Roxy’s/A4cade to Open Summer 2016

Photograph by Jim Brueckner

Roxy’s/A4cade, the new booze-and-burger-fueled playground from Roxy’s Grilled Cheese founder James DiSabatino and Area Four’s Michael Krupp, might sound like the ultimate alliance. In reality, though, the collaboration was pure coincidence.

In 2012, Krupp was looking to open a cocktail-equipped arcade inspired by the popular New York speakeasy Please Don’t Tell. But progress was slow due to a lack of proper real estate. Fast-forward three years, and Krupp had finally scouted the perfect spot, except now there was competition: DiSabatino happened to be staking out the same turf.

“We both realized we were looking at the same space,” DiSabatino says . “We had a conversation where I said, ‘If you don’t want to handle food…why don’t we come in and do something together?’ We’re perfect arcade food!”

That serendipitous partnership will materialize this summer with Krupp’s team curating the cocktails; Roxy’s offering their most extensive menu of burgers and grilled cheeses to date; and a host of New England arcade collectors furnishing the entertainment (think vintage pinball machines and dozens of 8-bit classics).

300 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, roxysgrilledcheese.com.