South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Getting flocked at Throw Social, Delray Beach’s new adult party venue
Flanked by flocks of plastic pink flamingos, faux-grass walls and Instagram-friendly neon, Throw Social opened to the public this week on Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue with a cornucopia of games and cocktails aimed at adults.
Like a Dave & Busters with wading bird motifs, owner Ginger Flesher-Sonnier’s 12,000-square-foot entertainment village combines cocktails, bar food and the leisurely activity of hurling sharp weapons at round targets. At least eight ax-throwing bays occupy the outdoor patio, which features a live stage and rentable VIP cabanas, while, inside, drinkers can take turns tossing darts at fancy dartboards activated with iPads.
“We wanted elevated games, light-up games, because it’s fun to competitively socialize,” says Flesher-Sonnier, of Lighthouse Point. “Maybe you might not want to go to a dive bar and do that, but here, there’s a touch of class, and this place is meant to get young people off their phones. “
While Throw Social is open to children, after 9 p.m., the venue becomes 21-and-older with daily DJs and live bands, she says.
Here’s a breakdown of the entertainment at Throw Social. Game prices are for 90 minute sessions:
Throw Social’s 3,000-square-foot interior resembles a Polynesian beach bungalow with board games. “Most of the phone calls I’m getting are from people interested in bachelor and bachelorette parties, baby showers, and bar and bat mitzvahs,” she says.
There are four dart-throwing bays indoors ($20 per person), with dartboards mounted on faux-grass walls beneath chic, zebra-striped awnings. Round topiaries frame each bay, and flatscreen TVs above the dartboards keep score, while smart tablets on side tables let players start new games.
Another game is TapGLO ($15 per person), which is basically table tennis with dancing LED lights, and players aim ping-pong balls into their opponent’s multicolored square.
Fancy yourself a lumberjack? Eight ax-throwing lanes ($35 per person) on the rear patio let children 8 and older (21-plus after 9 p.m.) chuck lightweight axes at a wooden bull’s-eye. So-called “Axe Pros” will coach patrons about the best way to achieve satisfying, wood-splitting thud of a hatchet sticking the target.
Adjacent to Throw Social’s cocktail bar is skeech, a shuffleboard game in which players roll small metal balls down a wooden lane, skeeball-style, into holes on the other side. Outside, there’s Warp Hole ($15 per person), a cornhole variant with wavy boards.
A bamboo table near the rear patio abounds with board games, including a “Golden Girls”-themed jigsaw puzzle and What Do You Meme?, along with tabletop stalwarts like Boggle, Family Feud and Uno. On the patio, there is a light-up beer pong, giant Jenga and giant Connect 4.
Wastin’ away again
Throw Social features a Polynesian-themed gastropub menu with five flatbread pizzas, salads and entrees, such as grilled Hawaiian chicken sandwiches, grilled teriyaki burgers and pineapple-barbecue-glazed wings. There are also pulled-pork sliders, Hawaiian skewers plated with coconut white rice and, for dessert, caramel cheesecakes.
Twelve craft cocktails ($15-$20), created by mixologist Charles Lougheed, are served at Throw Social’s three bars (one inside, two outside), and they include Blue Hawaiian (vodka, coconut rum, blue curacao and pineapple juice).
Three indoor VIP cabanas, framed in palm trees and furnished with bamboo tables and wicker ottomans, have fauxgrass backsplashes emblazoned in neon messages such as “Let’s Get Flocked Up” and “Tropic Like It’s Hot,” which are sure to be fodder for ‘gram selfies. They’re available for $150 per person for
90 minutes and seat 10-12 visitors. Meanwhile, seven outdoor cabanas ($350 for a
90-minute rental), offer better views of DJs and the outdoor stage.
Daily 3-6 p.m. happy hours will feature limbo contests, hula-hooping and conga lines, along with dog-friendly 3-6 p.m. daily “yappy hours” on the rear patio. There will also be live bands Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Flocking to Delray Beach
Flesher-Sonnier, until recently the owner of a chain of escape rooms in Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia, considered herself lucky to land on Atlantic Avenue.
After heavy COVID restrictions in the Northeast killed much of her business, which relies on indoor socializing, she tanked most of her future projects and
moved to South Florida. (She still operates Throw Social’s flagship location in D.C., which she opened in early 2020.)
In another life, before opening upscale gaming venues, Flesher-Sonnier taught high school statistics and coached mathlete teams at public schools and an all-girls academy in South Carolina. She quit after meeting her husband, Darrin, a Green Beret, and followed his deployment overseas to Prague in 2014.
That’s where she first discovered escape rooms, she says, and realized she wanted to open upscale gaming venues.
“In Prague, you could tell some dude decorated it in secondhand furniture, and it looked dingy, and I wanted to give these places a touch of class, make them more immersive,” Flesher-Sonnier says.
Later, in Washington, D.C., she opened her first escape room in 2015, and in 2017 her first ax-throwing bar in Philadelphia. Now, she’s betting big on South Florida.
The venue is planning a New Year’s Eve party called “Get Leid,” which will feature limbo contests, conga lines, live music and food, climaxing with a champagne toast at midnight. A grand-opening party will follow on Jan. 13.
Throw Social, at 29 SE Second Ave., in Delray Beach, is open 3 p.m.-midnight Monday-Wednesday, 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday. Call 800-561-0755 or go to ThrowSocial.com.