Flight Club, a high-tech darts bar, hits the mark in Philly opening

Picture a darts bar Does an image of a worn dive or pub come to mind Perhaps one with smoke-filled rooms a sticky floor due to spilled beer and target boards tucked in a dark corner While we do love that vibe Rittenhouse s new dart bar Flight Club Philadelphia is aiming for a different concept The franchise bar which began a decade ago in London has locations all over the world The bar threw its opening party in the City of Brotherly Love this Wednesday The -square-foot location comes from State of Play Hospitality a highly innovative creator and operator of technology-enabled experiential leisure concepts The goal is to infuse several flash and innovation into the beloved event Each dartboard comes with a playing area called an oche Julia Binswanger Billy Penn If you think you know anything about darts just go ahead and throw that out and reimagine everything noted Kim Chute the vice president of marketing at State of Play This is not that This is high apparatus If you are a purist and lover of the classic dart experience Flight Club may not be for you The atmosphere is vibey with a playlist featuring pop hits from artists like Dua Lipa Sabrina Carpenter and The Weekend However if you re a lover of a good craft cocktail and barely know a thing about darts including how to play or keep amount step right in The Flight Club dartboard can accommodate six different games and tracks everything for you Chute teased that a seventh battle will be added in the fall Just like at a trendy bowling spot there s a screen that lets you know which numbers you ve hit how a large number of points they total and where you re at in the round After the winning shot a camera takes a reaction video for an instant replay so players can bask in the glory of their win Chute commented that there are games for more experienced players but really no one is expected to be a professional Bulk of our games are for those that are not great at darts she explained Because who really is that great at darts Flight Club has craft cocktails on the menu Julia Binswanger Billy Penn The Philadelphia location has private and semi-private playing areas The bar decor is whimsical and takes inspiration from Victorian-era fairgrounds and English pubs Vintage stage lights hang from circular chandeliers The walls are covered in used-picture frames with prints of Staffordshire dogs and porcelain Spode plates So while the bar is very new and high tech there is still an effort to make it feel worn in with English history There s a big warehouse in London that a bunch of people just kind of collect stuff and then put in there And then when we open a new Flight Club we just ship it on over Chute mentioned Philly already has a slew of high-tech and gimmicky gaming bars dedicated to corporate events group parties and birthdays like Puttshack Spin South Bowl and Kick Axe Part of the draw comes not just from the competition but also the elevated food and drink that comes with it Instead of PBR the bar serves craft beer We re upscale food shareables appetizers Clean eating we call it so you can pick something up and not have stuff dripping and still throw a dart commented Jeff Martell national director of culinary for State of Play We have elote We have guacamole We have beef sliders We have flatbreads so a little bit of stuff from all over the place Servers on opening night passed around fried lobster mac-and-cheese balls tuna poke tacos meat skewers and more The cocktails were strong citrus-forward and had names like Bee Sting and Snap Dragon The bar also features a brunch special We put a lot of effort into our cocktails to make sure that we have really good craft ones and then we have a great variety of alcohols as well Chute commented So we re more of a fun bar that just has this really amazing concept of social darts as well While large groups can rent their own social darts playing area or oche pronounced ockey for per person for minutes we went to the communal oche that let anybody wait their turn to play The bar at Flight Club Philadelphia Julia Binswanger Billy Penn Our meeting was being run by Carlos DaSilva Jr a certified trainer and ambassador from the Flight Club in Boston He had traveled to Philly to help with the opening It was clear from the start why State of Play had brought him in DaSilva is a ringer a ball of potential who enthusiastically curated our experience picking out games and explaining the rules Occasionally he would pull out his signature dance move which involved a fluid almost magical backbend to the ground and then back up I do love to show a little bit of power with my dance moves and to really as I like to say drop it like it s hot DaSilva explained A lot of people really love to walk in here and see that we are all filled with fun and gratification And I really like to go above and beyond that to really make sure that Flight Club is as fun as it gets Influencers and their guests invited for the opening joined our contest One of them was Lauren Hollinger known for her time as a contestant of season of The Bachelor You may remember her for her dramatic self-elimination She came with her plus one Marc Helfrich We played Demolition first I won Hollinger revealed We play at Buffalo Billiards sometimes but I m not good at darts Honestly I feel like it s more of a social thing than anything Flight Club has six different dart games that players can choose from Julia Binswanger Billy Penn Darts is fun she added But half of these people I feel like don t even know how to play darts The meeting we played together was called Killer The goal was to eliminate other players by hitting the right target Hollinger reported she is often invited to different events around the city The pair agreed that the Flight Club experience was one of the better nights they ve had There s games the food is great drinks are great she explained Also Carlos was a vibe Carlos has made this so much more fun His strength amazing Flight Club will seemingly not become your regular haunt but the spot is great for a fun event or group party For those unsure that a contest of darts is enough for the night there is certainly enough silliness to go around for at least minutes The new Flight Club Philadelphia location is open now If you re feeling ready go ahead and take a toss The post Flight Club a high-tech darts bar hits the mark in Philly opening appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY