Mortimers (Uptown Mpls)

I had never been here despite the fact that a good friend of mine spent a year living within a 5 minute walk of it. I don't know why we never went. Its a pretty cool bar, and well known by pinball enthusiasts thanks to it's 8 machines and monthly tournaments. For some odd reason you can't find it on google maps either. This is especially strange since its the only building on the block and has expanded to take up all three store fronts. When I was there the bar had the added attraction of a barfly in her 40's hassling men for a drink. She even went after a group of 5 guys playing the Lord Of The Rings machine, calling them nerds for not wanting to spend time with a sexy women like her.

Most all of the games are $.75/1 play or $2.00/3 plays. The games the had that I didn't play were: Rolling Stones, Lord Of The Rings, Sopranos, and X-Men.

I did play the following:
Iron Man
My High Score 4.6 mil
Replay 25 mil

Tron (new)
My High Score 4.8 mil
Replay 28.2 mil

Transformers
My High Score 5.5 mil
Replay 31.1 mil

AC/DC (includes weird cannon)
My High Score 5.5 mil
Replay 29.5 mil

these are not good scores

Caffetto (Uptown Mpls)

This is another, that like Jimmy's Pro Billiards, could be an old-school enthusiasts dream. Sadly 1/2 of the machines are out of order. They are a little hard to find, but if youwalk in the front door, and go straight past the barista there is a staircase going down to the basement on the left hand side. In the "Saw-esque" basemet there is a ping-pong table and these four machines;
Big Guns... out of order
Black Knight 2000... out of order

Cyclone
Each game is $.50/1 play. Cyclone is kind of a fun circus-based game, and some good ramps.

My High Score: 340K
Replay 1.4 mil

Jack Bot
Jack Bot is kind of cool. It's an awesome look at the future. A robotic future where mass-inflation has driven pinball scores into the billions. I'm not kidding. I have never seen a machine with scores this high. A robot greets you to the game, and the shooter has a metal tip which makes an awesome metal-on-metal sound when you launch the ball. Unfortunately many of the lights on the left side of the game were burned out making it a little difficult to play

My High Score: 308 mil
Replay: 1.4 Billion

Grumpys (Downtown Mpls)

Grumpys Downtown is always a solid bar. Good beer selection and food. If you walk in the backdoor, from the parking lot, immediatly on your left there is a "Family Guy" machine. I initially didn't care for this one, but its growing on me.The replay again isn't unreachable, extra balls, are easy, and the Stewie Mini-pinball adds for a fun novelty. The last nice aspect was, like Macs Industrial, they had the volume low. You can only take a machine farting at  you for so long before you get annoyed.

My High Score: 14.5 mil
Replay: 16 mil

Burger Moes (Downtown St. Paul)

I was tipped off to Burger Moes having a machine called "Hurricane." What I wasn't told was where it was. If you go through the main bar to the back, and hang a left just after the bathrooms and before you get to the kitchen you might see a handwritten sign pointing to the game room in the basement. The game room is a brightly lit room with concrete walls, a few chairs, a pool table, darts and "Hurricane." It's a weird space. It feels like that one "friend's" house you used to go over to. You know which one I'm talking about. The one you really didn't like, whose house smelt funny, but he had a Nintendo in his basement. Yeah, that one. Anyway the "Hurricane" is a bargain 3 games for a dollar. It's pretty old school, next to no digital stuff going on. It has some sweet ferris wheels on it, and the ramps are easy to shoot. It has a fairly attainable extra ball and replay, which is good, because there is no ball save. You have to lift it off teh ground to tilt it, and The machine incessantly yells at you while you play that its "CLOWN TIME!"All in all this is worth your quarters though.

My Top Score 9.4 Mil
Replay 11.4 Mil

Mac's Industrial Sports Bar (NE Mpls)

Mac's Has a great beer selection and good burgers. Stay away from the Chili though. I got food poisoning once. Right when you walk in the front door there is a "Family Guy" machine. I like the novelty of the Stewie mini-pinball, however it doesn't make up for this beat up game.  The shooter sticks on it, and there is a broken flag laying on the table that floats around whenever the ball hits it causing the ball to go who knows where. I'm a little unsure how anyone could hit the 60 million replay with it like this. It must have been from before it took the beatdown that left it in its current shape. Also it cost a buck to play this broken machine. Save your money for another beer and go play somewhere else.

My High Score: 2.7 Million
Replay: 60 Million

Columbia Grill and Tavern aka Starbar (Columbia Heights)

I was never at this place when it was called Starbar. I hear they had a "Simpsons" machine back then. Well under new ownership it has been replaced by "Lord Of The Rings," The machine says one play for $1.00, but actually only charges $0.50. This is cool, because I am quickly beginning to hate this game. I've never had a machine send so many unhittable balls down the center. I didn't want to put too much into it as I was afraid one of the townies might say something. Plus this machine in particular had a shooter that would stick half-way through the pull unless you pulled it at just the right angle.

Anyway... whatever. The place is a dump.

My High Score: 2.9 million
Replay: 25 Million

Jimmy's Pro Billiards (Columbia Heights)

I walked into this joint and got very excited. Its a mammoth space with a lot of pool tables, and, at 4:30 in the afternoon, a few depressing old men. Apparently they sell food as well, but I wouldn't guess it to be to great. Anyway back to the pinball. They had 4 machines lined up. I haven't heard of anyplace yet, save SS and Blainebrook, with more than two. First is Addams Family. We all know what to expect from this. Although it is no longer my favorite, it does still hold some love in my heart from when I was younger. Its $0.50 a play with no bonuses for paying in more, and it operates just fine.

After I played that I moved on to the next three old school classics. They were "Pool Sharks," the awesome "Matahari," and "Eight Ball Champ." Unfortunately all had handwritten signs on them saying "Out Of Order. What a disappointment. This cold have been the best find in the Northeast area.

Oh well, "Addams Family" had a credit already on it, so I played for free. At least that is a nice bonus.

My Best Score: 15 Million
Replay: 54 million