Thanks to Dan and Martin from Pinball News for the excellent write up on the arcade!
http://www.pinballnews.com/sites/chicagostreet/index.html

-Mark

Reviving this thread to say that I had an excellent time playing the machines at Chicago Street Pinball this afternoon. Went with a buddy and his 4 sons and we had a blast. Fantastic variety of machines to play, and a handful of games I'd never played before. There was a small issue here or there with some machines (a good number of them just needed leveling), but didn't take away too much from the play experience. This is definitely the best all ages pinball experience you can find in Chicagoland. Can't wait to make a return trip!

Thanks for coming!

The building is over 100 years old, and the floor is very uneven; moving almost any machine over a couple inches results in the game being unlevel. We have added floor jacks and beams in the basement which has helped, but it's still a never-ending problem keeping them level, especially if they are moved/rotated. So, at some point, they are "good enough" for the average patron that comes through our door.

I still need someone super part-time to come through occasionally to perform routine maintenance and cleaning...anyone?

The building around the corner on Cass Street is about four times the size of the current space, and has concrete floors, which should definitely help things, if/when we move there. We'll also have a little more pinball (possibly up to 50, currently have 37) and a lot more 80's-90's video games, plus air hockey, pool tables, etc. We're missing out on a large demographic of people by not having much other than pinball... at least that's the feedback I get.

Not having alcohol is killing us, honestly. Alcohol takes a business like this that more or less breaks even, into one that is profitable. It has been a long struggle with the city and state. Regardless, we still want to be an all ages venue, most of the time. We are trying to model our place like GameWorks, where it's all ages until 9 PM, then 21 and over from that point.

Thanks again for coming! Tell your friends and neighbors!

-Mark

I brought my three year old son there not too long ago and now he just keeps asking, "When are we going back to the pinball place?"

You're doing a fantastic job. Keep it up!

My daughter had her 9th birthday party today at Chicago Street, it was a blast! 19 kids playing pinball and arcade games. As an added bonus I got to play WOZ for the first time! Really fun to watch some of the kids learn how to start and plunge a game for the first time, and pick up on the fact that just smacking buttons won't get you far. Great family friendly place to go with the kids, I can't recommend it enough. (We had Rob Zombie off for the party LOL)

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Does anyone have a listing of pinball machines located in this arcade in Joliet? Their site does not list them and have not had any luck on getting in contact with anyone there to ask. Thanks!

Pinball Map...available via website or mobile app:
http://pinballmap.com/chicago/?by_location_id=4724

-Mark

Thanks again Mark, the kids had a blast.

Thank you for the information Mark!