Fort Sanders Yacht Club: Barcade's retro charm gets a little rusty

Photo by Greg Wood

Blake Renfro, Esmee Perez and Ryan Renfro, from left, share beers at the Fort Sanders Yacht Club.

KNOXVILLE — I was first introduced to the "barcade" phenomenon a few years ago when I was in New York City, hitting their bar scene hard for research purposes.

Shortly thereafter, Fort Sanders Yacht Club - Knoxville's own "barcade" - opened up. I went the first opportunity that I had, pumped quarters into retro videogames and downed bottled beer. For well more than a year, the Barcade was my staple spot on the Strip. I defaulted to it anytime I was in the region, much how I default to watching episodes of "30 Rock" every time I hit the On Demand button. It's something I always knew I'd enjoy.

But the novelty of Fort Sanders Yacht Club might have diminished.

On a recent Friday night a former roommate and I met up on the Strip, which was an entangled mess of poorly parked cars and seas of people in orange. Not only had we forgotten there was a UT basketball game that evening, but it was also homecoming weekend.

After plowing through crowd after crowd and stopping by the car to grab handfuls of quarters, we eventually headed east on Cumberland to the Barcade, hoping to find a saving grace of our otherwise inconvenient evening.

What we found was a generally empty bar.

We didn't really have any complaints; that meant we could theoretically play any videogame we wanted without having to wait. Despite lacking a crowd, music blared throughout the bar making it difficult to talk. We grabbed a few draft beers and sat at the Galaga table.

We talked for a while and watched on with irritation as the two young men playing the Super Nintendo in the front of the building consistently jumped Donkey Kong's cart over the extra life balloon (a move I can do correctly in my sleep).

A small group of presumed regulars sat at the tiny bar in the back talking to the bartender, which often resulted in slow service for the rest of us. Other than that, the only people in the bar were a group of three sitting at one of the other tables.

The trio explained they were from out of town and had the Barcade highly recommended to them. They seemed perplexed that the place wasn't crowded on a Friday night given the unique nature of the venue, but they said they were having a good time (though I never noticed them playing videogames).

Whether or not you've come for games, Fort Sanders Yacht Club still has atmosphere. Chalkboards sharing high scores of each game line the walls above the bar. Arcade games are boxed in from the bar to a small seating area with a couch in the front. Retro music plays, complimenting the throwback style of the venue.

Whereas drinking a New Belgium beer, listening to Jane's Addiction and playing Super Nintendo have always ranked highly on my list of favorite things to do, the combination doesn't live up to the hype anymore.

I don't feel I'm alone on this, as it seems the Barcade has shifted more toward being a regulars-bar that just happens to have a retro theme.

For the most part, the Yacht Club hasn't evolved since opening. But as of recently an abstract art exhibit featuring lighted boxes of multiple hues is mounted on the wall above the tables, showing some signs of introducing new aspects to the bar.

The game undoubtedly had some effect on the evening. The bar isn't the type of venue for watching a sporting event, its crowd favoring things like cheap PBR, Pall Mall cigarettes and the Smiths. And it only has one TV above the bar (the other is hooked up to several game systems).

Although I appreciate the ironic name, the access to arcade-style Dig Dug and diverse playlist, I'm less likely to head down than I once was.

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