Skip to main content

5 of the Best Arcade Bars in America

The video arcade isn’t quite what it used to be — or is it? More people are gaming at home these days, teaming up with folks from around the country and world via the power of the web. But there are still quite a few arcade bar, the entertaining mashup of nostalgic video game culture and hooch.

The beauty of the arcade bar is hands-on activity. The bar side of the coin encourages socializing and engagement. The arcade side spawns competitive bouts between your favorite pals or fellow gamers you just met. And the stakes can be quite high when you’re contemplating going with Sub-Zero or Johnny Cage for that next Mortal Kombat battle—the next round’s not going to buy itself.

Recommended Videos

Ground Kontrol

Ground Kontrol
Ashley Anderson

Portland, Oregon’s Ground Kontrol touts itself as the West Coast’s premier classic arcade. It’s tough to argue with the claim, given a lineup of games that includes everything from Asteroids and Bubble Bobble to Shinobi and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There’s also plenty of pinball and often DJs spinning retro jams. Oh, and it’s Portland, so there’s an impressive cocktail list and some local draft beer to enjoy while trying to remember a cheat code.

Button Mash

button mash
Button Mash/Facebook

Set on L.A.’s iconic Sunset Boulevard, Button Mash brings Double Dragon, NBA Jam, Frogger, Tron, and more to the Angelino Heights and Echo Park hoods of the city’s east side. The food is surprisingly good, with offerings like double-fried tamarind chicken wings and spicy Korean cold noodles. And with about a dozen brews on draft, a healthy can selection, and even a few wines, a quick game or two can easily turn into an entire quarter-dropping evening.

Up-Down

Up-Down
Up-Down

The Twin Cities is home to Up-Down, an expansive joint with fifty arcade games from the 80s and 90s, skee-ball, and colossal Jenga and Connect Four sets. As a nod to the thriving Midwest craft beer scene, the place boasts 60 draft beers and pizza for grub. A few of its best games include Battletoads, NFL Blitz ’99, and Punch Out. The small Up-Down chain includes sibling spots in St. Louis, Nashville, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Des Moines.

Two-Bit’s Retro Arcade

Two-Bits Retro Arcade
Two-Bit’s Retro Arcade

The Barcade franchise in New York City is perfectly fine but the harder-to-find games are found at Two-Bit’s. This Lower East Side establishment has late-night tempters like Big Buck HD but also treasures like Spy Hunter and After Burner. Better still, plenty of booze (including some sake), simple but satisfying snacks, and daily specials. It’s perfectly dive-y and there’s a good chance an old Simpsons episode will be playing on the projector.

Pinballz

Pinballz
Pinballz Arcade/Facebook

Austin, Texas has a surprising number of arcade options. Pinballz is among the best, fit with a wonderfully casual BYOB policy at its original location. There are 80‘s themed nights, live bands, and weekly specials if the largest collection of new and classic pinball machines in the state isn’t quite enough for you. At their Buda location, there’s even a German-inspired beer garden. The three Texas locations are also some of the relatively few arcade bars that are family-friendly, with distractions like bumper cars and laser mazes keeping the kids busy while you work on besting your top scores. 

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
The best portable grills: Our top picks for tailgating like a pro this season
Whether you like cooking over gas, charcoal, or wood, these portable grills are perfect for game-day eats
Coleman RoadTrip LXE Propane Grill

A few things upgrade your tailgating loadout, like a solid portable grill. It's the centerpiece for most game-day get-togethers—the one appliance that friends, families, and even hungry strangers gather 'round eagerly awaiting their turn at freshly grilled burgers, brats, kebabs, and more. If you want to cook up some serious culinary fun while tailgating this season, then one of these best portable grills will serve your alfresco cooking needs well.
Kenyon City Grill

Pair Kenyon's City Grill with a beefy portable power station, and you're ready for go-anywhere electric grilling. This plug-in model could well be the only grill you use at home thanks to its superb heat control and the high temperatures it can reach. You can clean the grate by hand or in the dishwasher, and the easy-clean drip trays last for many uses but can be tossed once overly soiled. Shout out to Kenyon for keeping things simple: The grill is controlled with just one knob, which features an off position and eight different heat settings ranging from low to high. Also, this is the "Official Grill of the Boston Red Sox," so there's that.

Read more
The best small cities in America for beer lovers to visit
Fina out which off the beaten track locations have the best beer culture
small cities beer lovers asheville  north carolina c getty images hometogo

Making a pilgrimage to your favorite brewery is a time-honored adventure for beer lovers, as is hunting around your local area for smaller breweries that you might not hear of otherwise. But with the explosion of craft brewing over the last decade, there are more breweries than ever to check out -- including some outside the major areas which you might not think to explore.

A new report aims to capture the best places for beer lovers to visit that are off the beaten track. The research, by vacation rental company HomeToGo, looked at search data and beer industry data to select "beer cities," then whittled those down to smaller locations with a population of less than 700,000 but at least five breweries. Ranking the locations was done by considering not only how many breweries were in the area, but also the cost of beer and the cost of vacation rental.

Read more
This is where you can find the best cocktail bars in the U.S.
You'll be surprised to see where the best U.S. cocktail bars are located
Gin cocktail

If you haven’t been paying close attention to the American cocktail landscape, you might not realize that it hasn’t always been like this. The cocktail renaissance of the early aughts (between 2003 and 2017) made bartending more of an art form as opposed to simply a job.

While it made the job appealing for creative, pioneering mixologists, it also brought back many classic cocktails that had seemingly been lost to time. While drinks like the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Boulevardier, and daiquiri have always been around, they (and many other drinks) have had a resurgence in popularity in the last few decades.

Read more