said. Since opening in August,Sarnelli has introduced a Karaoke Party on Saturday nights and an Open-Mic Night on Friday to attract new customers and to add to all the fun. “We also have a dart league on Monday nights. Just drop in and play,” he said.
If you want to host a birthday or other party at the Brewcade during off-hours, they require a $200 deposit, otherwise, they will just “give you a table” if it is during open hours. Contact them through their Facebook page to plan a party.
You don’t have to bring along a ton of quarters to play. Machines take tokens which are four for $1 with most games taking two to three tokens.
“I always say if you are spending, then we are staying, and I’ve been here until midnight at times,” Sarnelli said.
THE BREWCADE, 303 WALNUT ST., AGAWAM, IS OPEN THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, 3-9 P.M. AND SUNDAY, 3-7 P.M.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THEBREWCADEMA.COM.