Justin Greenfeld, left, and Kyle Corcoran have opened Deep 6 Arcade, a 1980s-themed restaurant, bar and arcade, at 2505 Main St. in Stratford.
Andreas Yilma/Hearst Connecticut Media
Featuring a restaurant and bar, Deep 6 Arcade has opened at Stationhouse Square at 2505 Main St. in Stratford.
Andreas Yilma/Hearst Connecticut Media
Deep 6 Arcade, a restaurant and bar arcade with an 80s theme has opened at the Stationhouse Square at 2505 Main Street directly across the street from the Stratford Train Station.
Andreas Yilma/Hearst Connecticut Media
STRATFORD — After several years of repairing and restoring vintage arcade games, two technicians and longtime enthusiasts have opened Deep 6 Arcade, the town’s only restaurant and bar arcade, offering visitors a chance to relive the 1980s.
The business opened Sept. 3 at Stationhouse Square, across from the Stratford train station at 2505 Main St. The 3,900-square-foot arcade and restaurant features 64 games spanning several decades, with a focus on the 1980s and ’90s. Some date to the 1970s, including the oldest game in the collection: the mechanical shooting gallery Coney Island, made in 1973.
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Owners Justin Greenfeld and Kyle Corcoran met through their shared interest in arcade games and were collectors. Eventually, they realized they could use vintage games to bring people together.
Their goal, Greenfeld said, is to make visitors feel as if they have walked into a restaurant in the 1980s.
“The whole idea of this is to give like a true 1980s immersive feel where you communicated with people versus being on your cellphone,” Greenfeld said.
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Corcoran said they wanted to create a place where everyone — from grandparents and grandchildren to couples on dates — could have fun.
“You find a lot of people here not on their cellphones and very tactile.” Corcoran said. “There’s a lot of socializing going on that you don’t really see nowadays. I think people are really craving that social experience.”
Featuring a restaurant and bar, Deep 6 Arcade has opened at Stationhouse Square at 2505 Main St. in Stratford.
Andreas Yilma/Hearst Connecticut Media
The games include Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Star Wars, Daytona USA and Tron, along with bubble hockey and multiple pinball machines. There is also a Jersey Shore-themed kissing machine that rates the chemistry between two people.
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The site previously housed several restaurants. An International House of Pancakes was planned for the 3,900-square-foot site, but those plans fell through after the franchise knocked down a wall dividing two units, Greenfeld said.
The idea for Deep 6 Arcade began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns forced many businesses to close. Greenfeld decided he wanted to own a pinball machine and bought a broken 1976 Williams Blue Chip machine. After repairing it, he began fixing arcade games for other people.
The owners have worked on games dating to the 1930s. Greenfeld said restaurant-and-bar arcades are relatively uncommon in Connecticut and that Deep 6 is the only one they know of in Fairfield County.
The business includes a party room for private events that is also open to the public daily. A screen at the bar displays the departure times of the next three trains to New Haven and Manhattan.
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Deep 6 Arcade, an ’80s-themed restaurant, bar and arcade, has opened at the Stationhouse Square at 2505 Main St., across the street from the Stratford train station.
Andreas Yilma/Hearst Connecticut Media
Greenfeld said the company began with people who had experience repairing railroad tracks and working as mechanical engineers at several aerospace companies. Their skills and tools allow them to work on games from any era.
Deep 6’s full-time technician, Ivan Taylor, previously repaired medical equipment. The arcade is able to restore and maintain games in-house.
The company has cleared out entire arcades across the country, bringing the games back to Connecticut. Some are selected for display at Deep 6, while others are kept in storage. The owners plan to rotate games in and out regularly.
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The company also maintains more than 300 customers’ games, repairing machines in their homes. Occasionally, those customers sell their games, adding to Deep 6’s collection.
Greenfeld said he and his partner were drawn to Stratford because they could shape the space into the kind of arcade they envisioned. He said residents have been supportive, stopping in to ask questions and show their curiosity about the business.
The arcade plays music from the 1980s and some from the ’90s to match its theme and plans to host live music in the coming months.
“We’ve had a lot of people come up not only to thank us but also say, ‘This is the first time I felt like a kid again since the ’80s,’” Greenfeld said.
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Customers under 21 may visit the business with a legal guardian who is at least 21.
The business uses cigarette-replica packs to hold game tokens dispensed from an old cigarette machine. Planned events include a Halloween costume party, ’80s and ’90s theme nights and an adult pinball league.
Connecticut had an active arcade scene in the 1980s. Corcoran played at Arnie’s Place in Westport with his father, while Greenfeld frequented Milford Amusements on the Boston Post Road. Other arcades included Spanky’s Arcade in Bridgeport, Crazy Eight in Waterbury and Twilite Zone Arcade in Groton.
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“People are meeting others that they wouldn’t have normally met just because they’re involved in these games,” Greenfeld said.
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