MARLBOROUGH — Apex Entertainment doesn’t need to offer a fluffy, delicious pretzel the size of a large pizza. But they did it anyway.
It’s one of the little touches (and massive accommodations) that make the Marlborough multiplex of fun stand out from other entertainment spots across the state.
And that’s before you even consider the fried Oreos, color-changing rock candy cocktails and an appetizer innovation involving chicken-fried steak.
What you can do at Apex
When you hear the phrase, “indoor entertainment center,” the image that’s conjured is usually a bowling alley with a few arcades and maybe some hot dogs for food.
I want you to throw out that image for a moment while we talk about Apex. Here, I’m just going to list off all the things available under one roof:
Bowling (10-pin and candlepin)
Go-Kart racing on a multi-level track
Arcade with 70 machines and tickets you can exchange for prizes
A ropes course that runs above the arcade
Bumper cars
“The biggest laser tag facility in Massachusetts,” depicting a post-apocalyptic Boston
Space-themed black-light mini golf
Axe throwing, with its own bar and separate food menu
A huge kids’ play area with a jungle gym, bouncy slide and a McDonald’s-style play place
(There’s also a Planet Fitness gym, an Altitude Trampoline Park and Breakout Games escape room in the building, but those are separate businesses.)
When a place offers bowling or go-karts, I’m usually not expecting much from the food menu. But Apex steps it up with its dining operations, which offer food in the bowling area, on the second-floor private events level and at axe throwing.
Apex makes a lot of chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks and cheese pizzas for kids. But the menu goes a whole lot deeper than that.
The star of the show is the gargantuan pretzel, which hits the table with the heft of a sheet cake and a smell that will have the table next to you getting jealous.
Dubbed “The Largest Pretzel You’ve Ever Seen” and “The Best Pretzel You’ve Ever Tasted,” Apex’s bready behemoth is a joy to pull apart, a delight to dip into mustard and a pleasure to devour.
On the sweet side, they’ve got fried Oreos and a new line of milkshakes. For drinks, they offer beers on tap and inventive cocktails. I was delighted by the Jolly Rancher-like Roxxberry cocktail, which changes colors when you stir it with the provided stick of rock candy.
Upstairs, Apex Axes has a separate food menu that includes Steak’n Fries, strips of country-fried steak that you eat like chicken tenders. I’ve never seen that sort of thing before. Now I want every place to have it.
A huge complex that focuses on the little things
When a facility is the size of a mall, things tend to fall through the cracks, like the bathrooms.
That’s a huge point of emphasis for Apex COO George Aronstein. Bathrooms aren’t the first thing you think of when you go to an entertainment complex. But it’s the sort of thing that can ruin the experience.
“I’ll walk into a building — it doesn’t matter what location — I try to beeline right to the bathroom,