Racing fans in the Boston area have a cool new place for dinner, drinks, and entertainment. F1 Arcade is open for business, and if you haven't figured it out just yet, the entertainment portion comes from several banks of full-motion racing simulators.
Specifically, there are 69 simulators scattered around the two-story, 16,000-square-foot facility. They are linked together for head-to-head or team racing action in a Formula 1 setting that recreates iconic real-life tracks. Details on the tracks or the cars aren't mentioned, but F1 Arcade does offer regular visitors the ability to create personal driver profiles. Called the Arcade Hub, attendees can earn Arcadians—presumably a points system— that can be exchanged for things like merchandise.
While arcade is part of the name, photos show a venue that looks far more upscale than the arcades of yesteryear. Amid the racing seats is a snazzy atmosphere that, among other things, has a 37-foot bar for picking up drinks with motorsport-themed names. There's a food menu with plenty of dishes, some of which we can't pronounce. And $16 for Braised Chicken Tinga sounds perfectly reasonable, especially when compared to the $275 plate of nachos seen at last year's Formula 1 race in Miami.
F1 Arcade launched in 2022 with its first restaurant in London. The newest location in Boston is the first of several planned for the United States, with Washington DC being next on the list. If things go well, there could be 30 locations in the next few years.
"We’re thrilled to debut the first US F1 Arcade location in the bustling Boston Seaport neighborhood, following the incredible success in the UK," said F1 Arcade Founder and CEO Adam Breeden. "Guests can enjoy an exceptional adrenaline-packed venue and the thrill of racing in one space. The launch of F1 Arcade Boston Seaport paves the way for our ambitious US expansion, as we look ahead to opening our second venue this Fall in Washington DC."
