Why I Love Tilt: #ThrowbackThursday on TuesdayA date is like an interview. So stand out!I am a big f

Why I Love Tilt: #ThrowbackThursday on Tuesday

A date is like an interview. So stand out!

I am a big fan of the retro date. When you connect with the past you guarantee a memorable date, because it is different and can produce endless topics of conversation (see my Get Well post). Going to a coffee shop, bar or movie are typical, tiresome and expected date ideas. Throw in something interactive or retro and you will stand out among the other potential Tinder, Bumble, Grindr and/or Christian Mingle male or female suitors you might be competing against.

It was the line that never ended, and it went on and on my friend

A few weeks back I waited in line for an hour to get into Toronto newest arcade bar called Tilt, on Brunswick Ave. in what was home to the very short-lived Poutineville. I advise going very early to this establishment. I arrived at 9pm for a birthday party that started at 8pm, #FashionablyLate, and was met with a line almost to Bloor Street.

The bar boasts to the largest collection of vintage pinball and arcade games in Toronto. What is interesting is how the bar avoided the very-dated Toronto bylaw regarding mechanical gaming machines, which was the demise of the Pinball Café.

Zoning By-law No. 438-86 states establishments can only have two pinball machines or other electronic games. It was established in the 80s when places with these types of games were said to be contributing to high youth crime rates. Apparently a way around the law is to charge a door fee. While there is cover it is decent at $5.

#NostalgiaHeaven

The bar is divided into gaming sections. At the front you have the arcade games built into the tables and some console games. To the right, you have a wall of pinball machines (AC/DC, Taxi, Whirlwind, Booby Orr’s Power Play + more) and to the left you have arcade games (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Punch Out, Tron, Donkey Kong Reunion + more). At the back you have N64 and analog games (Skee Ball, Super Chexx Bubble Hockey)

The vibe is chill with tables in the centre for you to sit, socialize and eat food such as corn dogs, popcorn and poutine. They even have a DJ booth accompanied by the smallest dance floor I’ve ever seen and a video screen projecting movies from the 80s.

Also I’m not sure if I missed some sort of Facebook memo, but there were people fully dressed in 80s attire. One guy wore almost an exact replica of the Marty McFly’s famed Back to the Future outfit and another guy looked like he stepped out of the Karate Kid.

In the end, I learned being fashionably late results in long wait times. Oh and that I need to up my Mario Kart skills considering I was more sober than my friend who whooped my ass. Also Pogo’s are truly the most fantastical food to eat on stick, so suck it other trendy foods you can eat on a stick.