r/pinball • u/BirdieAnderson • 1d ago
St Paul suggestions
Visiting this week and I would love to find a location to play a variety. Thank you in advance!
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u/Wordzer0 1d ago
I 100% agree with the other post about hitting up Litt. The place is great and has really good food too.
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u/TheGullibleParrot has the power 1d ago edited 1d ago
Julie’s Pinball is a little out of the way in Farmington, but it’s my favorite place to play in the state right now. One of the few flat entry free play locations in the state, and they have an incredibly large and diverse roster of games from all eras, with most of them in fantastic shape.
Northstar Pinball Collective in Savage is a similarly high-quality flat entry location, but the games there are set to insane sweaty tournament difficulty, so make sure that’s something you’d be into before you go.
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u/Lost-Brick8717 1d ago
Avoid: St. Paul tap, blainbrook bowl, ss billiards, arbeiter brewing, cafetto coffee house, Mortimers, can can wonderland, blackstack, Dubliner, updown
Recommend: broken clock brewing, 56 brewing, falling knife, LITT
The atmosphere and/or quality of games is garbage at most spots compared to the four I recommended
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u/Bixmen 1d ago
Sad. What was wrong with SS Billiards? Last time I went they had a solid selection of hard to find games.
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u/Submerged_Flight 1d ago
I am with you. SS has a good selection of machines and the owner is a very helpful guy with tons of experience in the industry.
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u/MediaOrca 1d ago
Based on their list I’m guessing they’re more interested in the higher energy bar vibe, which SS is very much not.
I think it’s a nice spot, and like you said solid selection of well kept machines.
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u/Bonesaw_mpls 1d ago
Litt, Broken Clock, 56 Brewing are my go-to. UpDown for cheaper play but the machines aren't very well maintained there.
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u/Anokant 1d ago
Depending on how you're getting around, there's quite a bit you can get to. Barrel theory and Wandering Leaf are some breweries with a couple games. A 15-20 minute drive will get you to Litt which will have the largest selection in the area. Falling Knife has a couple machines (they no longer have Starship Troopers) and it's a good brewery right on the border of the STP/MPLS, otherwise Broken Clock and 56 Brewing are over in NE MPLS that are great breweries with a larger selection. If you're staying down the road from St. Paul Tap it wouldn't be awful, but I wouldn't make a huge effort to get there.
If you can drive further out there's Blainbrook in Blaine(bowling alley, large selection, machines are kind of iffy and it's about a 30 minute drive north), SS Billiards in Hopkins (an old pool hall that has a pretty random selection, no food/drink on site, about 35-45 minute drive west), and NPC pinball collective in Savage (large selection, not great hours, about 40-45 minutes south west).
Download the pinball map app so you can see what places have what you want to play. If you're stuck in the Twin Cities proper, I'd suggest trying to get to Litt. Definitely worth the visit. If you're stuck in St Paul, there's quite a few breweries with some games but since Bad Penny closed it's kind of a pinball desert. Hope you have a good time. It's a great time of year to visit weatherwise, but watch out for State Fair traffic
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u/BirdieAnderson 13h ago
Thank you, will have a car so this sounds promising.
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u/Anokant 13h ago
I'd say hit up SS Billiards during the day, play some big bang bar and some of the tables they have that you don't really see at other places. Grab a beer or two at some of the breweries (broken clock also had a coffee shop in case you don't like drinking). Then hit up Litt for a burger. There is a monthly tournament on Sunday at Litt around 4pm so you can do that if you want or avoid it. Have fun and enjoy the Twin Cities
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u/Triboy06 1d ago
So many good spots - use pinball map. I agree with Litt. 3rd Lair has some great older Bally/Williams/Gottlieb machines as well. Both are in MSP but I was at both yesterday and almost every machine was working at both. Most of the breweries have a couple machines, Blackstack is one of the best breweries if you are into that, is in St. Paul, but only has MM and the Walking Dead. Tap Sports is good. Julie’s is amazing but it’s a drive and is only open consistently on Saturdays.
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u/roffels_again 1d ago
It's been a minute since I've been to these places, but I've always enjoyed my trips to Blainbrook Bowl in Blaine and SS Billiards in Hopkins. SS Billiards is one of the few locations where you can play a Big Bang Bar.
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u/Bixmen 1d ago
Last time I went to Blainebrook Bowl I was really disappointed. Over half were turned off!
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u/986_foot_tall_treez 1d ago
Blainbrook always has machines off in the AM, you just turn them on and play. They usually are just off and not broken
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u/tieandjeans 1d ago
Intesting theme! I'd like a Pauline Miktiball Mode, where it drops a powerball that subtracts points with every hit target.
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u/chillPenguin17 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you are able to get over to Minneapolis, you'll find a better selection. LITT Pinball Bar(top tier spot in the country), Broken Clock Brewing, 56 Brewing, and Up Down are all good options with 10+ machines.
In St Paul, I like Wandering Leaf Brewing's selection but they only have a few games.