New owners of Pocatello arcade bar introducing ‘big changes’
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POCATELLO – The new owners of the only arcade bar in Pocatello have made some “big changes.”
But Justin and Jackie Reader, the new owners, aren’t taking away what the customer base loves about Barricade, located at 308 East Center Street. As customers of the arcade bar originally, they bought it so they could emphasize what made it their favorite bar in the first place.
“When we say we’re making big changes, it’s to the things that we loved about it, and we’re making them bigger or better,” Justin said.
Justin and Jackie met in 2019, the same year that Barricade was first opened by its previous owners. While it wasn’t the couple’s first date, eating dinner at Sumisu across the street and heading to the arcade bar was their “go-to” date night location.
While they spent evenings playing pinball and arcade games, they never considered that they would end up as owners. This changed in October 2024, when Jackie was scrolling through social media and saw that Barricade had gone up for sale.
“I just ran out into the garage, and I kind of jokingly just said, ‘We need to come up with X number of dollars because this is our bar,’” Jackie said.
As they started to look into buying Barricade, it went from an idea Jackie put forward half-jokingly to a real possibility. After over six months, the couple closed on the deal and became the new owners of the arcade bar on March 1.
One of the most significant changes to Barricade has been the types of drinks offered. The Readers have acquired a liquor license for the bar, allowing them to serve mixed beverages alongside all of the beers and wines that were previously provided. They recently put together a new cocktail menu with video game-themed drinks.
Something else the new owners introduced is a wine club, which they hold every month on the third Thursday. The club offers rotating flavors of wines every month, which they tailor to the member’s preferences.
The Readers’ next big addition is acquiring food permitting. Once they can serve food, the owners already have a hot dog roller and nacho cheese dispenser ready to go.
“We’re planning on having those convenient bar food options, not to have a full-on dinner, but just somewhere they can get a snack,” Jackie said.
While the Readers have introduced new elements to the bar, they haven’t and don’t plan on taking away any of the aspects that have made it popular in the community. As the couple have traveled to different arcade bars around the country to look for inspiration, they instead came away from the experience, “grateful for what we have here.”
“Even though they’re nice places, (and) they have got really cool games, some of them are broken, missing pieces or just sticky… The environment was just a totally different feel than what we want here,” Jackie said.
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