20220612-CAPITALSTYLEMAGAZINE-T-0 - Flipbook - Page 20
G O O D E AT S
BY CHRISTINA TKACIK Capital Style
GameOn, an arcade bar on West Street in Annapolis, features retro pinball games and modern cocktails. PHOTOS BY JERRY JACKSON
‘Barcade’ mixes food & fun
Arcade bar GameOn enlivens former firehouse in Annapolis
The signature dish at GameOn Bar + Arcade, a
new arcade bar in Annapolis, couldn’t be any simpler. Called Frito pie, it’s not really pie at all, but a
ripped-open bag of Fritos topped with chili. And it’s
a beloved snack in parts of the Midwest, as well as
Texas and New Mexico.
This March, Frito pie found a new home in Annapolis, where it’s served as part of a limited menu
that also includes gourmet Pop-Tarts and a grown-up
take on the Capri Sun, that metallic-enclosed staple
of any 1990s childhood.
Owners are husband and wife team Eli and
Casey Linthicum of Ellicott City. (Yes, Eli’s family
is related to the Linthicums for whom the town in
20 | SUMMER 2022 | capitalstylemag.com
Anne Arundel County is named.) They met while
working at Columbia’s now-closed Coho Grill, which
was owned by Eli’s uncle, and both bring extensive
hospitality experience to their young business. Casey,
33, previously ran a McDonald’s franchise with her
dad in Howard County, while Eli, 38, was the general
manager of Urban Axes in Baltimore.
The idea for an arcade bar happened after they
visited a similar “barcade” in New York City a few
years ago. “Ever since then, it was in the back of our
minds,” she said. When they found a West Street
space in Annapolis, they fell for the street and surrounding neighborhood, which has a “fun, smalltown feel,” she said.