Charlotte’s first arcade bar, an homage to gaming’s good old days, turns 3 years young

Three years ago, Zach Pullium opened Abari Game Bar on North Davidson Street after months of anticipation. He’d worked in IT after graduating from UNC Charlotte, but quickly grew tired of the corporate world.

An avid gamer, the concept of the arcade/bar had been in the back of his mind since New York City’s Barcade opened in 2004 (it now has seven locations in four states).

“I knew it would work. I’ve got a lot of friends who are just as big of geeks as I am,” says Pullium, who celebrates Abari’s third anniversary Saturday with an all-day block party featuring live music, food trucks, vendors and more. Proceeds from the event benefit Rescued Me, a local animal rescue organization.

“From a bar standpoint, with the demographics of NoDa and Plaza-Midwood, it made sense to me. There are a lot of single 25- to 35-year-old people here.”

Abby Terhune – who helps head up the Charlotte chapter of Belles & Chimes, an international hub of women’s pinball leagues – was one such single. Around the same time Pullium was opening Abari, Terhune was moving back to the Carolinas after attending law school in Arizona. She landed in Charlotte at the recommendation of her childhood best friend, and Abari became a frequent backdrop when she and her husband started dating.

“It’s nice to have somewhere to go and do something where you aren’t sitting around watching TV,” says the Charleston native, who has enjoyed many a two-player game with her husband Chris at Abari.

She’d never played pinball before, but the couple quickly became hooked and Terhune started traveling for tournaments and eventually competing. “Abari even loaned us a few pinball machines for our wedding reception.”

She co-founded Belles & Chimes’ Charlotte chapter (which will have a booth set up at Abari’s anniversary party on Saturday) in fall 2017, helping to spur interest in the game among women.

The large pinball presence at the bar is thanks to a few die-hard pinhead friends, who insisted Pulliam needed to include the pop culture pastime. He started with eight machines. Now 20 are regularly on the floor, including some new and highly sought-after fan favorites. Abari also hosts tournaments regularly.

But Abari offers much more than just pinball: Inside are arcade games from the 1970s through the late 1990s, and from a handful of categories like fighting and racing to classics like Donkey Kong. The bar offers locally made beers from breweries like NoDa, Birdsong, Unknown and Old Meck.

On every anniversary, Pullium has hosted an outdoor celebration featuring live music by Charlotte bands.

Saturday’s lineup features two stages and performances by Junior Astronomers, Business People, Late Bloomer, Petrov, Dollhands, Wes & the Railroaders, Acne, Hungry Girl, Fortune Teller and Wilt, as well as live painting, local artists and vendors.

“Charlotte has a great music scene and every variety of music,” he says. “This is our way to showcase some of what we think are the better bands. Some are friends or frequent the bar. We’re lucky to have a great talent pool here.”