3 Must-Play Machines at DC’s New Pinball Hall

MOM’s Organic Market founder and CEO Scott Nash recently embarked on a new venture: opening a pinball arcade. VÜK, in Friendship Heights, houses about 40 machines from his extensive personal collection. Here are three of his favorites.

Eight Ball Deluxe

The Maryland native grew up playing this at Beltsville Billiards. His paper route didn’t pay much, so he had to rack up enough points to get replays: “I’d ride my bike there sometimes with only four quarters in my pocket, hoping to make an afternoon out of it by winning free games.”

Memory Lane

This 1970s game is one of Nash’s most cherished machines and a favorite from childhood. “The three targets in the middle need to be hit just right or the ball can easily drain,” he says, “so it requires precision from both flippers–but it’s not such an impossible shot that it’s out of reach.”

Lord of the Rings

As the first machine he bought, this kicked off his pinball-­collecting obsession. Nash didn’t love how fast and complicated it was at first, but he became obsessed, playing more than 1,000 times in his basement: “I never got bored with it.”

This article appears in the January 2025 issue of Washingtonian.

Tatyana Masters

Editorial Fellow