Closed for a ‘fraught’ 11 months, unique Boise bar to reopen in new spot — with liquor

Start exercising those joystick muscles.

Spacebar Arcade is returning to the downtown Boise galaxy.

The bar and classic arcade, which closed last April at 200 N. Capitol Blvd., plans to reopen at noon Friday in its roomier new digs: the basement of 620 W. Idaho St. Boiseans old enough to remember Ms. Pac-Man will know it as the former Louie’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant building.

“Guests can expect a similar footprint to the original location with more pinball, more arcade games, a dedicated console area and a wide assortment of classic board games and card games,” according to a press release. “The new space also features a built-in raised stage for live music and performances. Back Alley Print Shop — a sister business to Spacebar — has taken over the back of the basement to provide live screen printing for evening guests.

“The centerpiece of the space is a custom-built curved bar, where bartenders will serve beer, wine, seltzers and — for the first time in the Spacebar universe — a full array of hard liquor and mixed drinks.”

After all, if you haven’t played “NBA Jam” with a cocktail in your hand, have you really lived?

Spacebar Arcade has two nights of grand-opening entertainment planned. DJ Why-It will spin vinyl from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday. And DJ Mossback and DJ I.G.A. The Independent Grocer will perform from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday.

Spacebar Arcade also will be an official venue during Treefort Music Fest later this month.

When Spacebar Arcade pulled the plug, it was lights out for a downtown entertainment option that had operated for nine years. The move was not expected to take so long. But the path to reopening “was long and fraught with imperial entanglements,” the release says.

Open to customers 21 and older only, Spacebar Arcade operates from 4 p.m. to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, and noon to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.