There was something almost surreal about opening a giant arcade in Austin in August 2020.

The city was still dealing with a pandemic. Restaurants and bars were operating under restrictions, major events had disappeared from the calendar and Austinites had spent months trying to figure out what “going out” was supposed to look like anymore.

And then, on August 28, Bishop Cidercade opened its doors on Riverside Drive.

The concept was exactly the kind of thing that made sense in Austin under normal circumstances: thousands of square feet of arcade games, a long list of house-made ciders, pizza, a waterfront location and enough space to turn an ordinary night out into an entire evening.

But August 2020 was anything but normal.

The Austin Cidercade had originally been expected to open earlier in the year. The pandemic changed those plans, and the opening was delayed as businesses across the city tried to determine how — or whether — entertainment venues could operate safely.

When the doors finally opened, Bishop Cidercade was taking over the former Joe’s Crab Shack property at 600 East Riverside Drive. The building provided something that many Austin businesses desperately needed during the pandemic: space.

The Cidercade covered roughly 13,000 square feet and offered more than two dozen ciders on draft, along with pizza and other drinks. The arcade contained a large collection of games, giving customers an unusual combination of bar, restaurant and entertainment venue.

In another year, the opening probably would have been treated simply as another major addition to Austin’s entertainment scene.

In 2020, it became something more interesting.

It was a test.

Could an entertainment business built around people standing next to arcade machines, ordering drinks and spending hours inside a building actually operate during a pandemic?

Bishop Cidercade’s answer was to radically change the way the space operated.

The business announced reduced capacity, wider aisles, fewer tables and chairs, mask requirements and extensive sanitation procedures. It was even using specialized equipment to sanitize the facility after hours.

The changes illustrated just how different the Austin nightlife experience had become.

Before COVID-19, people rarely thought about the distance between arcade machines.

Nobody wondered how often a bartender wiped down a game cabinet.

Nobody considered whether an arcade was operating at 30 percent or 50 percent capacity.

In August 2020, those details were suddenly part of the experience.

And that was the strange reality facing Austin’s hospitality industry.

Businesses weren’t simply asking whether customers wanted to come.

They were asking whether customers would feel comfortable coming.

That distinction mattered.

Austin had built much of its reputation on experiences that encouraged people to linger.

Go to a bar and stay for three hours.

Grab food and hang out.

See a band.

Play games.

Drink a few beers.

Meet friends.

The Cidercade concept was practically designed around that kind of behavior.

That made its opening particularly notable.

At the same time, Austin’s traditional entertainment industry was suffering.

Live music had been devastated by the cancellation of SXSW and the shutdown of venues.

Bars were struggling with restrictions.

Restaurants were trying to survive on reduced capacity, takeout and delivery.

Large events had disappeared.

And yet, a new entertainment destination had decided that the time was right to open.

The location itself was another reason the opening attracted attention.

The former Joe’s Crab Shack property on Riverside offered Cidercade something that many downtown businesses couldn’t provide: a large footprint with outdoor space and views toward the water.

That helped the concept fit into the changing Austin entertainment landscape.

Outdoor space had become increasingly valuable.

People wanted somewhere to go, but they also wanted to avoid crowded indoor environments whenever possible.

Cidercade’s combination of indoor arcade games and outdoor space gave customers another option.

It wasn’t the same as Austin before COVID.

Nothing was.

But it was something.

And perhaps that was the most important part of the August 2020 opening.

Austin needed places that reminded people that the city still had a personality.

The pandemic had made everything feel temporary.

Restaurants were closing.

Events were being canceled.

Businesses were changing their hours.

People were staying home.

Against that backdrop, opening a giant arcade and cider bar felt almost rebellious.

It was a statement that Austin’s entertainment culture wasn’t going to disappear.

It was simply going to have to figure out how to survive.

The opening of Cidercade didn’t mean Austin was back to normal.

It wasn’t.

The city still had a long road ahead.

But on August 28, there was a new place on Riverside where Austinites could grab a cider, play an arcade game and spend a few hours doing something that felt almost normal.

For a city that had spent months being told to stay home, that mattered.

And years later, the opening of Cidercade stands as one of those distinctly 2020 Austin stories — a new entertainment destination arriving at exactly the moment when Austin’s entertainment industry was being forced to reinvent itself.