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Old North Arcade

4.0 (109 reviews)
InexpensiveBars, Arcades
Open • 4:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)
Updated a few days ago

Old North Arcade Photos

Business Info

OLD NORTH ARCADE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Divey
Casual
Happy hour specials

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Recommended Reviews - Old North Arcade

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Kayla B.

An older, small business arcade bar that leans heavily on the video gaming vibe. With cocktails named after video games and a bar full of free games to play, it can become the star of your evening. Note: Virtually all of their cocktail menu is sugar-heavy. Not a lot of complex, bitter, or boozy flavors to be found in their cocktail menu. That's not necessarily a bad thing; just something to be aware of. Definitely order a classic cocktail if you're looking for something less sweet. PROS: -MOST of the games are free. This lets you try most of the games in here as long as you're getting some sort of drink from the bar. -Their cocktail prices are very reasonable too. As it seems every cocktail and brewery in Columbus is getting pretty pricey, you can still enjoy some great drinks here without spending a ton of cash. -Speaking of, they have a great list of mocktails too. They're all pretty sweet (like the cocktails), but they are adorably garnished, and they have just as much attention as their alcoholic counterparts. CONS: -I'm more-than-happy to play some of the paid-for games, but getting money to do that was pretty difficult. Both change machines were out of money, and we were told to go out to the laundrymat to get change. -The paid-for games can be pretty pricey too. In some cases, 75 cents or a dollar a play. Happy to pay for games, again, but if we wanted to play two player, we're looking at $1.50 or $2 for a single game. -I'm a bit spoiled by other arcade bars, but I really, really, REALLY need tables next to the arcade games. There's very few tables available to put my drinks on aside from the gigantic tables in the center of the bar. I really don't want to put my drink behind me, out of my line of sight, and I haaaaate putting my drink on top of the arcade game itself. I don't want to accidentally spill it. -Some of the games weren't working or were partially working - like a Playstation emulator who had a controller that the left button wasn't working on it. This can make some games unplayable. -In classic older bar fashion, some of the tables and surfaces were sticky. None of the controls to the games were sticky, though.

Outside the vault
Dan W.

I stopped in today for my first time to play some games and try some of the new pizza they started selling a couple weeks ago. The games are awesome, as they have many of the old classics. For those of us who go way back to remembering spending tons of quarters on this games, this place is a blast. They even have a vault, with ONE game in it....TRON. How perfectly fitting for an arcade. As for the pizza....wow is it good. I had the pepperoni Detroit style pizza. The sauce was spicy, the crust was soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. They even top off every pizza with extra sauce, pecorino romano and basil. This is truly some great pizza.

Gross walls under the hand dryer!!

If I could rate zero stars I would !! The only saving grace about this place is SOME of the staff is nice. This place is honestly so nasty!! Also they closed so early what the heck is up with that! The drinks are too sweet and everything is so sticky. I don't think the bathrooms have been cleaned in months, I had to take a picture. Gross! Do better !!!

Arah K.

Old North Arcade, sometimes affectionately called "the barcade" is a wonderful, nostalgic hangout spot where you can sip from a variety of themed drinks while playing your favorite arcade or console games. The bar has a decent selection of drafts and and even better assortment of themed beverages from starter Pokemon to Mario characters, the teenage mutant ninja turtles, and even Loki from the MCU. Most of the games are free (air hockey and a few others cost a few dollars) and in warm weather there are outdoor tables for larger groups.

Aubrey L.

Old North Arcade was a really fun experience. We went for my friends 21st birthday and had a pretty good time. I really appreciated that they enforced the mask mandate. They have a menu of drinks that are named after different video games and movies. I found that the drinks were so sweet that I couldn't finish them, and they often made my stomach hurt. I did however really appreciate that they made my friend and our entire friend group a free cupcake shot for her 21st birthday which were delicious! The staff were nice and most of the games were free to play. The only issue was that there were times where people would not leave a specific game for extended periods of time and you had to ask them if they were going to finish up soon so others could play. Make sure that you bring $1 bills to this bar so you can play games but I would recommend it was fun! It would make a great cute date!

TMNT @craftedincolumbus
Stephanie L.

Pretty positive experience. Drinks were pretty good and the selection of games was nice! I especially liked that there was an air hockey table and skee ball. I was looking forward to the cocktails but they were a little bit uncreative to me? They were pretty and very cleverly named, but a bunch of them just seemed to be long islands in disguise. I will say i'm here for any beverage that features gushers though so that was a plus.

Ruth R.

Its a a bit a hole in the wall. It's rather dark inside. Anyway, there are several rooms full of old arcade games. There is a large outdoor seating area as well. drinks menu is fun with various drinks named after video games characters. I had Save The Princess it came with gummy peach slices & my husband had the TMNT The Secret of The Booze which came with gushers. I'm not an arcade type of person but it was fun. We had a fun little time.

Richard S.

Very nice classic arcade with pinball with a great staff, drink selection and pizza as well.

Isac K.

Old North Arcade is a hip bar-cade with great drinks, awesome bartenders, and countless arcade games. The bar has several consoles set up for you to play fun multi-player games with your friends, or with strangers (soon-to-be friends)! The place has a life-size poster of Carbonite Han Solo next to the bar, and a cool outdoor patio where you can relax, talk to friends at a table, or play some fun outdoor games! The bar has almost every game you can imagine, and now feature a new addition with the adjacent building being connected with plenty more games! Dance dance revolution, pacman, Super Smash Brothers, you name it!

Mac and cheese, chicken wings
Travis P.

The entertainment was Fun!! Playing old game! Go watch my video for the full review on my YouTube page. https://youtu.be/xwn0jN_w8qk

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8 years ago

I love their Hagrid's Butter beer lol Its nice to play free games while you drink for sure

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9 years ago

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9 years ago

I love James and Pierre and Stan and the beer was great and I'll be back soon Thanks for the good times.

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7 years ago

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11 years ago

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Benjamin M.

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10 years ago

Always love this place, decent drink selection and plenty of games. Walking distance from the house to boot! Staff are super friendly!

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10 years ago

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9 years ago

Love this place & the atmosphere! Parking could be better but it's to be expected near campus

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8 years ago

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11 years ago

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Benjamin M.

Thanks for the review Adam! Hope you come back to see us again soon!

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9 years ago

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7 years ago

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11 years ago

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Benjamin M.

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11 years ago

Great atmosphere, fun games, decent drink prices. We enjoy getting our Mario Kart on with friends. A fun addition to the old north area.

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Benjamin M.

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9 years ago

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8 years ago

On second thought, I like this place. It's actually good. 10/10 recommend. The hipster rejects are gone.

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11 years ago

Awesome craft beer!! This is a great place to get a good drink and play FREE games. Very clean and excellent service.

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Page 3 of 3

Ask the Community - Old North Arcade

Me and my gf are both 18. Can we come enjoy the experience, if we order something virgin?

They’re all-ages friendly until 8pm. Kids require adult supervision, but they start checking IDs at the door after 8pm, and with drink orders.

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

Review Highlights - Old North Arcade

“. Yes, folks, this barcade offers endless play of the original Mario Bros”

Mentioned in 10 reviews

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Brewcadia - Tons of old school arcade games

Brewcadia

4.3(44 reviews)
3.0 mi•Short North
•$$

I love Brewcadia still and will continue to come here but they got rid of the skee ball machine :(…read morethey now have buck hunter and a beer pong machine game but I guess the skee ball was too noisy?! Every night before bed I pray every night for this free skee ball machine to return. I am mildly obsessed with playing skee ball. Can you tell? Maybe because anyone can be good at it without any special skills and who doesn't love some tipsy competition? Idk Am I a crazy person?! We literally will decide to come to Brewcadia just to play skee ball so yes I'm sad that they had to get rid of the machine and apparently this deserved it's own updated review. I feel like the bartender was trying to tell me there's a chance it will be back, but that's also a good technique to get me to still keep coming here. Welp I will have to pay money at Bernard's to play now!

We popped in here to enjoy a few drinks and play some games. It wasn't overly crowded. Huge beer…read moreselection. Staff were friendly and welcoming to us new people. All the games are free except pinball and skee ball. They even gave a Nintendo 64 set up with Mario cart, a sega, and a PlayStation. We ended up playing buck hunter the most. So much fun. Most of the arcade games have a little cup holder mounted on the side also so you can keep your drink close.

Photos
Brewcadia - Cute embellishment on bottom of glasses

Cute embellishment on bottom of glasses

Brewcadia - Face plate

Face plate

Brewcadia - Brewcadia has 30+ video games and cabinets

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Brewcadia has 30+ video games and cabinets

Game Arena

Game Arena

4.3(11 reviews)
5.4 mi

This is a tough review for me because clearly this is a locally owned small business who cares…read moreabout the quality of their guests experiences. I did not have a good experience but I'm confident that these issues can and will be resolved. So with optimism, I share this review. I was looking for a unique daddy date for my 3rd child who thanks to Covid(sucks) has missed out on two birthday parties(20% of his birthdays). I saw a Groupon that allowed you to play for several hours for cheap. My son(10) called to verify what games were available and was told "we have all of the major titles". That's also when I realized that kids don't make phone calls. It was like learning to drive for him. I digress. When we arrived there was a special even better than the Groupon so I bought 30 hours or so for future visits. The staff was kind and at our request gave a tour. The problem began when we tried to play. There were fewer titles than we expected and we couldn't get logged in. Technical problems are to be expected but after 20 minutes, the staff member said "it's been doing this all day"....Oof. You knew about the issue when I called earlier... Additionally, and this makes sense, we needed logins for the games themselves. Which we don't have. 45 minutes in we had played a couple of rounds of a first person shooter that we were wildly outmatched in. And it was the only game we could get logged in to. My son was a trooper. Each time it became evident the game he wanted wasn't working he would say "let's try this one dad" and unfortunately, no go. Eventually I had to pull the plug and scramble to find something else. Full refund and bailed. That one experience was brutal. But I just don't think that it's conducive of the typical experience. If you are an avid gamer in the genres they have, with your logins, on a good server day. You will have a 4-5 star day I'll bet my bottom dollar. Alas, not us. Alas, not us.

Nice to see some LAN centers/cyber cafe back in Columbus. Facility is very spacious and clean…read more Super friendly staff and the systems are all respectable with GTX 1060 video cards. Food area looks good too. I didn't have a chance to try and of the air fried dishes, but I can say that the Orange Creme bubble tea was very legit. $7 an hour to rent a system, or higher price points at a discount for 6+ hours. Nice to know hours roll over between visits so you're not buying fresh if you didn't use all your credits up on a previous visit.

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Game Arena
Game Arena
Game Arena

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Star Lanes Polaris - AR Darts Star Lanes Polaris

Star Lanes Polaris

3.0(179 reviews)
9.0 mi•Polaris
Free WiFi
Walk-ins welcome

They have coin pushers!…read more Bowling lanes are maintained, some of the balls are cracked or worn. But, ya know what!? Go get your own balls, NERD! J/k. Their food is really good! But, they did reduce the size of their corndogs and the newer bartender lied to me about it.. so, if I hadn't enjoyed so many nights there and that happened it would be less stars. I've had a lot of great nights here, so 5 stars! Ask for Megan for the bartender, she makes your drinks right and doesn't take BS. Liam is cool, too. I guess.

We made a 90 minute reservation for a Saturday night for a friend's birthday. When we arrived early…read morethey were able to work us in, which was appreciated! The shoes were clean and the check in process was easy. We had a group of 8 on one lane, and played Hyperbowl the entire time. We got through 4 games and maybe halfway through a 5th. This game mode is unique and different, the bumpers are up and based on where your bowling ball touches the bumper, you get different multipliers on your resulting score from knocking down the pins. Each round the zones and multipliers are different. Our group was asked if we wanted to order anything as we were getting set up and putting on shoes, but they never came by to check on us after we said to give us a few minutes.

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Star Lanes Polaris - 65+ piece arcade and game room, with prize redemption center.

65+ piece arcade and game room, with prize redemption center.

Star Lanes Polaris - New attraction: AR Darts

New attraction: AR Darts

Star Lanes Polaris - Smoky BBQ Burger

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Smoky BBQ Burger

Game Arena

Game Arena

4.3(9 reviews)
1.5 mi•University District

We went into Game Arena with the highest hopes of having an amazing esports experience. Our group…read moreof six bought an hour and got an extra hour free, which sounded like a great deal. Unfortunately, we spent more time troubleshooting and trying to get the games to work than actually playing. Half of our group eventually just gave up and sat around chatting. That said, the food and drinks were absolutely the star of the show -- everything we ordered was fantastic and honestly the saving grace of the visit. Game Arena has a lot of potential and could be an incredible spot if the tech side was more reliable and smooth. Until then, it's more of a cool place to grab a bite and hang out than a true gaming destination.

Cool place to do gaming with friends! Free parking on the street on Sundays in this area is a plus…read more I parked in the gateway garage since I had no idea until my friend told me. Walking in, there were a number of people playing on PCs and on the consoles. Not overly busy for a Sunday night. But Seems the wait to use a console could be long as there aren't as many of those to use. They do have USB plugs if you want to bring your own controllers for the PCs. Had no idea about this as Im not the best on mouse and keyboard. PCs do seem to run super well for fast paced battle royale. Only issue is that the PCs don't have that many games. It's mostly popular ones but they don't all work for some reason. You can use the steam accounts on their system but logging into our own gave us trouble. Also, my friend had issues with his mouse and headphones. He had to keep flagging down staff to help him out. They are very accessible but this was kind of inconvenient. It's a cool space to hang though! They have a bar area and an upstairs area. You could honestly just come in to eat and get drinks without actually gaming. Food was good! My friends and I all got boneless wings. They are huge! It's a lot for the price. Korean fried chicken flavor wasn't at all Korean to me. But it tasted good. I added some fries and it came in a huge basket. Great prices in general! Even got a couple beers under $7 each. You order the food at the bar then they deliver it to you at your computer. They've got takeout containers if you need 'em too. Prices weren't bad. It was $15 for 3 hours and there's a time clock on the PC. They have monthly memberships if you come here a lot. This place wasn't here while I was at OSU. I'm glad they added it to the campus activities!

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Game Arena
Game Arena - Korean fried chicken boneless wings with fries and blue moon

Korean fried chicken boneless wings with fries and blue moon

Game Arena - FCOA at Game Arena!

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FCOA at Game Arena!

Level One Bar + Arcade - Inside

Level One Bar + Arcade

4.3(119 reviews)
6.9 mi•Crosswoods
•$$

For my 1100th review, I am going to write about my amazing experience at Level One Bar+ Arcade!…read more I promised my brother a surprise during our trip to Columbus, OH if he passed his insurance agents license. He passed, so I took him to Level One Bar+ Arcade. I did it to have some brother bonding time. Its been years since either one of us had stepped into an arcade and really spent hours playing in one. Some of our fondest memories together occurred while playing video games and in video arcades. Thus, it was wonderful to relive those moments together and create new memories at another video arcade. Really cool place, ambience definitely is a cool classical arcade that just happens to have a bar inside. Tons of games here! You can find all the classics, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, etc. Talk about memories... i remember playing Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat at arcades when I was in grade school. I got go relive memories when I played X-Men the Arcade Game, a game I beat at an arcade when I was in middle school. The only disappointment was with Rampage. I jumped for joy when I saw it! I loved playing as either George, Ralph, or Lizzie as gigantic monsters devouring the worlds population and destroying cities when i was younger! Alas! It was not operable! My years away from playing video games showed my rusty skills. I used to be a beast in games, i did alright but man have my skills deteriorated since college. Again, we played for hours, and had a great time together. We did not spend a lot of money, all non-pinball games are free. We also did play some pinball games like The Walking Dead, and You Only Live Twice. Level One Bar+ Arcade made our last night in Columbus, a wonderful night. I definitely recommend coming here!

Had a little time to spare before our movie started, so we stopped in for a drink and to play some…read moregames. They have so many awesome pinball machines! Almost all of the arcade games are free play (get yourself something at the bar ofc), but some of the bigger games and all the pinball machines take coinage. They have both an ATM and change machine on site. There's skee ball and some TVs on the wall too for sportsball games. It can be a bit chaotic and feel less like a barcade when big families come in, but that can't be helped on a Saturday afternoon lol It's a cool spot for gamers and the bartender was nice. Go and have some fun!

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Level One Bar + Arcade - My brother playing James Bond, You Only Live Twice. which is inaccurate.. since most pinball games give you three balls (lives).

My brother playing James Bond, You Only Live Twice. which is inaccurate.. since most pinball games give you three balls (lives).

Level One Bar + Arcade - Street Fighter 3

Street Fighter 3

Level One Bar + Arcade - Arcade

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Arcade

Dave & Buster's Hilliard - Sliders and wine

Dave & Buster's Hilliard

2.8(171 reviews)
5.9 mi
•$$

Never ate at Dave & Buster's before, just watched a movie so figured I would shoot over here and…read moretry it out. I got the eat and play deal for 5 bucks for the meal. I ordered boneless honey barbecue wings and ranch. The wings were amazing. Fries came with it and they were also really good. Celery also comes with the meal. Got a Dr. Pepper which was also super good like always. Service was nice, I got seated pretty quickly and ordered. Food came in under 10 minutes definitely. Ambiance is nice. They have a lot of screens playing football and other games. Music is really loud. Haven't tried out the games yet but I'm sure they'll be fun like other arcades. I don't know how this place has a 2.8 star rating. This isn't 2.8 star food.

My family came here for the first time in a long time and had a horrible experience unfortunately…read more We really enjoy arcades and understand that they come with waiting, spills, loud kids, etc etc... but our problem came with the staff both at the dining section and arcade section of this establishment. Our waitress was super rude throughout and blamed us (??) for being given an outdated menu. Whatever. We spent time in the arcade area and when the little kids were ready to buy some candy, we had another bad experience checking out (or trying to). The woman in front of us was taking forever and no one ever came to help us check out. We asked if there was anyone to help us or if they could take a break from her and help us for a second. No luck. Ended up leaving after waiting 15 minutes for a few pieces of candy. I have experience working as a cashier and usually am understanding... but the situation they have going on there staff-wise is lacking. (Also... a lady stealing peoples cards??)

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Dave & Buster's Hilliard
Dave & Buster's Hilliard - Honey BBQ Chicken

Honey BBQ Chicken

Dave & Buster's Hilliard - Entrance

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Entrance

Old North Arcade - bars - Updated October 2026

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