Please check the Pinball Map for the current game lineup at Reboot.
Pinspotting is back after a break for the end of year holidays and a small hiatus due to family issues. We are again visiting and reviewing North America’s most interesting and offbeat game rooms and arcades.
In February we visited Reboot Arcade and Bar (often just called Reboot) located off the gulf coast of Florida just a short drive from the city of Tampa in the heart of downtown Dunedin.
Dunedin began as a 1850s settlement named Jonesboro, later renamed by Scottish merchants J.O. Douglas and James Somerville to honor their Scottish hometown of Edinburgh (or Dùn Èideann in Gaelic), becoming a vital port for citrus and trade with its own large sailing fleet and later the Orange Belt Railway.
Today, it’s known for its strong Scottish heritage – celebrated through events like the Highland Games – as well as beautiful beaches such as Honeymoon Island, and its role as the spring training home for the Toronto Blue Jays MLB team, blending its rich maritime past with modern charm.
Reboot was opened in downtown Dunedin in July 2018 by George Courtney. His intent was to create a fun, nostalgic entertainment destination that combines classic and modern gaming with a full bar experience. As George put it, “A holy place for nerds to gather.”
Reboot’s atmosphere is ‘Tron-like’ with neon lighting and high-energy music. Large LED halos in place of chandeliers add to the futuristic feel, further enhanced by color-changing Nanoleaf Light Panels near the entrance.
To succeed as a gathering place, Courtney felt that Reboot had to have a well curated selection of craft beers. Reboot offers 14 rotating taps representing hundreds of craft beers, mead, and hard ciders, including local favorites such as Florida Avenue Brewing Co, and 7venth Sun Brewing Co. Reboot also has wines on tap, a selection of hard seltzers, and sake!
The bar offerings include gluten-free canned cocktails such as Blood Orange Mule (vodka) and Peach Smash (whiskey).
In 2024, Reboot added ‘Rations’, which is a menu of late night tactical snacks such as pizza, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and cheese pretzels. Occasionally the Reboot kitchen comes up with interesting specials such as the recent Breakfast Corndog and Mimosa Special.
Reboot has the usual merch, such as hats, T-shirts and a ‘Reboot Vice’ hoodie, but also has an extensive collection of game-themed glassware for your home bar or game room. Styles such as the Super Mario 2, The Legend of Zelda, and Luigi’s Haunted Mansion graphics on 16oz glasses just to name a few. Their merch can be purchased in-person at Reboot or on their website.
Game credits are handled by Amusement Connect card readers where, after adding credits to the card, just tap your card on the indicated area of the game to play. The number of needed credits for a game are automatically deducted from your account and the remaining balance is shown.
At the time of our visit, Reboot had eleven pinball machines available priced at 4 credits ($1) per game. The pinballs are all newer titles from Stern and Jersey Jack. These games were in excellent condition and I could not find even the slightest flaw with any of them. The Stern games, as you would expect, had Insider Connected as well as a prominent video leaderboard.
In addition to pinball, Reboot has console gaming setups such as Xbox One/Series, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, older systems like Nintendo 64, NES, Wii, etc. Play is handled by renting a controller for the system that you wish to play. It looked to me like they had a very good selection of game cartridges on hand.
Classic coin-op video games like Pac-Man Battle Royale, virtual golf, bowling, shooters, and soft tip darts are available in the game room.
Worth checking out is the head-to-head Atari arcade table PONG game designed by Alvaro Salsamendi and Daniel Perdomo. The version of the game at Reboot was manufactured by Universal Space in 2018. In my opinion it’s somewhat of a unicorn in USA arcades, so here is a great opportunity to play one.
There is an outdoor space where ‘analog’ type games such as Jenga or chess, as well as popular games such as Settlers of Catan to Magic: The Gathering can be played, We are told that you can bring your own board games and set up on a table in the Center Bar area if you like.
Table soccer/foosball is available but is very popular. There might be a wait to play on weekends.
It seems like every arcade these days has claw or prize machines and Reboot is no exception (see below).
Reboot is the home of the Belles & Chimes Tampa Bay chapter, who host ladies-only launch parties and pinball tournaments on a regular basis. Belles & Chimes is an international network of women’s pinball leagues founded in 2013 in Oakland, California.
Every other Sunday, Reboot hosts cosplay karaoke with predictably entertaining results. ‘Thursdaze’ are for Ink and Drink from 8pm to 12pm where adults bring out their crayons and markers to create works of art of just follow the weekly doodle theme. During the summer months, Reboot hosts Dale’s Epic Trivia on Tuesday nights where the vibe is chill and the questions are hot.
There is a full calendar of other events such as ‘Abnormally Random Karaoke’, scavenger hunts and trivia quest. On May the 4th (Star Wars Day) Reboot hosted The Return of the Joystick event including such things as a ‘Blue Milk’ drink and free play on Star Wars Battle Pod and Star Wars Pinball. Check the current schedule on the Reboot website events tab for what is planned for 2026.
Reboot has a preferred customer program when customers show a Reboot Challenge Coin, for free game play on certain nights or specials such as $1 off draft beers.
Reboot has won several ‘Best of’ awards from the St. Petersburg and Tampa communities including The 2025 Tampa Bay Times’ Best of the Best and Creative Loafing’s Best of The Bay to name but two. Reboot has the distinction of 100 percent ‘recommended’ out of over 700 reviews on Facebook!
The bottom line is that Reboot is an outstanding arcade bar, mostly catering to the video game generation – they have some classic old school board games for the analog gamers among us also!
Pro Tips: limited free street parking is available near Reboot but additional parking is available at the Railroad Ave Parking Lot (453 feet away) and the West Honey Street Parking Lot (300 feet away).
While in the area, another fun attraction in Dunedin worth checking out is the Penny Lane Beatles Museum located at 730 Broadway, 2nd floor.
Some images used in this review were furnished by Reboot Arcade and Bar Dunedin and are used here with permission.
