LITT Pinball Bar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Litt Pinball Bar in Minneapolis offers a classic pinball experience—most of the games are a dollar per play. While this pricing seems reasonable at first glance, the overall value starts to diminish when you take into account the difficulty of earning replays (free games awarded based on high scores). Even for seasoned players, achieving a replay feels like an uphill battle, which means that playing regularly can get quite expensive.

Additionally, the "matches" — a random reward at the end of your game that may offer a free play — have essentially been turned off. If you happen to get one, you might as well go buy a lottery ticket, as your chances are about as slim. The setup on some of the machines is also questionable. While many players may not notice, seasoned pinball enthusiasts will pick up on issues like poorly leveled machines that affect gameplay. It’s unclear if the tech support team is fully aware of how to properly maintain the games, leading to some frustrating experiences.

Despite these issues, Litt Pinball Bar could still be a fun spot for newcomers or those who don’t mind the occasional challenge. However, for more experienced players (especially self-proclaimed pinball wizards), the combination of difficult replays, lack of rewarding matches, and less-than-ideal game setups makes it tough to enjoy for long periods. The games themselves are great in theory, but the upkeep and the overall experience leave much to be desired.

Most of the regulars have noticeably started to visit other spots, likely due to these ongoing issues. If you happen to run into problems like a game resetting or eating your quarters, don’t expect quick resolution. I’ve even encountered some eye-rolling when bringing up these issues to bartenders, which can be frustrating.

In terms of value, Litt is easily one of the most expensive places to play pinball in the Twin Cities. If you're looking for better game operation, and your dollar to go further, I’d recommend checking out other spots in the area like Up-Down, 56 Brewing, Broken Clock Co-op Brewing, Northstar Pinball Collective, Full Tilt in Bloomington, St. Paul Tap, or Bad Penny Pinball in St. Paul. At these places, you'll find that the games run smoother, and your dollar stretches much further for a better...

TILT is fantastic. Exactly what this neighborhood needs. Humble origins have led to greatness.

If you're reading this, you know the whole story or none of it: the TL;DR is that these cats started with a brilliant idea and have continued to curate and grow their vision.

The menu could just be good, the pinball machines could just be good, the crafted cocktails and local beer list could just be good, and it would be a success. But each one is a cut above.

The pinball machines alone represent such a dedication to craft; that old rickety Simpson's table in the bowling alley that so infuriated you as a kid is here, and is actually super fun to play because every machine is meticulously maintained (and oftentimes upgraded with modern displays and sound). They also get the newest hottest limited-edition stuff on top of that. Oh, they only made 75 of this machine? Yeah they got it. And they maintain the rotation: tables stick around long enough to satisfy but change often to enough to always have something fresh to pump a few credits into!

The tap list is a greatest-hits of the local scene, and the can list covers whatever else you might need. They also serve a variety of liquors, if that's your thing. I'm a huge fan of their bar team. If you're feeling fancy, you should ask them if they have something special to drink. You might like it as much as I do.

Absolutely order a hot dog. Maybe you're not a "Hot Dog Person." I get it, and I'm very, very sorry for you. But if you've ever even momentarily enjoyed a hot dog, you owe it to yourself to try at least one of TILT's offerings. Just do it, hot dogs rule.

Lastly, stay away from Attack From Mars. It totally sucks and you should not play it, ever. I definitely do not want to only always have it to myself forever. Also, bring back the...

Staff was borderline hostile.

I’ll lay it out: Tuesday night, pretty light crowd, three employees around the bar. Sign at the door says seat yourself so we sit down and wait about 10min, no one acknowledges our table at all (there are only 3 tables with ppl at them and maybe 5 ppl at the bar) there seems to be one waitress, she visits the table behind us twice, never acknowledges us.

We move up to the bar and wait another 5min before anyone even looks at us Slightly annoyed, but hungry so we stay

Staff begrudgingly acknowledges us and takes our order (its currently 11pm, they advertise kitchen close at 1am, and the whole place doesn’t close until 2am) food takes almost 40min I ordered an item that the menu suggests there would be pastrami on. No pastrami, so I ask the bar, they inform me that it is “pastrami sauce” No big deal, I must have misread the menu (I look again, its very misleading, but no big deal)

Then, for the next 5 min the staff complain VERY LOUDLY about how stupid and rude I am for having “the nerve” to ask if there was supposed to be pastrami on my dish. They go on and on, making sure that I can hear.

Again, I’d like to emphasize, it wasn’t a big deal, and the only thing I did was ask and when they informed me it was not pastrami, but only “pastrami sauce”, my response was a simple “oh my mistake” and I returned to my meal happily (btw the food was pretty good, if not for everything else, I would def eat there again)

We had planned on staying to play pinball and have a few more drinks but opted to leave instead

Very hostile and strange environment. Will not return. Never had such an experience at an...