Robin Godwin: A Renovated ‘Ropewalk’ Reopens with Duckpin Lanes, Arcade Games, and a New Menu

Ropewalk Tavern reopened last week after being closed since July for renovations. Now in its 25th year of business in Federal Hill, Ropewalk returns with a concept the ownership group feels will “cater more to locals and families in South Baltimore.” The restaurant now has mini duckpin lanes, arcade lanes, more low-top tables, more beer taps, and a new menu.

The Ropewalk team is building off the success of its beach bars in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia that have different activities like playgrounds, corn hole, ring toss, and fire pits. They also opened a new restaurant in Ocean City over the summer called Alley Oops which has a shark tank, mini duckpin bowling, and around 50 games.

A spokesperson for the Ropewalk team said Alley Oops has been a fantastic experience and they are already planning a second location at the former OC Brewing Co. on 55th St. in Ocean City.

The Ropewalk team used its experience at Alley Oops to determine what games would likely work best at Ropewalk. However, if a game doesn’t work out at Ropewalk, it can be moved to one of the Alley Oops locations. Ropewalk will look to add more games to the second floor after figuring out what is popular.

Ropewalk is four rowhomes wide, and the front of the middle two buildings have been filled with games including a very large Connect Four Hoops, four skee-ball machines, two mini duckpin machines, Big Buck Hunter, Golden Tee, bubble hockey, and bubble soccer. There are new pool tables on the second floor and third floor.

Ropewalk will add four more duckpin machines to the second floor if the first-floor units are popular. The lanes on the second floor will likely be a bit longer than the ones on the first floor.

Ropewalk has all new flooring, paint, bar tops, blinds, Samsung televisions, and draft beer lines. The front bar on the northern-most building now has 32 draft lines. The other bars at Ropewalk Tavern each have 16 draft lines.

The back room, which is in a building that dates back to the 1700s, was painted white to brighten it up. It now has all low-top tables that are more family- and dining-friendly. Dueling pianos and DJs will continue to play in this room on weekend nights.

The new menu is a “bar menu” featuring .59 cent wings all the time. The wings tap into many of the flavors rolled out when the team started and used to own Delia Foley’s. The menu also has burgers, sandwiches, and tacos.

“With games and discounted food, we thought we could bring people in earlier, but still be a late-night place,” said the Ropewalk spokesperson.

The front signage was updated and the buildings that used to say McFaul’s now say Ropewalk in a logo with bowling pins. A new hanging Ropewalk sign with a bowling pin reads “Eat, Drink, Play.”

The team is excited to open in time for the Ravens playoff run as well as to host its 25th Ronald Reagan birthday party on February 6th.

Many of Ropewalk’s staff and bartenders are returning.

Ropewalk is open Tuesday to Thursday from 430pm to 2am, Friday from 2pm to 2am, and Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 2am.