pics? game list? website?

The wife and kids are headed out of town this weekend, so I'm all by myself for two days! I plan on definitely checking this place out. It's an hour away, but I'm willing to drive that much due to the fact this place has 30 machines. Can't wait! I'll be updating the Pinball Map as I finish playing each game.

Oh I see you're a new member. Welcome.

www.JolietPinball.com

Great place to play, and soon to enjoy some suds with your pinball playing!!

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

not a great neighborhood, most of the pins are "players quality", but owner is friendly and it is possibly one of the biggest public collections in the entire chicagoland area.

Crud. That's what I was worried about. Maybe I'll hit somewhere in Chicago instead. Logan? Headquarters?

The area is fine, it's really dead, there's nothing to be worried about, parking is easy, the games are good.

NOt sure what you are expecting to get at places you play then. Joliet Pinball is downtown Joliet, so not really a "Neighborhood", I have felt very safe there when i have been there. Its an old downtown place and building. Not some upscale suburb place that will be in over its head before the lease is up.

As for the machines, this is a place that Mark has basically started on his own, These are machines that he has bought himself and got working to build up the number of machines. Not everyone can go and buy 20 NIB games to open a place that may not survive. This is part of whats wrong with the mentaility of many places in the Chicagoland area, The "Go big or go home" attitude is just plain stupid for small business'. Ive seen so many places that took out the big loans to get started, only to default on the loans shortly after.

Mark, keep up the good work and hopefully the money starts pouring in once the liqour license comes through.

Didn't even know this place existed. Thanks for the heads-up! I've been meaning to take the family back to White Fence Farm. Now I have an excuse to head in that direction.

Yeah it's a great place and the neighborhood isn't bad. I've been there 4-5 times and had a blast each time.

I went there in the spring. All games are players games. The only games with LED's are my old Jackbot that is for play there and stern games. sad to say that is the best taken care of game there, not because it's mine. and only 2 stern games. The Metallica had a color dmd. They had the door closed because they didn't want the riff raff in. because people would come off the street and start playing. all games on free play. so with 25 games on it was steaming hot. Joliet is a slum. I was hollered at by some black guy, to buy some smoke from the restaurant next door. I said no thanks but ill take a pepsi instead. there's no vending at main street pinball. I would not make the trip there again, Pass. you probably got better games closer to you. The only reason I stop in was because I bought a game 20 mins away .But yes to there credit I like the kind of games they had, Bally game show, taxi, Both black knights, road show, creature from the black lagoon, I just wish they were in better shape. kinda sad

Its a great place to play and Mark is an awesome dude. Go play, bring some friends and dollars and have a blast.

I wonder if my Lucky Strike was on the floor.

Anyone that lives in the chicagoland area knows what sort of place Joliet is. It's fine during the day, at night the casino is hopping with seedy people, and I've been pestered by what looked like some homeless black bum too. I'm not usually a person that feels unsafe many places, but bringing my wife to a place like that I'd think twice. For the record, I don't feel entirely safe in Vegas anymore, and not sure I'd go back (even for the pinball museum), but that's only the opinion of me.

I know Mark's intention is to try to turn things around by filling empty buildings in the area, and I give him tons or props for doing so (especially commuting hours from down south every week), but people have been trying to turn downtown Joliet for over 30 years. I don't mean to scare people off by my post, I just think people should be aware of the area is all.

As far as my comment about "players condition", I never said there was anything physically wrong with them (and quite frankly I don't care that much about condition on route so long as everything works). Lots of pretty pins and arcades at logan's arcade, doesn't mean all of them work great.

had a great time when I visited

The ebb and flow of location pinball.

Chicago shouldn't feel any safer than Joliet. I think you'll be fine visiting any of these fine locations. Chicagoland has it made when it comes to a large quantity of pinball in a single location. I've been to all of them and have never had a legitimate concern for my safety.

While Chicago Street's not in a part of town that's hopping with excitement, it's certainly not in a place that feels unsafe to me either. Since it is in the downtown area, I agree that it can feel a bit desolate at times though. Mark's got a good smattering of games that span multiple eras. I need to get myself back there again.

Funny you mention the Logan Arcade toyotaboy, that's the neighborhood I grew up in and people had been saying that Logan Square would turn for a solid 25 years before it finally even started to. Looking back now, we should have held on to that house just a little bit longer, but I just couldn't take it anymore.

I have been a few times and had a fun time. I too wish several of the games were in better shape, some look like they need small fixes, but they all do work and unlimited games for $10 can't be beat! I also don't like the area but up til this point I haven't seen anything but vacant streets. Maybe it helps I parked within a block of their door? Will be back again soon I'm sure and I have also gone with at least two other people each time.

Logan Arcade is my favorite in the area but it does require driving all the way to the city from the far west suburbs and paying for each game. Also, is there a requirement when you live in the city to have a beard, black frame glasses, clothes from Salvation Army and minimalist deodorant? That seems to be the majority of the crowd there!

Most of the pinball locations in Chicago are north side (HQ beercade, emporium, logans). South side of chicago, very different area, there's at least a couple shootings every weekend.

Only if you're a Hipster guy.

"I totally understand folks not wanting to go into places that make them feel safe."

*unsafe

Fixed.

No, he had it right. I prefer to go to places where there is an air of danger. Keeps me on my toes!

and still you have not come up to madison to visit me

Oh brother.
The area is fine !!

As with any city with a diverse ethnic makeup, the later it gets, the more intoxicated people you run into and its always best to be aware of your surroundings.

It a block away from the casino and another block away from the Rialto theater.
The courthouse and the police station is also very close to this location.

I've been there 2x and both times I took my wife and daughter.

You should have seen Joliet before the casino opened!
It's come a long a way in the past 2 decades with infrastructure improvements, and business development, there are actually several good restaurants, a fun martini bar, and a beautiful minor league baseball stadium in downtown joliet.

I went an saw Steve Dahl at the Rialto Theater in '87 or '88. So, a few years before Harrah's opened up. Even then, I didn't feel unsafe parking there and walking to the theater. Then again, I grew up in Detroit, my old home looks like it's in a war zone. Been burnt out for about ten years now. Just sits there vacant with holes in the roof.

I always forget this place is there. Someone please post back when they get their liquor license.

I once had to stay overnight in Detroit. There were literally no hotel rooms available, so I just bought a house instead.

Thank you for being a voice of reason. I also bring my wife and kids and the area's fine. I even have a beer next store while the kids play pinball and they run back and forth from the arcade to the bar.

When I was staying in River North, 5 guys got shot one night just a block from our hotel. Nobody blinked an eye ...

I went to Joliet to check out Marks setup just before he opened (he invited me via PM) A lot of the buildings were empty, but guys like Mark are trying to turn this around. I saw the same thing all down Route 66, people trying something new and trying to revitalize empty towns.

Actually, this picture was taken just around the corner from Marks place.

Joliet!

It is laughable that people would feel unsafe in that area, maybe 20 years ago but not today.

Yeah, I agree. You have to use some common sense in any urban area, but really, Chicago Street in Joliet is pretty tame. Especially as close to the Rialto, the casino, the courthouse, and the police station as they are.

It's just not a scary area to me. Hyde Park in Chicago was much scarier. And Hyde Park isn't particularly scary.

Just use common sense: no shortcuts down dark alleyways. Stay on lit streets. Have fun, but stay in control at all times. Never had a problem there or anywhere else. Still can't believe it's considered REMOTELY an issue. Go visit it and have fun with all day play for ten bucks.

Okay, just a semi-brief post here, for now...(yeah, right!)

Thanks all for your comments, other than one individual that made no sense.

I opened the arcade in late July of last year. The space we are in right now is tiny, at about 1500 square feet. However, we have managed to squeeze in 37 pins, and about 10 vids and a foosball table. We currently have the largest publicly playable pinball collection in Northern Illinois/Chicagoland.

Unlike the big barcades in Chicago and elsewhere, we don't have a tech person on staff, other than me. In fact, I have only one part-time non-technical person, just to keep the doors open 4 days a week, Thursday-Sunday. I am fortunate to have a few friends stop in from time to time to help with maintenance, cleaning, and repairs. I'm no Tim Arnold, but I do have a day job, which is 116 miles away from the arcade. Therefore, I am back and forth a lot (20,000 miles around Illinois last year) and can't spend as much time as I'd like there.

It's true, most of our collection consists of "player's quality machines," which is just the way I want it. 90% of the people coming through our doors don't own a pinball machine, and never will. Of the remaining 10%, maybe 5% own a machine, and the remaining 5% are collectors. And an even smaller percentage are pinsiders. Why would I even think about catering my business to those seeking collector quality machines, or all new Sterns?

In addition to the arcade, I operate a small route of pins downstate. As a small-time operator, I quickly learned what matters most to my customers, the general public: Keep the machines clean, the flippers strong/aligned, and the major functions and lamps that affect gameplay working. This is quite a different mentality than collecting, which I had to evolve from. I started operating because the local big op in town never maintained their machines, stopped buying new ones after NASCAR, and then replaced many of them with video gambling machines. This led to our league being at my house most weeks, which became tiring for me to keep up with. So I took the plunge a couple years ago and started operating.

The space we're in was deemed as temporary, proof of concept. We found that people do indeed come for pinball, some from 100 miles away or more on a regular basis, like the OP does. However, I wasn't naieve, I knew before opening we would need a bar/restaurant to make things work. Unfortunately, this has taken much longer than anticipated. We have been actively working on a liquor license since February. Finally, yesterday, we had our hearing at City Hall, which went well. This all now goes before the City Council for final approval on October 5.

We have a large (5000 square feet per floor, 4 floors) building around the corner which we hope is the future. For now, in our existing space, we're going with a tiny bar with a cooler and bottled and canned beer. If that goes well, we will continue to seek a partner to build out a bar/restaurant. Our vision is that the ground floor will contain the bar, small kitchen, even more pinball, more 80's-90's video arcade games, and things we own that we don't have space for right now, like pool and air hockey tables. And we already have partners seeking the upper floors for more entertainment concepts, should we get this started.

Yes, business was slow this summer, and the beginning of fall has been pretty bleak. This is despite the fact we keep adding machines and rotating things in and out, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

I have been around Downtown Joliet for two years now, and have yet to encounter any real safety problems/crime. It is slowly coming back, and our team is part of the revitalization going on. Yes, there are some homeless people, and people that are not white.

Joliet is the fourth largest city in Illinois, and has an extremely diverse population and demographics. (Yes, we have done studies on this before opening.) There is rich, poor, gritty inner city and rolling farmland/prairie, and everything in-between. Myself, I think it's pretty freaking awesome I can walk a few blocks, and suddenly be transported to a land of taquerias, supermercados, and panaderias. A few blocks in the opposite direction is one of the nicest minor league baseball stadiums you'll find. And downtown has a fantastic live music venue, plus the historic palatial Rialo Square Theater.

But we're about the pinball, people. And not the kind you find in people's basement. If pinball is going to be around much longer, it needs to be in the public eye, and places like Logan Arcade, our place, and countless others I have been to, mainly in Seattle, SF Bay Area, and LA, are doing it well.

What's great is of all the places I have been to, is no two are alike. What I have tried to do is put forward my own take on all of my experiences. We're also unique (or at least rare) in Chicagoland, in that we are all ages. I can't tell you the amount of families we have had come through, and kids experiencing pinball for the first time. We have machines from the mid-60's to almost brand new, with a focus on the mid 80's through mid 90's.

And hey, we do private party rentals, too.

So if you're looking to get out of the house and do something different, please stop by. We're open 5-11 Thursday-Saturday, 1-7 on Sunday. $10 for adults, $6 for kids 10 and under. All you can play. And yes, with our wristband, you can get a free beer next door at Juliet's:
http://julietstavern.com/
or a half-block away at Tin Roof:
http://www.tinroofjoliet.com/

Our latest updates are here:
https://www.facebook.com/JolietPinball

Website:
http://www.jolietpinball.com

Fairly accurate list of games:
http://pinballmap.com/chicago/?by_location_id=4724

-Mark

Great job Mark !

LTG : )

Thumbs up for this.

I can't believe someone said "players quality games" earlier in the thread. Wtf?

That's like going to Mini Golf (putt putt) and expecting them to give you a Big Bertha club.

Guys like Mark putting games out in the public eye, and keeping them running (more often for love rather than any discernible profit) are the heroes of the hobby IMO.

rd

"Players quality" games are the best. They usually work darn near 100%, which is more than I can say for some of the mod-tastic HUO collections I've seen which often have basic functionality or leveling issues. Who cares if the flippers are misaligned, as long as the toybox is full. If I lived anywhere near Joliet Pinball, I'd be a regular.

Free play pinball and the bar next door not only sells but advertises weed?!
ROAD TRIP!
I live in St. louis and this place sounds killer I'm not afraid what so ever.

Seriously if you are bitching about location pinball that is open to the public with that many games go back to your basement.
"players quality" Yeah buddy people play them the way the were meant to. Sorry they're not pristine games you can only drool over.

I'm tired of hearing "it's dangerous in the city" every time a new pinball place opens up where rent is affordable which is usually in a city.
If you support pinball support location pinball. Or just bitch about the good old days when b/w were great ON LOCATION.
Get it out of the basement and back on main street

I'm going to be checking out this place soon. Huge thanks to the OP for putting this place on my radar!

Mark has spent a ton of time and money getting this pulled together and to call the games in a location out as player quality is BS.

Pinball dies with our generation if new blood doesn't get exposed to the hobby. How many people see games in the average basement?

I've got a White Water on location. One game. I'm not getting rich. Probably am not even breaking even - but its a labor of love. Wanna complain that it is players quality? It probably plays better than 75% of white waters in peoples basements, and it doesn't send you into an epilectic seizure with blingtastic LEDs and plating/powder coating. People are enjoying it, though, and that's the point.

I hope to have *2* pins on location by this time next year.

Or do both. That works.

I didn't realize the term "player's quality" had such a negative connotation. I thought it was just a way to describe a game that plays well but doesn't necessarily look so pretty. Is this not the case?

Exactly, and that's how most of the games in Joliet are. I wouldn't put CQ games on location. Anyone who hasn't been here, needs to check it out

I'm pretty sure all of our games at Logan outside of the newest Stern games are this "player's quality" people speak about here. Even the newest games we have (including TWDLE- which is out on free play) have fallen below the Pinside CQ bar by now (damn shooter lane wear). I think we share a mission and that's to afford people an opportunity to play a decent game of pinball at a decent price. Basements are boring, guys.

Support your local pinball operator. Keep the game in the eyes of the public.

Hey, I've stopped by Pooley's a couple times on my way through Madison!

Decided to take the trip and check this place out last night. Here is my review.

Neighborhood - Never once did I feel unsafe. I parked on a dark street and walked about half a block. The arcade was almost right next to a sports bar with pretty good pizza. Got a free beer for showing my wristband, as well. Bonus!

Employees - Two guys were working there. Really nice and helped me get a ball I got stuck out during a game of Dirty Harry. Also gave me a "Two for $15" coupon for if I ever go back with my wife, or anyone else who wants to play massive amounts of pinball.

The machines - Sure, they aren't mint condition, but I expected that. I was a little bummed by the flipper strength of a few games. Loading the gun on Dirty Harry only seemed to work about 25% of the time (the rest of the time it would just fall out back onto the play field). The secret hideout on Secret Service also didn't work. If you shot a ball into it, nothing would happen and the game would go into "ball find" mode, then it would pop back out. Earthshaker had a severe lean to the right, which was a total bummer. Dr. Who's plunger barely got the ball onto play, taking several tries now and then to get it up there. Metallica looks amazing with it's color DMD. Just realizing now I never played White Water. Whoops! Just too many games to play! Other than that, the games played about as I expected. Just wish the flipper strength was adjusted on a few of the tables.

All in all, it was worth the two hours of driving. I'll definitely be going back in the future. Apparently the owner has a KISS that is on route and once he makes his money back, he is going to add it to the arcade. Sweet!

Hope this review helps anyone who is on the fence about trying it out.

Go back to DeKalb then for a burrito at Burritoville.