Bartari Brings a Blast From the Past to the Electric City

The “Ben Franklin” pizza at Bartari in Scranton

Bartari is a newer establishment in Downtown Scranton which features an array of throwback arcade games, a full bar, and a small plates style menu.  I had been hearing quite a bit about it in the newspaper and on social media and I heard that it was family friendly so we loaded up the pizza mobile and took the whole family down to check the place out.

Upon entering, the place is wide open, clean, bright, and has a fairly extensive collection of throwback video games throughout the space.  We were pumped to see that Bartari was true to its word that they maintain the original price of each game when it was released.  We got to play a ton of games for a $10 bill.  Contrast that with our normal trip to Chuck E Cheeses that always costs around $50, we got some serious value and fun out of the games.

Close up of the Ben Franklin pizza at Bartari in Scranton.

It would make sense with such extreme value on the gaming side, that you pay a bit of a premium on the food side of things, which was expected.  We went with a mac and cheese for the kids, a sandwich for the first lady, and a pizza known as the “Ben Franklin.”  The mac and cheese was very cheesy and met the Pizza Princess’ approval.  The sandwich was pretty good, and the pizza was a bit of a throwback as I’ll discuss next.

This easy to eat flatbread pizza makes for a quick and fun snack to eat between or during arcade games.

The “Ben Franklin” can best be described for me as old school pizza hut made on a naan-type flatbread.  It’s presentation was very nice with red and white checkered paper with “scissor cut basil” (which I believe was actually parsley) on top.  There was an abundance of cheese on top and a slathering of sauce underneath.  The flatbread was light, crisp and cooked as good as could be.  The pizza also took me back to the days of making french bread pizza in the toaster oven and playing Nintendo games after school.  It was cut into neat little triangles that were easy to eat.  It was a fun snack to crush in between video games.

The Pizza Portion of the menu at Bartari in Scranton.

Overall, the family had a really fun time at Bartari.  They have a really neat concept and it makes for a fun and affordable activity whether you’re gaming alone or taking the whole family.  I hope they are around for a while because this is an exciting type of place that this area needs!  I hope you get there and give it a try!  If you have, please comment with your thoughts on Bartari.

The Ratings

Restaurant: Bartari
Location: Scranton, PA
Date: January 2020
Eat In/Take Out: Eat In

Pizza Ordered: Ben Franklin Pizza
Price: $9.00
Crust: 6.2
Sauce: 5.8
Cheese: 5.9
Overall Taste: 6.1
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 7.1
Overall Value: 5.8
OVERALL RATING: 5.9
Similar to: Pizza Hut