If you could visit a place that combined your childhood love of gaming with dinner and drinks, you'd want to know about it right?

I've been following Dani Benjamin, who is the owner and writer of Wanderlust on a Budget on Instagram for a few months now. Her blog highlights different spots in New York State that are worth visiting. When I saw her most recent experience, I knew it needed to be shared with our listeners.

Unfortunately, I gave up drinking for lent (which is a shame because their drinks, according to Dani, seem amazing and fun and I want to try them.) That's why I wanted to share her experience with you.


Located downtown in Armory Square, Three Lives Bar opened for customers in August of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, but has been getting a lot of love. It's great for gamers looking for a great immersive experience with dinner and drinks.

According to Dani, owner of Three Lives, Jon Page wanted to open bar/arcade in Syracuse before he turned 30. He was able to do that with all with an idea based on his love of craft drinks and video games.

Everything about this place is nostalgic: the food, the drinks, the games.

The menu at Three Lives is really simple, but definitely takes you back to your days at your parents house while nodding some aspects of gaming. Each of their burgers come in 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit options, depending on how many quarter-pound patties you want on your buns. They also have "Nintendies" on their menu, their play on Nintendo and chicken tenders. Hand breaded and fried, they also come with your choice of over ten different sauces for dipping. For both the burgers and tenders, you also get to choose a side: either fries or tater tots. A chicken sandwich is also an option on their menu.

The drink menu at Three Lives is out of this world. Not only do they have beers on tap and drinks in bottles and cans, but they have special elixers, tinctures and potions. The head bartender of Three Lives, Josh DeSantis, created all of these special beverages himself. Every single one is reminiscent of a classic video or arcade game, with very clever references to pop culture. You'll have such a hard time choosing which one to drink. Between signature Elixers like Bowzer-ita, and Pac Man Lemon-tini, and the potions like the Health Potion (made with Absolut Citron, Pomegranate Liquor, Strawberry Puree, grenadine and club soda) and the Stanima Regen (featuring Coconut Rum, Pineapple, White Rum, Blue Curacao, Midori, Pineapple and Mountain Dew) - you have plenty of options to choose from.

The bar also features a game involving shots. Guests who are willing receive a tray with a menu of different shots that are offered, and a a giant D-20 die. Not sure what that is? It's a 20-sided die. You roll it, and whatever number it lands on is the shot you get. Roll for a Shot is $8 per shot, but if you don't like what you rolled on, you can re-roll for $1.

They also have some great non-alcoholic beverages on their Power-Up menu.

This place is the epitome of a gamer's heaven. They have monitors mounted on the walls. Not only can you watch the streams on Twitch of their affiliate gamers and staff members, but you can play along too! The bar has Xbox controllers available for rent. They encourage customers who play to message whoever is live streaming to make it a truly interactive experience. Three Lives has their own Twitch Stream and Discord channel to bring gamers together.

Not only do they have your modern games, but all of your favorite classics as well. Yes, Super Mario, Galaga, Mortal Combat, Burger Time and Bubble Bobble - and you can play along for 50 cents.

You can head on over to Three Lives for yourself. They're located at 316 S. Clinton St in Syracuse. Whether you live near or far, it's definitely something you'll want to experience.


 

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A big thank you is in order to Dani from Wanderlust on a Budget for introducing us to this place! Maybe you're looking for a fun night out for food, drinks and games? Three Lives is the perfect barcade to do it. If you decide to check it out, let us know what you think inside our station app (although we trust what Dani has to say entirely!)

Please like and show support of her page - Wanderlust on a Budget!

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