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I/O Arcade Bar

4.3 (41 reviews)
Closed Closed
Updated 3 months ago

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I/O ARCADE BAR ATMOSPHERE

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Tricia C.

My husband surprised me with a date night to this bar, and I was super excited! Total 80's vibes, reminiscent of Aladdin's Castle at the mall. The best part is that the games are priced from 25 cents to a dollar! We played so many games and still had some extra change left over. The games are all in great condition. I was very happy to see they had Skee-Ball, as it's one of my favorites! There is an ATM on site as well as a coin exchange machine, just in case you're unprepared like we were. I'm a huge fan of this place, and I will definitely be back!

Jackie F.

Pro: Games! Cheap Booze! Clean Bathroom! Con: Missing some classic games. North of downtown Madison hides this gem. Pinballs in the back, Smash bro by boardgame room, guitar hero by the front entrance, bar right in the middle. There are tons of retro games from paper boy to TMNT to MK2. Drinks are cheap, Long Island, Sex on the Beach, and beer was only 18 dollars. Freaking amazing. Do respect the neighborhood and be quiet when leaving the joint, it's around residential area.

Salvatore's Pepperoni Pizza and a vodka pineapple
Amy M.

I/O Arcade Bar is a 21+ barcade in Madison near Lake Monona. There are many vintage games, and most of them are just a quarter. The staff seemed nice enough. I will say that the crowd tends to be in their 20s. I love going here with my friends on the weekends. I only have two complaints. One, some of the games have eaten my quarters before. Two, the food selection is minimal which is not great when you are drinking. Overall, I recommend I/O Arcade Bar for a fun night out with friends if you want to play some games and sip on some cocktails.

a man and a woman playing a game
Katherine V.

Went to I/O for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the whole experience. There are tons of arcade games, pinball machines, and board games to choose from and all are in good condition. Make sure to bring a good amount of quarters so you can play to your heart's content - or you can use their coin exchange machine too. They've got fun alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks too - I got their nonalcoholic "Full Restore" and it was much better than most mocktails you can get other places. We went earlier in the afternoon and it was fairly quiet, but got much busier as the day went on. So, if you want a more intimate experience, definitely go earlier. I/O Arcade is a great place to spend an afternoon and I can't wait to go again soon!

Some Guitar Hero I didn't play!
Lex K.

Okay, some things I loved about this place: all gender multi person bathroom like it's Ally McBeal, $3 PBR tallboys, super great lighting and the best wallpaper I've ever encountered in person, dollars turn into quarters not tokens so if for some reason you need to leave before you spend all your gaming money you just have a pocket full o' change and not a bunch of tokens that you can't use anywhere else, good service, spots for all different types of gaming (tables for board/ttrpg, skeeball, pinball, standard arcade cabinets), and interesting variety of music playing that I was mostly down with. I will say I was a little sad that the games I really wanted to play were all out of service. Teller 4 was just facing a wall next to the bathroom. Another game had a sign on it that it was broken. Some other games DIDNT say they needed repairing, but they do. I do love a good barcade, I really do. Sadly, I think this is missing out on some of its potential. Swap out some of these rando retro (not the classics, just the no name crap ones) cabinets for something else like House of the Dead. Make sure all the games work. I know it's hard because people are spilling drinks on them all day, but imagine how many more people are going to come in if you do! Take your four stars to a five! I believe in you!

Pinball
Eli T.

Super fun "barcade" went here when visiting some people in Maddison. The beer selection was good and reasonably priced. There's arcades, pinball, Mario card, and even board games. Love the vibe very chill hipster place. Highly recommend if you're looking for a fun night out!

Smashed Bandicoot
Allison G.

Games, drinks, and nostalgia!? I'm in! I/O is in arcade bar located inside a refurbished warehouse in Madison. They have arcade games, pinball, skee ball, board games, video games, and video game themed cocktails! They even have lockers you can put your things in while you play. The games are so much fun and the drinks are delicious! The only downside is all the machines take quarters. It can be a bit expensive, especially since I've been to other arcade bars that give you tokens with every drink you purchase. However, it's totally worth the money! I will definitely be returning for more! This is such a unique, fun spot in Madison!

Dance revolution
Kayla C.

A super fun spot. Obviously, I miss plan b but this is a great replacement. They have all different types of arcade games that are fun for anyone. We mostly stuck to dance dance revolution for the majority of our time. I wish my friends would've seen that they offer Mario kart for multiple players but we missed it until the very end. The arcade bar has a nice offering of drinks, but the food took awhile to get after ordering. I can't wait to go back and try some new games.

hot mfs
Emily H.

Noodle was the best bartender ever and they make the best drinks ever the service was great and the drinks even better

Eric B.

The line up of pinball machines is pretty impressive and known even by a friend of mine in the Netherlands. The local tap bear line up isn't bad either. The coin-up vintage video games are what you would expect. Joist was on had and I enjoyed a couple of games. There were several contemporary games on hand as well, including an interesting riff on pong. The vibe is decent... pinball machine variety trumps the coin-op video games.

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6 years ago

Highly recommend this place! Great games and good beer selection!! We'll be back soon!!

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Review Highlights - I/O Arcade Bar

There are tons of arcade games, pinball machines, and board games to choose from and all are in good condition.

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4.4(25 reviews)
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A nice little local spot that's a bit hidden. MadisonTap is classy without being pretentious…read more Disclaimer: I did not order food here so my review may be a bit biased. The bartender assured us that their vegan options were incredible. MadisonTap features many local Wisconsin beers on tap. They seem to often rotate the beers and keep a solid selection. MadisonTap was spacious with bar seats, tables, and booths available. The design and decor were well thought out. The crowd seems to be young professionals in their mid-20s to early 30s. I don't recall the beers I got here but I do remember prices being ~$7-10 range mark. The bartender and owner place special emphasis on being vegetarian and vegan friendly. Even one of the cocktails used vegan butter. There was a single bartender when I visited but it was a bit slow. We had a great conversation and watched Christmas movies on the projectors. Overall, solid experience. 5/5. Favorited in Madison, WI.

This was a fun find for us while we were in town. It was a bit hard to locate - we heard live music…read morebut couldn't tell if we could enter from the back. We entered from the front of the building. It looks like they feature a different brewery every month. The interior of the bar was pretty classy and new. Their patio was very cool and spacious. A great patio for evening drinks! The live music was pretty good too. Can't speak to the food however, since we didn't eat there.

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MadisonTap - Summer gonna be wild

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Atico Lounge

4.2(10 reviews)
0.3 miWilliamson - Marquette

Wow, I had no idea this place existed until a friend mentioned it. Madison is such a great place…read morefor a rooftop experience given that our buildings are generally lower than the Capitol and it is a lovely focal point. Alas, we have so few, and I'm so excited this concept opened! I came on a fall/winter evening, but definitely would love to come back in sunny outdoor weather. On the top floor of the Moxy hotel, Atico serves up a really lovely array of Mexican and Mexican-themed foods. They've got some really elevated entree options, but also have a host of street tacos. While their menu is a bit pricey (some were actually outrageous), the happy hour specials they had listed on the table were a great deal -- definitely would love to come back here for happy hour. I ordered 2 al pastor street tacos and a carne asada street taco. They're nicely sized and are decently full with meat. Onion and cilantro tops them off just like a street taco should be. I thought they were pretty tasty. I didn't love that the pineapple in the al pastor was chopped on top and was served cold (the pineapple, not the meat), but I still ate every ounce of both my tacos, so take my complaint with a grain of salt. My margarita was also good, I appreciated that they were willing to make it "up" instead of "on the rocks." Our server was very accommodating and able to answer questions. Overall, I don't know that the food is worth the price, but it would definitely be worth it on a rare occasion to enjoy the rooftop ambiance. The happy hour also solves for this conundrum. So, I'd certainly like to be back to Atico.

I stopped here for a cocktail with a few friends right when it opened and I had a great experience!…read moreThe service was friendly and they were accommodating and knowledgeable. I haven't had any of their food but the drinks are always great here. They have an extensive menu. The space inside is beautiful and I love the bright fun colors! I would love to try their food before a show at the Sylvee or Breese Stevens as it's located in a prime spot on east wash.

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3.9(171 reviews)
0.3 miWilliamson - Marquette
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I went to vintage while visiting some friends in Madison to grab some dinner. We all shared the…read morenachos which had a good amount of toppings and tasted great. I ordered the og burger and it was cooked to my liking and although it's a simple burger the flavor was phenomenal. One of the best parts of our time at vintage was our server Lidia. Lidia had a fun and bubbly personality and made a great effort to make sure we were all satisfied with our food. Definitely recommend checking out vintage if in the area!

Loved my food here. Fries were excellent. Pretzels are hand braided and huge! Plus they give you…read morecheese and mustard to dip them in.... Love that. But the fried cheese curds were the best item of that day! They came out in a metal pull with ranch to dip them in. I asked for a side of buffalo sauce and tossed the cheese curds in the sauce and that just took them over the top!!!! Service was good. Everyone was friendly. My coworker and I got there at the end of the brunch hour (2 pm) and settled on the things we ordered. After we put our order in they gave us new menus.... They could've gave us a heads up as the lunch menu had more items and more of what we really wanted so that we were a bit frustrated with the staff because of that. Place was cool as it was game day for foot ball so it had people in there cheering and giving the place to life.

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Vintage Brewing Co. Capitol East - Bar - lots on tap and lots of options

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High Noon Saloon - Entrance photo

High Noon Saloon

4.3(92 reviews)
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A lovely 400 seat capacity venue complete with a loft that features tables and chairs. From the…read morestreet, the space is available for lease, but on the backside it's all business. The wife and I were in town and had come to see Not Quite Brothers (Iowa) which have a phenomenal mixed set list that covers more decades than their age would suggest. In fact, I'm pretty sure the majority of the crowd were older than the band. Regardless, a good time was had by all. I'm pretty sure this Saturday night show was wrapped up and had a bow put on it by 10 or 10:30pm. I would totally come see a show here again and would totally see NQB again. One interesting thing to note about NQB, is that once they hit the stage, they played non-stop until they were done, no breaks, came back for an encore set and done \m/

We have a great time every time we visit high noon saloon. We usually sit in the very small seating…read moresection upstairs but occasionally get down right to the band on the floor. This time we opted for upstairs seating and went downstairs to grab a couple of drinks just prior to the show starting. The beverage service is generally prompt even though at times there can be a long lines. The biggest joy is hearing these small bands perform and hoping for them that they make it to the big time!

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High Noon Saloon - Schedule

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High Noon Saloon - Take note, this is certainly new and they have a medal detector at the door too!

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I/O Arcade Bar - bars - Updated May 2026

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