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Phantom Gourmet: The Quarters In Hadley

HADLEY – In a nondescript building tucked back off a main road in the town of Hadley, you'll find a magical place where many of your childhood memories still live on.

It's a place where toys fill every nook and cranny, cartoons play on the big screen and classic arcade games line the walls. Since you're an adult now, you might want a craft beer, cool cocktail or gourmet hot dog too, at The Quarters, your dreams have come true.

The Quarters is what's known as a "barcade." It's part restaurant, part bar, and part arcade.

When owners Greg Stutsman and George Myers opened this spot, they made sure that all three elements of the place were perfect.

"The three cornerstones are our games, our food, and our drinks," said Myers. "We have 20 or so vintage arcade games here and they range from the late 70s to really the early 90s, and that's a big part of the atmosphere that we try to create is a place where you can come and you can play the games and you can enjoy our food or our drinks. There's a really clear expectation of what's going to happen. You can come in, and it's Ms. Pac Man, and you can get a hot dog, and you can get a beer."

All the great old school games can be found at The Quarters. They have Donkey Kong, Tron, Space Invaders and NBA Jam. When customers come through the door for the first time, their reactions are almost always the same.

"Most people who walk in are just like, just shocked, you know, like just pleasantly surprised, 'where did this place come from? I haven't seen these games in 20 years.' I mean everyone comes in this place and they feel like they're a kid again," said Stutsman.

If you think the food at The Quarters might be an afterthought, think again. Even though just about everyone who comes here plays a few games, these eats still earn a high score.

"That is important to us. It's important that the food is of high enough quality that it's not just passable because you can also play Donkey Kong," Myers explained.

The Quarters, Phantom Gourmet
A selection of mini hot dogs at The Quarters (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

Much of the menu is devoted to mini gourmet hot dogs that are locally made in the Berkshires, and topped with all kinds of gourmet ingredients. There's the Bahn Mi dog with pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro, and Sriracha mayo. The Chicago dog comes with mustard, onions, pickles, and tomatoes. The top selling Mac Dog comes smothered with a homemade bacon panko crusted mac and cheese.

"You bite in, you've got the crunch from the sausage, at little bit of the toasty on the outside, but warm and soft in the middle bun, and then the mac and cheese on top is just kind of flowing," Stutsman said. "And then you've got a little bit of a bite from the al dente pasta, and then to finish it off you've got the crunch from the bacon bits on top and a little bit of the fat and salt from the bacon."

The Quarters, Phantom Gourmet
Sliders at The Quarters (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

If you'd prefer a little burger time, there are two-and-a-half ounce sliders like The Cowboy, with cheddar, barbecue sauce, and an onion ring.

"You get the crunch from the onion ring going there, you get the sharp cheddar, and then the nice little bit of spice from the barbecue sauce," Stutsman describes.

Most of the menu at The Quarters is ultra-affordable. The sliders and hot dogs are about three bucks. Everything else is well under $10, like thick cut onions rings, rosemary parmesan fries with truffle mayo, chicken and waffles with whipped butter and real maple syrup, and boneless wings tossed in all kinds of sauces.

The Quarters, Phantom Gourmet
Boneless chicken wings at The Quarters (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

In fact, much of the food at The Quarters was designed with mobility in mind, since customers often spend more time standing in front of the games than sitting down at the table.

"It's meant to be dealt with as a finger food," Myers explained. "It's a single serving, you're not gonna sit down with a plate and silverware. You can have your fries here, you can have your dog, and you can move through the space with it and you can take it with you, and it's really easy and it's something you can fit in your hand."

If you do want more of a sit-down supper, you can get it, with a mini crock of mac and cheese, a bowl of chili lime edamame or some nostalgically delicious fried brussel sprouts.

"One person was like, 'oh it's so good, but it smells like my grandmother's house.' Which is something that I actually really like about it, is that it's a food that you don't traditionally associate with kind of junk food, or even kind of fun, but I really, really love it," Myers said.

The old school classics extend well beyond the arcade games. Dessert at The Quarters consists of a huge selection of ice cream truck treats, and the cocktail menu features drinks like the 'Ecto Cooler,' an adult twist on the drink box favorite made with orange infused vodka, Midori, and Sunny Delight.

The Quarters, Phantom Gourmet
Dessert at The Quarters consists of ice cream truck favorites (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

For a true throwback, a serious sugar rush, and all the games you can play, Saturday mornings are the best time to stop by.

"Saturday morning is our Super Cereal Saturday," said Stutsman. "We set up a cereal buffet on the bar. There's different types of milk; there's four or five different types of cereal; you get a bowl you can fill unlimited amounts of times; and you also get unlimited tokens to play the games for that whole time. And we're also projecting on our projector screen old 80s and 90s cartoons. So it's more of a family and kid thing, but you also get a lot of the folks that grew up with these things coming in to enjoy it again."

With so much fun and so much great food it's easy to see how a joystick can bring so much joy at The Quarters.

"There's just a lot of joy in the air and you can really, really sense that, that people are here to have fun, and they're having fun," Myers exclaimed.

You'll find The Quarters at 8 Railroad Street in Hadley and online at hadleyquarters.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.

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