This week, Gamehaus in Long Island City opened it’s doors to the public!
Gamehaus is not your typical sports bar; blending the sports watching experience with the fun of playing arcade games with your friends, all in a tastefully designed interior setting. Gamehaus brings sports watching to the extreme with its 11-foot tall LED video wall, as well as plenty of screens scattered throughout the establishment, keeping track of several games simultaneously so you never miss the action. Both floors also sport several arcade games, from staple machines like basketball and skeeball, to new takes on classic games like the new Atari Pong game machine. And entertainment isn’t the only focus of Gamehaus. Private Chef Tasha Ableson has masterfully crafted a delicious menu with locally sourced ingredients that are freshly prepared everyday, elevating the classic comfort foods found in typical bars. They also have several options for vegans and vegetarians too! Alongside the food is a an excellent selection of over 20 beers – mostly from microbreweries located with in New York City and the greater tri-state area – as well as a wonderful set of custom cocktails and mocktails. Gamehaus instantly feels like an establishment that wholly intends on stepping above the traditional sports bar experience with a comfortable environment, friendly staff, a very tasty selection of food, and the community of watching sports and playing arcade games together.
We were invited to come check out Gamehaus on 9/28 for their opening event. We first started out with trying out the basketball machine. Gamehaus challenges anyone to beat the high score of the game, with a reward of a free round of shots for you and your friends. Unfortunately we got nowhere near the 107 high score, but the challenge still stands! Afterwards we sat down to try some of the food and cocktails Gamehaus offers. We ordered the Jalapeno Balls- fried balls filled with cream cheese, pickled jalapenos, and peppadew peppers, Cauliflower Buffalo Wings, the Dip Duo- A split of Pico de Gallo made from heirloom tomatoes and Guacamole served with corn tortilla chips, all freshly made in house (including the tortilla chips), and the Super Mushroom Burger. Chef Tasha Abelson was adamant on creating a menu that was not only delicious but also accessible for anyone who came to Gamehaus, with options for non-alcoholic beverages and vegetarian and vegan friendly dishes. There was also a lot of thought and care put into developing these recipes, not only on how each item tasted, but also decreasing the caloric values of each dish, as she is also a nutritionist, so people don’t feel bloated after eating and drinking. My personal favorites were the Duo Dip and the Super Mushroom Burger. The Pico de Gallo was really light and had the perfect balance of acid and sweetness from the lime and tomato respectively and the guacamole was really smooth with a robust flavor. The best part was taking a big dip from both sides and thankfully, the made-from-scratch tortilla chips were strong enough to hold up large dips, while also being lightly crisped. The Super Mushroom Burger was also fantastic, with a well seasoned mushroom burger that doesn’t feel like a cop-out veggie option. The caramelized onions inside combined with the secret sauce that they had use try with the burger, added a nice sweetness to the umami flavors of the mushroom patty. We also tried out some cocktails and mocktails, like the Cucumber Fizz refresher and Watermelon Basil Cooler as well as some soon-to-come fall cocktails which were absolutely delicious and tasted very autumn-like! After eating we played some more games, from foosball to some tabletop games like Uno and Klask. The experience at Gamehaus was authentic and comfortable and I have no doubt that everyone will enjoy stopping by to watch big game, hangout with friends, and enjoy great comfort food. Check out Gamehaus in LIC at 5-14 51st Avenue in Queens, New York!
