Entry No. 19 — the Asheville file — filed under: arcade
Asheville Retrocade
A game hall on the Haywood Road strip where a $12 wristband buys unlimited play from noon to 2 a.m. on restored vintage cabinets, pinball, skee-ball, and foosball — the house count claims over 5,000 games once you tally everything inside the machines. The bar pours local craft and domestic beer plus wine, beneath a collection of more than 200 pieces of beer memorabilia reaching back to the 1930s. Kids are welcome until 9 p.m., at which point the room flips to 21-and-up and the retro soundtrack keeps rolling. It's the scruffier, cheaper counterweight to downtown's ticket-line pinball museum.
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The story
The Retrocade opened in the former Pour Taproom space at 800 Haywood Road in January 2017, and the founding logic owner Michael Penland gave WLOS at the time was refreshingly plain: he had spent much of his working life in the bar business and restored arcade games on the side. "Just kind of two and two came together," he said. Nine years on, the formula hasn't moved — one flat price at the door, unlimited play until 2 a.m., and a room where the machines comfortably outrank the decor.
The house count claims more than 5,000 games, a number you only reach by tallying every title loaded inside the cabinets and consoles, but the floor is genuinely dense: restored vintage arcade cabinets, pinball, skee-ball, and foosball, with a retro soundtrack running all day. The bar keeps to local craft and domestic beer, wine, and Coke products — no liquor — poured beneath a collection of more than 200 pieces of beer memorabilia reaching back to the 1930s, and an outside deck and patio waits when you need to hear yourself think or let a machine cool off.
The wristband has crept from $10 to $12 over the years, which still buys up to fourteen hours of play, and the daily rhythm is fixed: all ages from noon, 21-and-up at 9 p.m., doors until 2 a.m. every day of the week. It's the scruffier, cheaper counterweight to downtown's ticket-line pinball museum — West Asheville's version of the idea, where the point is less curatorial reverence than holding a skee-ball lane against all comers until closing time.
What it's like
You pay at the bar — $12, a wristband, and the whole floor is yours until 2 a.m. Daytime is the family shift: kids on skee-ball, parents on pinball, the retro soundtrack doing the ambience work. The room changes personality at 9 p.m., when it goes strictly 21-and-up and the after-dinner crowd settles in for serious cabinet time. Etiquette is arcade-standard: don't camp a popular machine when someone's hovering, and take drink breaks on the patio rather than balancing a beer on a control panel. Weekends and school breaks bring waits for the favorite games; a weekday afternoon or the post-9 p.m. window is when you can run the floor unchallenged. Beer and wine are extra, and Haywood Road's dinner options are steps away in both directions.
The move: Buy two wristbands after dinner, run a best-of-five skee-ball series where the loser fetches the beers, and stay past 9 p.m. when the all-ages crowd clears out and you can monopolize the cabinets in peace.
📍 Before you go Open daily noon to 2 a.m. The all-day wristband is $12 (older listings still say $10). All ages until 9 p.m., strictly 21+ after. Beer, wine, and soda only — no liquor. It sits on the West Asheville stretch of Haywood Road, a 10-minute drive from downtown.
- 📍 Asheville
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 800 Haywood Rd #100, Asheville, NC 28806
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- House of Black Cat Magic — It's at 841 Haywood Road, essentially across the street — candles, herbs, and a dozen adoptable black cats make a slow, quiet counterweight before you go spend four hours in front of glowing screens.
- Fleetwood's Rock-n-Roll Wedding Chapel — Same road, a mile east at 496 Haywood: vintage shop, cocktail bar, and Vegas-style wedding chapel, so the evening can escalate from skee-ball to actual matrimony without changing streets.
- The Odd — Further up Haywood at 1045, open to 2 a.m. like the Retrocade — swap unlimited pinball for a punk-and-oddities bar when the arcade goes 21-plus and you want a stage instead of a cabinet.
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Good to know
What does the $12 actually cover?
Unlimited play on everything — arcade cabinets, pinball, skee-ball, foosball — for as long as you stay, from noon to the 2 a.m. close. No tokens, no quarters, no per-game charges. Drinks are separate: local craft and domestic beer, wine, and Coke products only, no liquor. Older listings still quote $10; it's $12 now.
Can we bring kids?
Yes, until 9 p.m. — the place caters to all ages during the day and it's a genuinely kid-heavy room on weekend afternoons. At 9 p.m. it flips to strictly 21-and-up for the rest of the night, so plan the handoff if you're bringing family and staying late.
How do we get there, and is parking a problem?
It's at 800 Haywood Rd #100 on the West Asheville strip, about a 10-minute drive from downtown, with a lot and street parking around the Haywood Road business row — considerably easier than anything downtown. Phone is (828) 575-9488.
When is it least crowded?
Weekday afternoons. Weekends and school breaks are when you'll wait for the popular cabinets, and the 9 p.m. age cutoff thins the room noticeably — the late-evening window is the reliable time to monopolize a machine.
Is there anywhere to sit and not be inside an arcade?
There's an outside deck and patio area, which is the room's pressure valve — useful when the retro soundtrack and thirty attract modes at once become a lot. Food isn't the operation's strength, but Haywood Road's restaurants are within a short walk.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · diglocal.com
last checked: 2026-08-25