The arcade is cool and has a good selection of games, all from the last century, which makes it a unique little underground place in Boulder. What I can't get over, however, is how incredibly dirty it is. I pulled my chair at the bar to sit on and my hand emerged completely sticky. My boyfriend ordered a beer and on top of the foam sat a thick, floating dark hair. The floor is hard to walk on because your shoes are constantly getting stuck on the sticky spills of alcohols past. It smells like sweat and throw up and when you have to physically touch the games to play in the arcade, it's kind of discouraging. Right? I finally get why this place shut down completely during COVID. It's an infestation pit. Simple things could be done to make it a more pleasant experience. I think truthfully the college kids all go there to dance, and they don't mind the filth as long as they're having a good time. But to someone who is walking in clothing they care about or I guess has a bare sense of hygiene, it'll send you running for the hills. read more

Average barcade-- walked in after dinner and there was no one in the place (which normally isn't a problem). Bartender came off as rude almost immediately, especially when questioned about the happy hour prices. She put a lime on the rim of my Gin and Soda and it was so crusty, it wouldn't squirt juice into my actual drink. A few quarters got stuck in the machines, and the music being played was not prime for the time. Only reason I didn't rate this lower was because the Ms Pac-man machine was working and my friend and I were able to utilize it. read more

I went to press play with 3 friends. The bartender told me the the shots of bullet bourbon wheat were $6.00. I order 3 shots of this for my friends and one $5.00 beer for me. My tab comes back to roughly $34. I ask about my tab and there are 3 charges of bullet bourbon wheat for $9.75. That added on an extra $10 to my tab when I expected this to be much less. I have never seen a bullet shot for close to $10. Be cautious when buying here. read more

Bartenders here are the worst (even possibly racist) ! As a black male I hate going here because every time I go the bartenders intentionally serve me last which is especially a pain when it is packed. For instance Last night for New Years me and my friend went here to get a drink and had to wait at the front of the bar for a good 20 minutes to get served (This was the short blonde bartender by the way). It took a white guy that was behind me to point something out as he too noticed that I had been waiting at the front for quit some time and the bartender intentionally served everyone else and attempted to serve him until he called her out and said that I had clearly been waiting there first. To make matters worse the bartender then threw a fit for having to serve me 2 drinks and didn't even make one of the drinks correctly . Needless to say she did not receive a tip! read more

Came with my boy's to enjoy some arcade fun while waiting for my table at pasta Jay's. I remembered that my previous manager "Jesse" had owned the place & was an amazing individual to work with. I came in on a Sunday about 3pm only to find the snobby female bartender (black hair) not only was NOT informative on the happy hour menu, she also had an immediate attitude with me. I decided on a well drink of whisky & coke, as a weekend bartender I know this is a "well" drink. She charged me $6.75 for this drink when it specifically say's $3 u call it's on the menu for happy hour Sunday's. I did not say a word about it, simply paid. I played more games as my boy's were not done with the coins they had. I asked her for a bud light and she rolled her eyes at me and had the older couple sitting at the bar that she had talking to me about also give dirty looks. They were clearly intoxicated. I did tip her $1 on each of my transactions, but I will say... I will NEVER COME BACK, NOR REFER TO THIS ESTABLISHMENT with bartenders like this. Customer service is key! This bartender is a total disappointment! read more

Is this place still open for business? My wife and I have tried to come here a few times since we moved here 6 months ago. We check the hours online and call but no one ever answers. The voicemail details their hours but even when we come in during those times, it's never open. Just wondering if they've closed down and, if not, could update their hours of operation. read more

As someone who has worked in the restaurant and bar industry for quite some time, I thought I had seen it all. But the management at Press Play is absolutely awful. They are so disrespectful to their guests. We were out for my friends birthday, and the birthday boy was drunk, yes. But he was not wasted, hammered, TOO drunk, etc. by any means. I was DD this night and had not had a sip of alcohol, and as a bartender I know when someone has reached their limits. The bartender served my friend another beer, and AFTER he had paid for it the manager immediately walked up and took it away from him. I calmly tried to ask him why he had done that and he looked at me and told me he wasn't going to argue with "some drunk bi**h about it." I replied to him by telling him that I was completely sober and he was out of line. He didn't like that much, and kicked us all out. My only regret was not pouring my friends completely full beer that the manager set on the bar all over the floor on the way out. read more

Ian is the most unprofessional, dishonest, sexist bouncer that I have ever encountered. It's one thing to be strict about college students but I have never felt more disrespected in my entire life (I am 27 years old). Pretty typical of Boulder to have a dive bar and run the door like a high class club. If you want to overpay for PBR, arcade games and be treated like garbage, come here. Overwise try any of the other fine establishments on pearl, or just stay at home read more

Some of the best staff around......from the door staff to the bartenders! The managers even make sure you are having a great time! You can drink, play vintage arcade games, 2 Jenga tables, and some kick butt DJ's if you feel like dancing. I personally have never been crazy about the Boulder scene until I stumbled upon Press Play one night.... read more

Don't book events that you can't handle. Do not book here they probably won't even fit your whole group in and kick others out

The 5 stars is not because this place is a particularly nice establishment. 5 stars for the fun level! I have never been to an old school arcade turned bar and now I want to find one near me! We popped in on a Thursday night to first of all find out that they had $3 wells for ladies, sign me up! After getting our beverages we started exploring and I was excited to see a lot of my old favorite video games: Ninja Turtles, Simpsons Game, Skeeball, TONS of pinball machines, table hockey...the list goes on and on. There was also live band karaoke that night. I sang a couple songs, but it was really difficult to follow along as they did not have tv screens and only provided the lyrics to sing off of. I would recommend that they invest in the tv screens if they are going to continue with karaoke. This was a really fun night. Don't go expecting a fancy spot - it truly is a dive, but a really really fun dive! read more

I love this place! The happy hour is excellent, free pool on tuesdays, dance hall on the weekends, giant Jenga and every arcade game you can think of. The bartenders are the friendliest in Boulder, and great times are always to be had with old and new friends at Press Play. read more

I've been waiting for a drink for 20+ minutes. It's not the bartenders fault by any means. They only have 1 bartender staffed per bar and it's really ridiculous and a let down for a pretty well known college bar in boulder. It's a busy night so there should be more staff working which would support the college bartenders as well. At first I had only 1 star because of the statement above, but the DJ made the experience so much better. He played all of our requested songs and was super nice! read more

DO NOT COME TO THIS BAR IF YOURE FROM OUT OF TOWN!!! They took my I.D and refused to give it back. They said I had to call the police in order to get it back. My friend and I were crying and shaking. Most nightmare of a bar!!! read more

How did I not know this place existed? I wandered in here last weekend and was initially apprehensive that it would be all college kids. But it wasn't. There was an eclectic mix including some college kids but also middle aged cowboys. Real cowboys, not urban poser yuppie ones. This "barcade" offers a little of everything to please a variety of interests. There's a decent size dance floor in the back if cutting a rug is your speed. Mostly they play a sampling of Top 40 dance hits. I was at the bar and appreciated that the music wasn't so overbearing up front, you could carry on a conversation. But it's main draw are the video games. I didn't get a great look and didn't play but my impression was that there were some old school arcade games, pinball, and a few games I didn't recognize that were set up for groups. Looked fun. The drinks are relatively inexpensive and they get high marks from me because they have Angry Orchard on tap. Check out the hot bartenders and in particular the one with the nice smile that gave me excellent service all night. She was friendly and efficient, meaning she knew when I wanted another drink before I did and it was ready at the right moment. I don't recall her name because it's unique, but it starts with an "R". read more

Press Play is by far the best "barcade" I have ever been to. An dream come true. Video games galore - all for a quarter! Air hockey & skee ball. PING PONG. Oh, and a Happy Hour too! The beer selection was killer. The art work on the walls was even cool. There's really nothing I didn't love about this bar.. other than the simple fact that it's not located in NYC. Sigh... read more

If I lived in Boulder I would be here weekly for sure. First of all Sunday is happy hour all day but between 4-7 it's $3 you call it. We got there around 3:00 and each ordered a beer and the entire tab was 10.50. WHAT?!? That was a fun surprise. The girl that was bartending (I think Amy was her name) was awesome. She was friendly, attentive, and recommended a local brewery to us for food. This bar was SO fun! They have everything you could imagine as for games including pool, ping pong, skee ball, air hockey, tons of pinball and lots of other arcade games. We played multiple games for about an hour or so. This place is absolutely great! It's a big space so even if it's busy it won't make you claustrophobic. read more

This hidden place is by far a party waiting to happen! They don't allow kids after 7pm on Friday nights and offer a full bar. The games are all throwbacks from packman, Galaga, skee-ball, The Simpsons, etc. They also offer pool, ping pong tables, and a room just for pin ball games. The games range from 25cents-$1 and they play music! This was a great find and awesome place to just hangout with family and friends! read more

I started coming here within a few weeks of their opening. Press play was always my favorite place to come down on pearl, because there is something to do other than play pool. I used to love dancing there on the weekends. One of my favorite things was their large life sized jenga game, and I was pretty disappointed with that tonight. The blocks were all different sizes and didn't make up a complete game. Drink prices also seem to be through the roof now. Used to recommend as a local to visitor and locals, but I probably won't anymore. read more

Pinball? Hell yes!!!! This place takes well good care of their pinball games. People who heart pinball know that press play is like whoa. Someone please tell me where else are you going to be able to play pinball machines in such good shape till 2am! Pinball people who are on the know are here, playing pinball till 2am like a boss! read more

Press Play - Pinball sign - Bars Near Me - Boulder, Colorado

It's an okay space, definitely an arcade. It will be busy on a night with specials. It's a place where high schoolers with semi-legit fake I.D.'s could get in. Or you'll find a bunch of semi-weird 25 year olds dudes trying to re-live their early 20's. We drink a lot on Pearl and I have only been here a handful of times. This time we came for Monday night "panic hour" where there is one hour of 25 cent drinks. Haha well there is only one bartender so I guess that makes sense. She only spent time at one select point of the bar and a girl who had a full drink at the bar when I arrived got re-serviced before we got our first drink. The bartender was working hard but she wasn't thinking about the full spectrum of the bar fairly when serving. I was going to give it 2 stars but changed my rating because afterwards we had a lot of fun on the dance floor. The dj played a lot of fun throwbacks mixed in with new hits and he also took all of our requests which was really awesome; compared to absinthe whose music is not on point and when you request they usually ignore you or take forever to play the song. Otherwise Press Play's dj played our song and they played it in a reasonable amount of time. read more

This barcade has a dark, divey feeling to it, not that it's a bad thing, but the small screaming children definitely felt out of place. Hard to have a relaxing drink if there are small children running around. Great games though. Cheap happy hour drinks. Lots of pinball. Game of Thrones Pinball! I'll be going back again, despite the children having a tantrum. read more

Have to say, the bartenders were awesome. Fast, attentive service. Honestly some of the best bartending I've seen. I'm giving it a 1 star because of the management. We were playing a final game of air hockey, that we'd paid for, when the clock struck 2am. A bouncer asked us to leave which we agreed to do, as another bouncer comes literally screaming in our faces to leave. I understand he was probably heated from a previous confrontation, but dude, this is your job. I've been to countless bars where people have been kicked out, and I've never been screamed at like this wacko. To make matters worse, three other bouncers witnessed what was happening and stood by their weak employees actions. We tried talking to the "manager bouncer" as we were leaving about the matter and he was equally not as interested to hear anything wrong that his "team" could have committed. Needless to say, I have no desire to come here again. It was especially sad to have brought out-of-state friends here to be treated as they were. In fact, I'm going to make an effort to not come here again. I couldn't believe the lunacy of the bouncers who all seemed to have been on the same page. Poor guys. read more

I was visiting and excited to explore this Barcade in Pueblo, I always give places, situations and day of the week. That makes sense because a visitor and don't get to see other awesome nights. Anywho, if the place stepped up their game selections, types of games and had specials associated to the arcade, they would only improve. I still had fun and that's what matters!!! read more

Great prices, plenty of room, games and pool tables. The bartenders are awesome and management knows what they're doing. Rarely a line to get in. Great place to drink and dance on the weekends. read more

DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU HAVE DISABILITIES. DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WITH DISABILITIES. I have a service animal and went to Press Play to meet up with a few friends. They tried to ask me for documentation of my disability, which is ILLEGAL. I spoke to their manager, who in turn spoke to the bar's two owners, who all decided that letting me and my service animal in will be bad for their business (which they told me directly). They even tried to tell me that it was for my and my service animal's safety - which we all know is bullshit. My service animal goes with me everywhere and is trained to deal with crowds. She is also small so I can even carry her when I think she's at risk. They also told me that the bar was "at capacity" (despite letting in dozens of people after I arrived) and that it was "shoulder to shoulder" (it wasn't, I had friends inside - and they were letting in a lot more people). I told them that if space was the issue, that my service animal is small enough to fit inside my coat and that I can carry her. I will be taking up less space than a 200-lb human. The manager just stared at me and told me that they weren't going to let us in. I even told them that they can take some time to look up ADA laws applicable to service animals. I told them that they were breaking laws. They didn't care at all. They were just concerned about their business. Asking for documentation of my disability - ILLEGAL. Not letting a service animal team into their establishment - ILLEGAL. Shits given about the law or people with disabilities - NONE. Filed a complaint with the ADA at the Department of Justice. Honestly just don't go. They don't give a shit about you and will lie to you to get what they want. read more

I was at press play last night and an incident happened where a guy assaulted my friends and I. The security (John Michael) was absolutely amazing and very respectful toward all parties involved and handled the situation as best as possible! I haven't felt that secure with a staff in a long time! Great old arcade games too. read more

The security at this establishment are power tripping assholes! One friend of mine was kicked out recently because he went into a bathroom stall to go number 2, blew his nose while he was using the stall and was immediately kicked out for "blowing coke" with no reasonable conversation involved. On Halloween night a very responsible acquaintance of mine was thrown out in an arm lock because he accidentally walked a couple feet down the wrong hallway of the bar in search of the restroom. Another time upon closing there was quite a large line of individuals attempting to exit the bat in a peaceful manner, all the while a security guard was standing behind the bar screaming at the top of his lungs "Get the fuck out of the bar now!!" Over and over again in our ears, one individual stated "we are all attempting to leave the bar" and this apparently set the security guy off because he leapt over the bar in an animalistic manner (the drawbridge was right next to him) and began using his full weight to shove the crowd through the door, man and woman alike. It would have been very easy for someone to get injured in this manner, if I ever see this sort of behavior again I will personally take legal action. I know the laws regarding liquor licenses are very strict in this town, but no one had a drink in their hand after 2. Time and time again I have seen the security personnel at this particular establishment act highly irrationally, which has lead to situations that are dangerous for the general public attending this bar. There is a fine line between protecting the liquor license of your establishment, and treating your customers in a way that is not only rude, but unsafe. read more

Super cool theme... wish we had one of these back home. Drinks were a little shabby but the games were worth it.

Playing pinball, happy as can be. Busser comes through- "everything ok princess?" Never in my life. My dad doesn't even call me that. Spoiled the night for me. read more

I was here on a company trip and we tried to enter Press Play with some international team members. The guy at the door was rude to a fellow team member who had his ID. We were denied access. read more

Cool location underground. Has lots of video games to play and the bar makes a great Moscow mule.

I was visiting Boulder from Florida and we decided to walk around see the downtown area. My goodness am I glad we did! We were there when it was karaoke and ladies night and I honestly had a blast. I spent most of my time playing pinball with some singing on the side;-) If you are ever in Boulder, this is the place to go ! read more

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. I'm generally too lazy to write yelp reviews, but this place is so awful I feel compelled to warn others who might foolishly come here like I did. The least offensive thing here is that multiple pinball machines stole our quarters. Jump to an hour later when my friend and I are playing pool. We set our barely consumed beers down by the table and before we know it one of the employees just trashed our beers! We bring it up to the bartender and she could care less. This is someone we have tipped generously by the way. A few minutes later we are halfway into our pool game and another employee walks up to the table, quickly grabs all the balls, tosses them down the pockets and walks away. On what planet does this happen?!! It was ten minutes from closing...but there wasn't even a warning verbal or otherwise. I have been to more than my fair share of dive bars, but this is by far the skeeviest one of them all. I guess when you cater mostly to college kids who aren't used to being treated like adults you can get away with having terrible employees. Thanks for the memories! read more

DO NOT GO TO THIS BAR IF YOU IDENTIFY AS FEMALE. My friend is a frequent visitor of this bar and one night was sexually harassed and verbally assaulted by one of the bouncers. After telling him that she was not interested in him and didn't return his affections, the disgruntled bouncer vulgarly insulted my friend, calling her a whore and a bitch. Shaking it off, my friend went to the bar, ordered expensive drinks with our other friends, and the same bouncer crossed the room, ripped the drinks out of our hands, and DUMPED THE DRINKS OUT. He was so pissed about being rejected by my friend at the door that he followed her around the bar, harassing her, continued to call us whores, and then got some of the bartenders involved. One of the bartenders (who had no idea what was going on) called my friend a "stupid c**t" and my friends felt so threatened, unwelcome and devastatingly harassed by the bouncer and the staff that we no longer intend to attend Press Play. All this because the bouncer was rejected. My friend was punished for sticking up for herself and the consequences of doing so were unprofessional and absolutely uncalled for. This bar was one of our favorites, but now we regretfully recommend that no one--ESPECIALLY people who identify as female--should go to Press Play. read more

Fun concept but seen it done so much better in other cities (Portland). Cool dive bar atmosphere to get my Donkey Kong on. Not a big fan of Pearl Street area traffic. I'd go back for a drink and some games. read more

This place was sooooo coool! They have about a dozen or so old school arcade machines. I came on a Saturday night and it was packed !!! There was a DJ and a small dance floor. Drinks are also cheap! And Jell-O shots in a syringe for $5. It was super fun. Note: it is a typical college town join so if that's not your jam maybe steer clear? read more

The service at the bar was awful. I'm visiting from Chile with my boyfriend and we got the worst service ever. We got Id'd twice. The second time, the guy with long, ponytail-like hair, bad breath and really rude temperament attended us. Me and my boyfriend felt really offended when he asked us for both of our ids, but ONLY to us. This was perhaps caused because this place IS NOT an LGBT friendly at all. Even less than that. This nerdy looking guy argued about no seeing us after we were 20 minutes there; we played with the disc that hovers, some game that resembled bowling, pool and a couple of other arcade and when it wasn't really busy... When I ask him why? he tells me that he just got started 10 minutes ago... If he doesn't check who is in his workplace before he enters to work, or maybe right away, that must be his problem. It's his job to check on who has already entered, not us. I've seen many stupid people like that in my life I wasn't up dealing with that. After he had an argument with my boyfriend, and me feeling VERY ANXIOUS, we played some games and TWO of them were broken and we didn't even get the money back. The other lady at the bar never helped us. If you ever have a problem there, don't bother yourself on asking for help, cause only lazy-ass, unrespectful, self-centered, poor service people with bad hygiene works there. read more

This bar is great considering the night life in Boulder has been nearly eradicated by Mr. Tebo (the property owner of most of Pearl Street). The bartenders are great and do the best they can when they're busy. On the weekends however, when the floor opens up for dancing, the DJ tends to not know how to tune into the crowd and I often find the heavy techno beat and dubstep music harder to vibe with. If they mixed up the music and gave us something worth dancing to, the party would be epic. read more

Our team was really excited to go to press play for our team dinner but, despite the bar being empty, the door man acted as if he didn't want us there and was rude to our international team members. I know it's the law to require ids to get into the bar and if we would have had a good experience we would have run to get the ids we needed. He was rude enough that we decided to go elsewhere. In general, it's a bad experience that's probably not worth your time. read more