Photos: Back and Forth, Vancouver's first ping-pong and games bar, is the next best thing to staying home
Do you hate nightclubs? Do you kind of, sort of want to go out on a Saturday night, but would rather do so in a way that doesn’t require putting on (nice) pants, listening to head-pounding EDM for hours on end, or having your foot stabbed with a stiletto heel approximately once every 12 minutes? If so, we got you.
Billed as Vancouver’s first “ping-pong bar”, Back and Forth (303 Columbia Street) is looking to fill a void in the city’s nightlife scene that currently sees little middle-ground between bars and restaurants and full-fledged nightclubs and pubs.
The 3,000-square-foot “living room with games” is nearing completion in Gastown and features six ping-pong tables that will be available for rent by the hour. Pictionary, beer, and vintage video games such as Super Mario Bros., Bubble Bobble, and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!—all played on a Nintendo NES Classic Edition console with wireless controllers—are also part of the concept.
“I think Vancouver needs something fun and relaxed,” owner Regan Truong tells the Straight during an interview in the soon-to-open space. “You have your nightclubs, your pubs with TVs and sports, and your typical Irish pub, but I don’t think there’s anything like this [in the city] yet.”
Truong was inspired by similar ping-pong spots he frequented while working in Toronto last year and hopes that Back and Forth will exude a “friendly, fun, non-pretentious” feel, where Vancouver’s 19-plus crowd can kick back without the pressures of a dancefloor or DJ. Ping-pong tables will be available for rent starting at $10 an hour and guests will be able to reserve them in advance online. There will be no cover charges.
Board games such as chess, checkers, Jenga, and Settlers of Catan will also be on deck, as well as a menu that will sound all too familiar to anyone who’s survived college dorm life: potato chips, cup noodles, Chef Boyardee, and pizza pockets. (“My chef is the microwave,” says Truong.) All food items will be under $5 and patrons are welcome to bring in take-out orders from other eateries.
Beers from local craft breweries such as Parallel 49, Fuggles and Warlock, Parkside, and Strathcona, as well as two wines and a cider, will be on tap. Patrons can enjoy their own bottle of wine with a corkage fee.
A mishmash of primary colours, kitschy wallpaper, and antique Craigslist-sourced furnishings help further Back and Forth’s chillaxed, rec-roomesque vibe. Truong, who is in his 30s, understands the late-night venue’s appeal to younger folks, but is confident that Vancouverites his age will find something to love, too.
If anything, the ’80s and ’90s hip-hop anthems should help. “It’s all the rap music I grew up listening to,” he says of the bar's playlist.
Check out the images below for a peek at Back and Forth before it officially opens its doors on March 1.
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