Finally had the opportunity to get up to Padavan's yesterday, and was super impressed with the Pinball Lounge. My brother and I got up their early in hopes to play some pin, and then watch football. Ended up playing a lot more pinball than we expected. Here is why....
Great lineup of pins (list on pinball map.com is current), our favorites were KISS, both 1978 and new Stern KISS, Hobbit, MMR, Ironman, Metallica, AC/DC, Stern Star Trek, and a cool older game called Surf and Safari... The room is isolated from the bar area, so it is just a pinball room, a couple TV's hanging up to watch the game.
Most importantly, the games are in near perfect condition. They play perfectly, are all very clean, all flippers are strong, etc... Honestly felt like I was playing a Collector's Collection.
We had the pleasure to meet the owner of the pins, Brian Bannon, who was there pretty much all day working on them. The bartender told us he spends a full day every week keeping them maintained. The bar keeps a list of anything they thing might be an issue, and that Brian takes the glass off every game every week and tests them, cleans them, etc..., which is obviously why the pins are in such great shape. Brian was fun to meet and talk pin with. His machines at the old Third Rail in Pacific are what got back me into pin as a adult.
In addition Padavan's was a cool bar/grill, had reasonably priced beer, and the food we ordered was excellent. But, the draw was the pins.... really really awesome.
Quoted from ramsfan:Honestly felt like I was playing a Collector's Collection
You were! Those are Brian's personal games.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
Padavans is cool indeed
I went there Friday & put lots of quarters in ST & Kiss. I was a bit bummed Slimer was disabled on GB for a tournament but it is what it is. First world problems
Careful when departing tho. If you leave drunk when it's dark out you may walk right into the black support post just a few feet in front of the door. It's the one place you can walk into a bar when walking out of a bar hahaha. Someone wrap Christmas lights around that thing lol
Was there Friday as well, probably bumped into you and didnt know it. Always enjoy meeting other pinside members, maybe next time I'll talk to some people there.
I want to chime in as well. I was at Padavans yesterday for the first time since they opened the new expansion. The line up of machines is superb and I was very impressed with the condition of each one. I also had the pleasure of meeting Brian Bannon and talking pinball. He was not only knowledgable about the hobby, but even gave my fiancé and I a couple of free credits because he felt bad about a magnetized flipper button he was getting ready to fix on Surf and Safari. (A game I have never seen on location before) The place is amazing and true heaven for anyone seeking a pure pinball experience.
Too funny. I was at Padavans yesterday with my daughter and saw you there. First time there and had a great time. Food was excellent too.
I'm new to the pinball scene having bought my first pin ever in November and having a blast with it. Doing lots of little repairs and Chris helped me with a fliptronics problem that was a major hassle (he fixed in 2 minutes).
Look forward to meeting with you all at a future event.
I head to CP Pinball almost every saturday with my little one (if you see a kid carrying a footstool, that is us), but I ended up on the Missouri side of the river earlier today and wanted to play some pinball.
I used pinballmap.com to find some different machines to play (hard to find games that Chuck doesn't have). I'm pretty new to the hobby, so I hadn't been to any of the other STL pinball joints.
First up, went to Orbit Pinball Lounge expressly to play Metallica Premium (wanted to see the difference from the Pro model and if/how the hammer obstructed the view of the PF). Walked in and.... pinballmap.com was incorrect. Orbit has the Pro model, not Premium. I updated the listing on pinballmap.com and headed back out.
Next up was The Silver Ballroom to play Big Lebowski and Champion Pub. This is a great place! The only downside was that I only got through 1.5 balls of my first game on Big Lebowski when the flippers stopped working. Couldn't plunge the 3rd ball either, and the game ended up getting shut off by the staff. Still, we had a good time here and the prices were super reasonable (25 cents for South Park and 50 cents for Woz and Big Lebowski).
Related topic - anywhere in STL to play Metallica Premium?
Quoted from finnflash:I have not seen a premium anywhere, surprised Silver ballroom or CP doesnt have one
Not speaking for Doc or Chuck here, but IME routing Stern Premium/LE pins I have found that as a rule they don't hold up on location as well as their respective Pro model. Also, they cost significantly more money, most customers don't seek them out or play them any more than they would a Pro model, and resale isn't that great either. Of course, there are some exceptions.
Continued my weekend pinball tour (Comet and Silver Ballroom on Friday, CP Pinball on Saturday) with a family lunch trip to Padavans today.
Padavans is very family friendly, and the food was great. Kids immediately went to the pinball room, and we played several games of Hobbit and Surf n Safari among others. Everything was in great shape as others have mentioned here, with no gameplay issues while we were there. Special shout out for having a foot stool in there for my 4 year old, much appreciated!
I have a NIB (still in box, nver opened, on pallet) GhostBusters Premium.
On ground floor, ready to go out the door.
$7000.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
went to check out some of the game bars this weekend. wasn't impressed with the one downtown by the stadium at all. The up/down bar in the central west end is def. worth checking out. nice lineup and all in good working condition.
You can come visit our place www.stlouisescape.com all of our games are super nice.
We’re downtown. currently we have 12 pinball games. We’re selling a few and adding a few new ones.
During the Halloween season The Darkness has 12 horror themed pinball games on display so that is going to open in a few weeks. Www.Thedarkness.com
Lastly I’m selling Wonka games, and I’m inviting everyone over to my house as soon as I get it set up to give it a play.
If anyone wants a Wonka let me know and i’ll Get you one. But you can stop by I’m hoping this weekend or next weekend. Just stop by and play the game 110% free even if you have no plans of buying the game.
I have something like 12 pinball games at my house. So let me know if you’re interested.d
Quoted from ccbiggsoo7:went to check out some of the game bars this weekend. wasn't impressed with the one downtown by the stadium at all. The up/down bar in the central west end is def. worth checking out. nice lineup and all in good working condition.
Hmm I think Start Bar is pretty good, as is Up-Down, Two Plumbers, and Padavans. The best selection is certainly CP Pinball and hey can’t beat bring your own booze!
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinside-st-louis-area-sub-forum/page/6 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.