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Emporium Arcade Bar Replacing The Betty In Fulton Market

By Ariel Cheung | September 19, 2017 1:05pm
 Pinball machines line the wall of Emporium Arcade Bar in Wicker Park
Pinball machines line the wall of Emporium Arcade Bar in Wicker Park
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

WEST LOOP — The Betty, an upscale tavern that opened in the Fulton Market District in 2015, will close after Saturday.

In its place, Footman Hospitality will partner with a new Emporium Arcade Bar at 839 W. Fulton St., set to open in the next couple months.

"We have had a wonderful run at the Betty, but we had an exciting opportunity to fill a void in the West Loop by offering the neighborhood a unique entertainment venue," said Jason Freiman, owner of Footman Hospitality.

Emporium Fulton Market will join two other locations, in Wicker Park and Logan Square, along with a rotating series of pop-ups like the wildly popular, but unauthorized Stranger Things bar.

The bar will have pinball machines and arcade games like foosball and air hockey. Video games and pinball machines cost 25 cents to play, and table games are 50 cents, although customers must buy tokens to play.

Unlike the other Emporiums, the Fulton Market spot will not serve food. Customers instead can bring takeout food from nearby restaurants.

The bar will feature a "vast selection" of craft beers and whiskey at its full-service bar, Freiman said.

Eater Chicago was first to report the opening.

The Betty, a 5,000-square-foot upscale tavern, will close Saturday after almost three years in the Fulton Market District. [Provided/Eric Kleinberg]

Footman Hospitality, the company behind Wicker Park's Bangers & Lace, Sparrow in Gold Coast and Logan Square's Spilt Milk, was founded in 2013.

Partnering with Emporium will place the new arcade bar across the street from a planned Punch Bowl Social at 832 W. Fulton St.

The Denver-based company said its first Chicago location — in addition to one in suburban Schaumburg — will have eight bowling lanes, three private karaoke rooms, vintage video games, shuffleboard, pingpong, bocce and Skee-Ball.