On a previous visit to the Dallas area in 2018 we visited the first Cidercade on Irving Blvd. in the city and remarked how it had “a truly impressive collection” of pinballs and video games. That was followed by a review of the Austin branch by M.G. Brown last year.
Since then, Bishop have expanded their cider-based barcade concept and, at the time of writing, have five Cidercade locations, adding Arlington, Houston and Forth Worth to their portfolio.
This year we drove over to the Fort Worth branch to see how it compared to the original and the Austin branches.
First of all, the Fort Worth Cidercade is housed in a rather nondescript building in a semi-residential area on the south side of the city.
We visited on Tuesday afternoon, so not exactly the busiest time of the week. As you will see, the place was mostly empty, which was great in terms of being able to play anything we wanted. Hopefully it is busier in the evenings and at weekends.
They are open from 10am every day, closing at midnight during the week and at 1am on Friday and Saturday nights. After 8pm, entry is restricted to over 21s.
Entry to Cidercade costs $10, after which you’ll find all the games are set on free play.
There is an entry desk/bar at the entrance where daily wristbands are purchased to gain entrance and where you can buy one of around two-dozen ciders from Bishop, one of the guest ciders, or a hard seltzer. They don’t sell any beers or wines. but the ciders and seltzers are available to go if you want to take some home with you.
Seating is available at both bars, as well as outside. There is also a couple of team-building or party rooms where larger groups can have space to themselves.
Rather annoyingly, they don’t have a drinks list or a monitor displaying what’s available, but instead ask you to scan a QR code on your mobile device to link to their website to see what they have and what it costs. A simple big-screen monitor showing the same website would make things much quicker and easier.
We opted for a High and Dry cider at $8, expecting to receive a pint but instead received a pretty small plastic cup of golden liquid, which helped ensure we didn’t purchase any more drinks.
The selection of games was as impressive here as it was at their other locations.
Cidercade Fort Worth is split into two separate rooms with a corridor linking them.
The front room is nearly entirely video games – including some curious Japanese titles – along with a shuffleboard table.
The back room seems larger and is where we find the second bar, the food service and, most importantly, the pinballs. To get there, you pass through a nicely lit corridor.
There were twenty-two pinballs available to play, including many of the latest titles such as James Bond 007 LE, The Mandalorian Premium, Jurassic Park LE, Guns ‘N Roses LE and the fairly rare Heavy Metal.
Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Metallica and Black Knight: Sword of Rage
Jurassic Park, The Mandalorian, James Bond: Thunderball, Sharkey’s Shootout, Star Trek and Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Cactus Canyon Remake, Guns ‘N Roses, Austin Powers, Monster Bash Remake, Elvira’s House of Horrors and Aerosmith
The Simpsons Pinball Party, Heavy Metal, The Avengers: Infinity Quest, The Walking Dead and 24
The back room hosts a second bar and a pizza service hatch, along with more seating.
The rest of the space is mostly taken up by video games of one kind or another, although there are some other coin-op amusements to enjoy (without needing a ‘coin’ to ‘op’ them).
Which brings us to the end of our review of Cidercade Fort Worth.
As with the original Cidercade in Dallas, the Fort Worth branch is in a somewhat remote and unattractive location, surrounded by car parts stores and blocks of the Texas Christian University campus.
However, that presumably means they can get a large building at an affordable rent and the area does feel safe, with plenty of parking available right outside the entrance.
The pricing structure is certainly attractive. $10 to play all these games all day is tremendous value, while there is a $15 per month membership for unlimited entry during the business’s extended opening hours.
While the games are the draw, the cider and pizza are undoubtedly the money-makers. We didn’t feel the cider was good value due to the small serving size, even though there is an extensive range of different varieties from which to pick. Not having a drinks list on display made the purchase slower and more complicated than it needed to be.
But the games…
The range and condition were both second-to-none, and the small number of other visitors meant we have our choice of what to play throughout our visit. No doubt it’s rather different in the evenings and at weekends, but we enjoyed the light and airy environment, and never encountered any issues with any of the games we played.
We would certainly recommend adding a visit to Cidercade Fort Worth to any trip to the DFW area. Just make sure you allow plenty of time to enjoy all they have to offer.
