This Central Jersey arcade with cheap eats is the oldest in the country

Gaming is more popular than ever. Just look at the crowds packed into colossal operations like Dave & Buster’s and Round 1.

But an arcade in Dunellen, the granddaddy of New Jersey arcades, has something that the corporate behemoths don't have – a sense of family and a reputation of being a home away from home.

Plus cheap eats.

Eight On The Break, otherwise known as The Break Arcade, is 51 years old, making it the oldest continuously run arcade in the country.

The Break Arcade has changed with the times, beginning as a billiards hall, foosball and pinball arcade in 1973 before morphing primarily into a video game arcade today.

Although it might not be as large as its franchised competitors, The Break Arcade has games that they don’t.

“I’m also a game manufacturer, so I have connections that allow me to import games that don’t exist anywhere else in the country,” said Chris Cotty, owner of The Break Arcade.

That includes rare Japanese rhythm games like Initial D, Chunithm, Maimai and Wacca.

The Break Arcade has about 50 video games, also including modern dancing games like Step Maniac as well as classic driving and fighting games like Street Fighter. It also has pinball games and three regulation Gold Crown III Brunswick billiards tables. New games are rotated in every month.

“The draw of this business is crazy,” said Cotty. “Every day, there are people from New York City, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. They travel from far distances to come here because we have games you can’t play anywhere else.”

Despite the selection’s modernity, the price is not. Customers pay per game, not per hour, and most games cost under $1 to play. Most cost 50 cents, so bring your coin jar.

Gaming isn’t the only affordable thing about the Break Arcade. The snack bar sells the Break Steak, a quarter-pound cheesesteak with onions, peppers and barbecue sauce with an order of fries and a 16-ounce drink for $5.98.

“We don’t make anything on it,” laughed Cotty.

Customers also love the Wiffle, a deep-fried waffle ice cream sandwich. Customers can also order fried macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, shoestring fries, mozzarella sticks, fried mushrooms, pizza rolls and more.

Regulars at the Break Arcade include the New Jersey Pinball League, which has been visiting the arcade every Wednesday to play and hold tournaments for three decades. The league boasts some of the best players in the country.

Cotty’s ownership of the arcade predates the league’s tenure. A former owner of pinball and video games who split his profits with local bars, restaurants and arcades, he “convinced” the The Break Arcade's founder to sell it to him in 1985.

“I was crazy,” Cotty laughed.

With it, he also inherited – and then continued – the arcade’s famous list of people who are banned for life from the arcade. Today, the list has about 200 names.

“There are some whole families on there,” Cotty said. “Things are very safe and extremely calm now, but back in the day in the 80s, it could be rough at times and when people didn’t behave, they got kicked out.”

The arcade outlaws did everything from smoking in the arcade, to stealing a soda, to throw a football teammate through a window.

People cannot be removed from the list, but Cotty is still asked for mercy a few times a year.

“People will come in here and laugh and say, ‘Mommy’s on the list!’ and ask if they can get their names taken off. I always say, ‘Nope,’ “ Cotty said.

However, the list – and the arcade – almost became moot during COVID, when the business was forced to close for nine months. When its annual $30,000 property tax bill was due, Cotty created a GoFundMe to try and keep the arcade afloat.

Customers raised the needed money in less than 24 hours.

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“The comments from people were amazing – I just sat there and cried,” Cotty said. “There were people I didn’t even remember who wrote, ‘You were good to me as a kid and it really helped me get through some things’ and gave the arcade $1,000.”

There were other COVID silver linings for The Break Arcade. Cotty partly credits the pandemic with today’s arcade popularity.

“COVID taught young people a great lesson – that they didn’t want to sit at home by themselves,” Cotty said. “They realized it’s better activity to be with your friends and interacting rather than just being online and alone.”

Cotty learned that a long time ago. When he was 13, he and a friend bought a pinball machine and placed it at the Knights of Columbus in Westfield. They were shocked at how much money they made.

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Eventually, they bought two more machines, than four more machines, and their collection of machines – and profits – continued to grow.

But it’s the customers that have kept Cotty working in the industry for 50 years.

“It’s the people – I absolutely love them,” Cotty said. “They’re like family.”

Go: 340-346 North Ave., Dunellen; thebreak.net , 732-752-8880.

Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun , please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone .

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: This Central Jersey arcade with cheap eats is the oldest in the country