Mission Control is a BLAST! It's a not-so-hidden gem on the second floor of a market in DTSA, which is the perfect way to spend the evening after walking around and eating in the area. There's a variety of pinball machines and classic old school arcade games to choose from (as well as some new machines which were recently added). You can exchange cash for tokens and all the games are reasonably priced, either 2 tokens (50¢) or 4 tokens ($1). They've got a DJ bumping live music to set the mood, a couple bartenders dishing out fun themed drinks, and there's even a dance floor with a disco ball if you feel like getting down. It's got a little something for everybody, even if you're bad at the games you can still have fun with friends, on a date, or even on your own! HIGHLY recommend you check this place out, it's a guaranteed good time that isn't expensive which is rare nowadays!! read more

I hadn't been to Mission Control in about two years, so I was really looking forward to going back. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the same experience I remembered. There used to be an area with around a dozen pinball machines, but that area was completely bare this time. There were still pinball machines along another wall, but I remember them being in both areas, so it felt like there were quite a few fewer machines overall. A few of the other games weren't working either, including the air hockey and basketball games. I also noticed there wasn't a DJ that night. That may have been something that simply wasn't scheduled for that evening, so I'm not going to hold that against the place. I'm just mentioning what I experienced. I did get to play Galaga, which was fun, but I was hoping to play Centipede and it wasn't there that night. I ended up playing only two games before heading downstairs to the tiki bar. Maybe it was just an off night, and I may have caught Mission Control at a bad time. I just remember it being a much more lively and fun arcade the last time I was there. I was disappointed because I had really been looking forward to coming back. I hope it was just an off night, because I'd like to see it get back to the place I remember. read more

Had an amazing time last Saturday, April 12 as we celebrated my son's 25th birthday! Sonny and his staff go out of their way to a comedy the parties he had things set up for us. We are out on the wonderful outdoor patio and he helped us order food and just kept asking if we needed anything so you're so appreciate him. It's a great attitude and he's just a really nice person. We'll definitely be booking another event there soon. And the food downstairs amazing we were able to order pizzas, Tacos hamburgers, chicken bowls. My son had a really great birthday! Thanks, Sonny I'm making that happen! read more

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Dope spot in downtown santa ana for arcades, drinks and music. There's a bunch of pinball machines, 4 tokens per play. There's an outside sink on floor for you to wash your hands, 2 tokens machine for you to exchange coins. Air hockey table in the back. Overall dope spot to come after having dinner and dessert im downtown santa ana. read more

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It was super fun and I loved the games. In the beginning of the night the music was okay butttt later in the evening the music was poppinnn. Super fun for a group night even a date night is cool too. The bartenders are wonderful and were so so sweet! Overall great night read more

I wanted to like this bar, but ultimately I don't think it was for me. I found Mission Control on Yelp. I really liked the concept. I loved the video game theme and was so excited to give them a try. We found a $5 parking garage nearby and walked over. The entrance was a little difficult to find, but we got there eventually. When we arrived, it was around 11pm on a Saturday night. There were less people than I was expecting at this time, and it was not as lively as I'd hoped it'd be. The DJ, despite the vacant dance floor, was pretty good, and a couple of guests were having a good time dancing together. In the arcade section, some other guests were enjoying the collection of games with drinks in hand. But although these (regulars?) seemed to be enjoying their night, I just couldn't get into the swing of things. Perhaps it was the lukewarm ambiance. Or maybe the fact that I didn't like my drink. I got "The Smash Ball," a Jameson cocktail with lemon juice, mint, and simple syrup. It tasted abrasive, like that harsh taste you get from bottled lemon juice. My friends' cocktails tasted fine, but I ended up chugging mine. But another complaint I have is that all three cocktails looked the same, despite being three different drinks. I suppose since I came into this bar expecting a "video game theme," I was expecting the cocktails to also be a little bit more dressed up? I did not feel that there was anything particularly "Smash Ball" - esque about my drink.  I was expecting a little more from this experience and left disappointed. read more

Mission Control - Smash Ball - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

We didn't have any drinks here, so this review is only for the gameplay side of Mission Control. I was excited to check it out because I love arcades and the vibe here is great, dimly lit with purple/blue LED lighting and a bar atmosphere. Unfortunately, several machines were broken and ate my tokens without working. I had to track down an employee three different times, and eventually was told that if it kept happening they wouldn't give me my tokens back... which felt a little unfair since it wasn't my fault the machines were faulty. Definitely frustrating. That said, one thing I loved, there's a sink right outside the bathrooms to wash your hands after touching all the arcade games. Such a small but fantastic touch. Overall, cool vibe and concept, but the broken machines were a letdown. Minus one star for that. read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Literally would be my go to spot but, yall got rid of all of your good games! My brother wanted to come here and spend time for his birthday. We were ready to play some fighting games but they were all gone! I would always recommend this spot to my friends as we are competitive. They added these for what? You guys don't do tickets. We just want some cool games that were there before. It's unfortunate I will be looking my business elsewhere unless they bring back their game machines. read more

Mission Control - No idea why these were added and games gone - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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A couple months late but I had my birthday at Mission Control that's located in the McFadden Public Market (upstairs). I would have another event here no questions asked. Sonny (the manager) was super helpful with scheduling the event, he made sure that everything leading up to and during the event was perfect for us and gave us full range to decorate the deck. (I didn't want much but I still appreciated the 'go-ahead'). The price of the deck and the deck itself was perfect for the amount of people we had. The bar staff was super friendly and made sure the drinks were flowing for us. The arcade itself, I was too busy to play but my guests throughly enjoyed the games, photos booth and music. Thank you to Sonny and the staff for helping to keep us safe, make sure we enjoyed ourselves and for taking care of us for my birthday. Side note - don't be discouraged by parking. There are two parking structures direct across the street off Main St. the parking directly behind the building is private and with a little research discovery, you will see it mentioned on the site about the parking. read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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It's probably hard for most people to imagine but there was a time when there were bookstores everywhere. There were also video game arcades everywhere. I know, I know, this was hundreds of years ago. Well, there are hardly any bookstores or arcades left but thankfully, there are still a few of both kinds, here and there. Mission Control is an arcade located above a mini food hall and a tiki bar of all things. The arcade is heavy on the pinball games so if pinball is your jam, you are in luck. There are some old classic games, too, like Galaga and Ms. Pac Man Nearly all the games cost a buck to play. That seems expensive to me but again, if you're not playing games here, good luck finding an arcade somewhere else. They also have a gorgeous, sleek bar in the arcade with an absolute ton of interesting craft beers. Kids are welcome here but apparently not so at night. Good luck finding parking. There is very limited street parking. Otherwise, there are some pay garages nearby. Better support these dinosaurs or they really will go extinct. read more

Mission Control - Real live video games and pinball. Be still, my heart. - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Stopped in while I was waiting for my daughter, good vibes for sure. It's a younger crowd and I'm likely standing out a bit in my Dad uniform, but there's alcohol and pinball machines so whatever, I'm in. :P The machines are in good working order, there's a live DJ, and a well staffed bar with good selection of beer and mixed drinks - what else do you need? ;) read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This place is a kaleidoscope of fun with varying degrees of experiences from an arcade, to a tiki bar, to a speakeasy, to a restaurant. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the food was delicious. And bonus they have a Pokémon pinball machine. What really got me about the place is you can bring your kids there if you want or come with just adult activities in mind. Definitely check this place out. It's huge and tastefully magnetic. read more

You can't beat the atmosphere, there's a lot going on between the Tiki bar downstairs. The awesome food court with a diverse selection of foods. They even have coffee for those people that are into that but mission control has to take the cake between the good beers, the awesome drinks, the great vibes not to mention the pinball machines to keep anyone entertained 100% recommend this place to everybody it's also family friendly so bring everyone. Work off the pizza and wings on the way up to mission control read more

Mission Control - One of my favorite pinball machines, I'm not that great, but damnit i got that dog in me and I'ma beat me - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Took my brother here for his 42nd birthday and it was a blast. The place is packed with retro arcade games, from Guitar Hero (6 tokens) to The Simpsons (just 1 token). Tokens are only a quarter, so you can go wild without breaking the bank. My brothers favorite game was venom pinball. The energy was electric with line dancing happening in the background, and they even have cup holders built into the machines, genius. Parking's across the street with 2 hours free, and dogs are welcome on the patio. Surprisingly lively for a Friday night, and totally worth it for gamers and nostalgia lovers alike. read more

Mission Control - Outdoor patio - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

I'm not sure how this place runs but we were very excited to visit. But as soon as we arrived we said hello and none of the staff at the bar welcomed us or even acknowledged us. We stood at the bar trying to order but staff was too busy talking to each other The place itself was nasty. Smelled awful and looks like it isn't taken care of too well. We didn't get to try any drinks because it was just not a good experience so I don't have an opinion on that part. read more

Nice little spot upstairs above another restaurant. At first we got lost and thought we were in the wrong building. The people downstairs for the restaurant let us know to go up the stairs! Parking was very busy the night we went but it was also a Saturday night so that makes sense. We parked in the parking garage across the street. Didn't order any food but the drinks were good. It's a nice place to play some arcade games and chill with friends. After 9pm it becomes 21+ and a Dj plays music. read more

Mission Control - We came here to celebrate a friend's birthday. - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This place used to be so fun to visit for date night or with a group of friends, but it's definitely not the same as before. The got rid of a lot of the arcade games that they used to have which were classics like mortal kombat or street fighter. Now they probably have like half the arcade games and it's almost the same amount of games as like a lamppost pizza. Sucks because we used to love this spot but now it's just not worth the drive to dtsa anymore. read more

This spot takes me back to the simple times when there were just arcade machines, pinball machines, and just being able to have a good time with people. They also have a great selection of drinks while displaying on their TV modern takes of the classic fighting game titles. It's also above McFadden Market if you wanted to grab some good tasting grub, as well. read more

Food service and Ambiance were all top notch and the drinks were made correctly and bartenders were informed and friendly. Hardest part was finding it and then finding parking! There is parking in the back but they do charge. read more

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This is one of the best bars I've been to. Super chill and the bartender David was top tier. The owner Sonny is the GOAT!

Decided to come here after dinner. We really don't know too many places in Santa Ana but this one sounded pretty cool. Came in through the back as they share the building with another stablishment. One thing to note though, if you can't find a spot on the street, Parking in the back lot is Paid. If you're Parking there be sure to scan the QR code on the postd signs and follow the Instructions. Place is on the second floor. When you come in you're immediately greeted by coin op arcade machines and pinball games. They had such a good collection of games for a dollar each. They have an Atm and token machine so you can keep going back. None of this card loading stuff everyone has now. They got a stage for DJ, Bar with a good selection of drinks and very courteous bartenders. Apparently they host videogame and trading card events as well! We had alot of fun and will definitely come back when we're in town. read more

Came here for a trivia night and it was a lot of fun. Wide variety of games and pinball machines. The beer list wasn't my favorite - lots of major brewery's but no local microbrews. The place is clean and wasn't packed for a Thursday. read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Super cool bar-cade! They had a DJ on a Saturday night. The machines are fun to play since it's old school games. Downstairs is a food hall which is perfect after a night of drinking! No cover charge! read more

Just make it read. "This place whips ass. I love just playing "Ice Cold Beer" . It's the ideal spot to play games with friends and get drinkys read more

Went here with some family to celebrate their birthdays and we had a great time! Loved the vintage games and the ambiance of the bar, the drinks were also good and the bartender was very kind. However, multiple machines throughout the entire night ate our coins and we had to keep going up to the bar to ask for them back and eventually gave up as it ended up being kinda annoying. But we appreciated that they gave us the coins back each time we went up as it ended up equating to quite a few dollars by the end of the night which was a bummer. The games were fun and they had a lot of pinball machines and shooting/gun games that were very nostalgic. While some of them didn't work, the ones that did were fun! They also had a cute photo booth. The bar closed at 10:30 which was pretty early, especially when you're busy playing games! But we had a great time and will be back read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Such a cool spot! Great drinks, the old-school arcade vibe, and cool staff. I will absolutely be back. read more

Lots of cool arcade games to play with your kids. Drinks are cheap and tasty. No food is the downfall

Mission Control is such a fun bar with great cocktails and games!!! Great vibe and I love there rooftop/balcony!! Went with friends last weekend and we had a great time, bartenders are super friendly too! Definitely will be back again. read more

I used to love this place. the atmosphere, the game selection, the fact that they had pinball machines. It was my favorite arcade period. But recently, I feel as if things have gone downhill. Before, the lineup would rotate every few months, they'd have cool, often unseen games, at least one vector game, and I don't think I ever saw a game down for repair and I never had a token stolen. But things have changed. For one, the lineup hasn't rotated in a bit. That's fine for the most part. There are a lot of solid titles on the floor. But the main issue has been the maintenance, or the lack thereof. I went there just last night, and the games are in worse shape than they were a month ago. The Mortal Kombat has both coin slots not accepting tokens. One set of controls on Street Fighter had a bad joystick and the other set had half the buttons stick. The Simpsons machine is actually gross, and none of the controls work quite right. Missile Command has a trackball that sticks. Ms. Pac-Man would reset after a few rounds. Most of the monitors are at least a little messed up. I get it. Arcade and pinball machines need a lot of maintenance and the machines are a few decades old now. But I never was disappointed by a machine having ruined controls, a messed up monitor, or stealing my tokens until recently. At least the pinball tables seem to be working fine enough. Also, this place serves drinks. Most of these problems are probably because the drinks spill onto the control panels. If the games were a little more spaced out and had drink holders in between them, I don't see this happenings as often. the Pinball machines all have drink holders, so why don't the video games? This seems like an easy fix to a problem that's getting worse. I used to LOVE this place. It's the only real arcade with real video games and pinball in The area. Also, it's the only token play retro arcade I've been to in SoCal. But I won't be going back until at least these basic bits of housekeeping and maintenance are done. read more

Attended a thinly stinky bar trivia event here. Bar staff were quick and friendly, the space was clean. There is a small food court style space down stairs, they allow you to bring in outside food. read more

This might be the best spot for trivia night in OC (on Thursdays at 7pm)! It's not too crowded and there are plenty of places to sit. There is also a lot of space in general, so it doesn't get too crowded even with people standing around. The trivia host was great. He was funny and didn't take too long in between questions and rounds. It's located on the top floor of the McFadden Public Market. Downstairs there are a couple of food vendors which is great because there's a variety for everyone, and you can bring your food upstairs. I got a cheese pizza downstairs at Mongiello's which was a solid 4/5. The crust was pretty thin and the pizza was floppy, but the flavor was there. It had a lot of pizza sauce (almost as if I asked for extra), which I liked. But I do wish the sauce was more tarty. Don't expect some gourmet pizza if you try it - but it's decent for food you get at a bar. Street parking was plentiful on a Thursday evening and is $2/hr (max 2 hours, but you can use your phone to add time with ParkMobile so make sure you take note of the zone you're parked in). read more

Mission Control - Cheese pizza from Mongiello's 4/5 - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

*1 1/2 Stars* I read quite a few of the reviews here on Yelp about this place. I loved the idea of the Retro 80's vintage style! THAT is about the Only Thing that I liked about this place! This place Was Not easy to find! No signage Anywhere on or near the street! It's in a non-descript building on the second floor, with No way of knowing that it's Actually there! There's one big room with arcade games and pinball machines, 60-40 in favor of the pinball machines. One very big screen tv. One bar that served drinks. {The Other thing that was nice about this place was the restroom; nice, spacious, and clean.} *Again* maybe 1 1/2 stars and that's generous! I wouldn't recommend this place, but you should probably go see it for yourself! read more

when are they going to put some maintenance into the arcade games. i've been coming to this bar for years, and it doesn't seem like they care about the functionality of the arcade machines. multiple are malfunctioning, and have been for years. it's so disappointing. i keep coming back thinking this is going to be the time that they're all fixed, but they're not. if your the owner and reading this can you pretty please with a cherry on top fix the arcade games? i assume you built an arcade bar to make money, but i also believe that a part of you loves old arcade games. read more

Mission Control - Arcades Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Mission Control is a truly unique spot, bringing together gamers, food lovers, and craft cocktail enthusiasts all in one place.

I had the best time with my friend at this barcade! The drinks were on point, the dj knew what he was doing and the patio was a great escape to catch my breath for a minute before heading back to the dance floor They have a variety of games so it's really fun for everyone whether you like pinball or FPS games. The games also operate the old fashioned way and take quarters, so make sure you take those with you read more

I have a lot of love for this bar, and Ted is just the best bartender you're gonna find in Orange County, but the Thursday Night Trivia with Ryan was what made this place the best, and it sucks that it's gone. Mission Control is a good place to come and hang out, but without the draw of trivia, I just can't justify going out of my way for it. The staff have always been fantastic, their cocktail menu is solid, and I really miss going there for a game of trivia! If they brought it back, I'd be back in a heartbeat. read more

Everything is outdated and four machines were broken. I tried getting my money back for the coins, and they said they couldn't do anything. This used to be the spot, but everything has been changed and moved around. read more

One of my staple places to take friends if you're in the Santa Ana area. Cocktails are not that great but that's not really why anybody goes to an arcade. The theming is cool and the bartenders are nerdy and nice. Kind of what you want/expect. Order beer. read more

We paid cash for $10 of game tokens when we first arrived. When closing out our tab, the $10 for game tokens was added to our bill so we effectively paid $20 for $10 worth of coins. Be careful when buying game tokens at the bar. The drinks were good but not worth this extra price. Will not be back for a while because of this annoying experience. read more

**I would recommend to read some of the 1 or 2 stars reviews for this place** Our group decided to check this place out after hearing a lot of good things, but we were pretty disappointed when we arrived. As someone who enjoys arcades like Round 1 or Dave and Buster's, I was expecting a more varied experience. This place mainly features retro arcade games, but there were two major issues. First, the maintenance of the games was problematic. We had to keep inserting tokens multiple times because the machines wouldn't register them, and at one point, we even had to bang on a machine to get it to work. Several games were also malfunctioning. For example, on both Mario Kart machines, the button to release items wasn't working. Another shooting game had a non-functional reload button. The second issue was the overwhelming number of pinball machines. Around 60-70% of the games were pinball, which left us with very few other options. We ended up spending all our tokens on the pinball machines because there wasn't much else to try. On a positive note, the DJ had a solid setlist, which was a nice touch. Overall, while this place might be a hit for pinball enthusiasts, it's not the best choice for those looking for a broader arcade experience. read more