Arcade games light up the room late Friday night at the Gypsy Bar. The bar is having a grand opening party on Oct. 6 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Photo by Vince Dwyer)Half-arcade and half-nightclub, Gypsy Bar will open its doors Saturday at 10 p.m.
Gypsy Bar is the brainchild of Lucky Strike bowling alley owner and CEO Steven Foster.
Foster said his inspiration for Gypsy Bar came slightly more than a year ago when his landlord asked him if he would be interested in filling the vacant space next to his bowling alley at Cityscape in downtown Phoenix.
“One of the definitions of gypsy describes them as traveling vaudeville and burlesque performers that populated the types of shows people liked during the ’20s and ’30s,” Foster said. “They’d travel from show to show performing. We like that notion of the gypsy caravan stopping here.”
The front half of the bar includes a 60-seat café, a large island bar and a main performance stage with strobe lights and fog machines to enhance the performances of go-go dancers, fire breathers, sword swallowers and contortionists.
Club promoter Jen Deveroux will coordinate some of the acts for the Gypsy Bar, including its opening performances.
Deveroux said performances could act as an opportunity to highlight local artists and fashion designers.
“It’s very exciting to consider all of the places we can take the shows,” Deveroux said.
The Gypsy Bar will not allow anyone younger than 21 to remain in the bar after 9 p.m. because of the nature of the performances.
The game room makes up the entire back portion of Gypsy Bar. Game specialist Jim Bennington said he and Foster designed the game room to appeal to both children and adults.
“We wanted to have a sort of Las Vegas theme be apparent in the game selection,” Bennington said. “We have also gotten updated versions of some classic games, including a never-before-seen version of Pac-Man.”
During the games, players accumulate points on a special card that they receive when they first walk in.
After playing, patrons can find out how many points they gathered and cash them in at the redemption table.
Depending on the number of points, players can receive prizes ranging from posters to iPads.
Bennington said that players are always rewarded with some tickets, even after a loss.
“While it may sometimes feel like the rest of the world is trying to take something away from you, our goal is to give something back to the customer in their gaming experience,” Bennington said.
With the close connection between Lucky Strike and Gypsy Bar, many employees will work at both locations. Waitress Suzie Harrolle has worked at Lucky Strike for two years.
“It’s going to be great. The staff is really jacked up for the opening and looking forward to getting shifts over there,” Harrolle said. “It will be like a brother-sister type relationship.”
Reach the reporter at mjgordo1@asu.edu
