Joystick Gamebar

I fucked the owner. Would leave less stars but it seems rude under the circumstances.

Horrible, negligent service. I waited at the bar, waved down the bartenders, and each of them looked me in the eye and ignored me. They even took customers who weren’t waiting as long before me, and they were clearly intentionally ignoring me. I even moved to different sections of the bar with the same results. It’s wasn’t until the bartenders ignored me for 20 minutes that I asked the busboy if he could take my order, he said the bartenders would be angry if he did. Then, I noticed one key detail: most of the patrons were white or white-​looking, and I am not. I will never frequent this place again — it wasn’t my first visit, but it was definitely my worst.

(x-​post from FB review)
I had a blast! The food was nice, the drink was great and the game was fun. Except that when I stepped out to say goodbye to a friend and came back, I got kicked out by a security for looking underage/​ignoring him/​etc. I also lost my credit card and shattered my glasses In the process. FYI I am partially deaf and I can not hear things very well. It’s such a shame my first time ever at the bar had to end that way.

Awesome place to stop by if you grew up playing classic arcade games like Donkey Kong Space invaders mortal kombat Tekken street fighter for just $ 0.25 per game. If you aren’t in the mood for arcade games they also have board games

Probably my favorite place on Edgewood. It’s cheaper than the other bars. They also do pop up dinners sometimes with twists on pub food. Old school video arcade games and a room for board games with friends. Get there early in the night if you want a seat. I usually take über there because finding a parking spot is difficult.

Great beer options, good game selection and a lot of seating. Went on a Wednesday evening and easily found a table for 3.

The good: old school games with drinks? Yes please! 25 cents for each play! Even better! Love the fact that it’s open late night :)
The bad: none
The good: none
Neutral: aside from the drinks and games, didn’t get a chance to fully experience this place. Unfortunately I don’t live in Atlanta but I imagine it is a great place to hangout on weekends/​weekday nights :)

The bf and I went here bc of the games. Yes, these classic games were only $ 0.25 apiece. Along with these games, there was a pinball machine, foosball table, and board games.
The menu was limited and differed from what they posted online. I guess I should have know that hotdogs were the main items on the food menu. I mean. This place is a bar after all. They were pretty good dogs, but overpriced ones ($ 8 on average).
The only parking available are the spaces in front of the establishment btw. And this area is mad with people on the classic weekend nights so it will be a different vibe than the 15 folks meandering around the games @ 2 PM on a Saturday.

Was here for an event with friends. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here, so feel free to discount my review. There is an open lot next to the bar, but it is unclear if you can park here for Joystick. There are so many establishments in the area, not clear who the lot is for. We ended up parking on the street behind the bar. But it was a very quick walk. You enter into the bar area. There are then several other gathering areas. The bar let us use a bar room to hold our event activities, which was nice. There are a number of couches to sit on in the main room. Nothing special, but comfortable. There are a number of board games and arcade games available for play if you are going to spend some time. I tried out a shot during the visit (I have no idea what it was), but it was pretty tasty. Overall, seems like a decent hangout.

Fun place with a solid 90’s arcade selection, good drinks (full bar), food, and a lounge area. I threw back a few cocktails and layed the smackdown on my boy in a few games for Street Fighter and NBA Jam. I still got it, «shoryuken» .
Love the baracade idea in general, good stuff.

This is a pretty awesome bar located in Edgewood. Pinball, pac man, galaga, jenga– they have it all! My only gripe with this bar is that the first 2 beers I ordered they were out of which is kind of a drag. I got an imperial instead which was about 2 bucks so not too bad for an «eh» beer. It’s a good spot to go to with friends and play a couple games and then chill out. I also went on a Sunday afternoon so it wasn’t as crowded so I have no idea how busy they get on weekend nights. They also had a tv that showed events they were hosting throughout the week which looked pretty cool. Overall, I’ll definitely be back whenever I’m in the area again!

you can find all kind of crazies, unique people, and hobos here in EAV! this place especially is the place to go if you want to just kick back and hang out with your friends after you were harass for cocaine or weed by strangers just walking around the area (don’t worry, Steve with the harmonica is friendly).
come here early or least prepare for a long wait because they have a limited capacity to make sure your experience here isn’t ruin by people pushing/​shoving you around. I got here when they reach their max and I enjoy my time! The drinks here are goooooooood and definitely not stingy about their portion! I didn’t tried the food but vietnamese banh mi with wine and some nostalgic games?! why not!
my friends and I maybe spent an hour or so on the Jurassic Park game but lost because we ran out of quarters. after we was destroy and eaten by those damn dinosaur, we went to the other room and play jumbo jenga and some board games but in anotherrrrrr room you can shake what your mama gave ya or go smoke some steam off at their outdoor patio.

We had 6 senior ladies and two younger chicks in our group. Joystick Gamebar does not take reservations, but I did email ahead with some questions and gave them a heads up of our date and time of arrival. From the beginning email to our final exit from the bar, we had excellent service.
Note that Joystick Gamebar does not have table service. Order food and drink at the bar; you walk away from bar with your drink, and food is delivered to your table later. You are able to open a tab at the bar or you can pay as you go.
We were there on a Sunday afternoon at 2PM so there were many street spaces available. You can also park on the residential street behind Joystick.
After a great meal of perogies and drinks at Joystick, we walked across the street to check out Sister Louisa’s.

Note: this review is purely for the gaming aspect, and not the food. No one in our party ordered food during our visit.
We had lunch at a nearby restaurant and, as it was a slow day they were kind enough to let us leave our two cars in their lot for a while (we did ask). Our group then walked a few blocks down Edgewood to the Joystick. Hence, I can’t really comment on parking at this place.
The focus of the visit was gaming. Everyone in the group was either quite into the 80’s arcade culture and/​or owned/​owns at least one arcade game. I had wanted to check this place out for a while, but it’s quite a drive for me.
The game selection was even better than had been indicated on their website (maybe I hadn’t checked it recently enough). There were at least 5 — 6 games to rotate between which we had played a lot in the past, with more that we skipped. We probably spent 45 minutes here playing a variety of games.
They also appear to have a sort of college-​apartment living room-​esque set-​up for hanging out and dining. There also seemed to be board-​games available.
I ordered a hard cider to enjoy as well, given that they probably aren’t making their profits on 25-​cent games, even if you play a lot.
It is too far away for me to be a regular, but I definitely enjoyed this!

I typically love bars like this. I absolutely love booze which is only rivaled by my love of video games. There’s a nice seating area that looks like a house complete with couches and tables much like every living room. They supply free board games which is nice.
However the drinks and food are a bit pricey and the crowd seems to be pretty pretentious. I’ve had a couple experiences here with the bartenders seeming to turn their nose up at my friends and I which always sucks.
Check it out if you’re visiting and want something different but I can’t see it as a bar where anyone becomes a «regular».
The game selection is good but if that’s the main selling point. I recommend checking out Battle & Brew.

Day:
Friday or Saturday night
Parking:
Well I park in the Noni’s parking lot. The catch is to spend time [money] in Noni’s then walk it over to Joystick. Works for me because I love them both!
Wait time:
Fair. If you want a seat I suggest getting there after work or late evening.
Food & such: They have a chicken sandwich that you can’t put down! I’m really here for the games. Jenna blocks have dares on them and most of the games are missing key pieces. I don’t know if they buy them or people bring in the games and intentionally leave them. It’s just time to restock that storage of games. The old school arcade games are pretty cool. Seating is a little tricky since sofas and high tables are there.

Cool bar, but watch yourself when you are in this neighborhood. To get into the Joystick, had to navigate past a group that were blocking the door trying to get us to play a shell game with sprite bottle caps. One guy accidentally bumped into it and that didn’t go well. I was a little surprised that this venue hasn’t figured out a way to keep their doorway clear of that kind of annoyance.
Inside was cool — a variety of arcade games around the venue, some comfortable seating, and then a traditional bar area. I sat mostly at the bar and enjoyed the beer list. Good service, very reasonable prices, friendly staff.

Don’t come hungry. The atmosphere is great. The bar selection is wonderful. The menu is lacking and super expensive. Each pierogi is around $ 2– $ 3 and half the size of the ones my mom used to make. I understand what it takes to make pierogi and I still think this is too much. Basically $ 32 later and one person would have not been full. Food was good but too expensive.
I do love the soft comfy couches. I was very excited by the selection of arcade games. There is all your old favorites plus 3 pinball machines. They also have a terrific selection of board games to play while sipping on a drink and siting on the comfy couches. The bar looked well stocked but as I currently can not drink booze so I can not judge them on that. Basically this is an awesome place to hang out. The atmosphere is super cute. The only reason I can’t and won’t give it five stars is the cost of the food was just way too high. All $ 32 of food could have fit on one plate together.

Relive your childhood with a plethora of arcade games. Donkey Kong? They have that. Street Fighter? They have that. Space Invaders? You guessed it. They have that. They have quite a few of the classics from my younger years of arcade exploration. I thought that is all they had. Boy was I wrong.
They also have boards games in abundance. Everything from checkers and chess to the game of life and Monopoly is here for your enjoyment and it is in a totally separate room so you don’t have to deal with the usual ruckus that comes with arcade game competition. (I’m usually the the person causing all the ruckus. I’ve been told a wee bit loud lol)
There is a decent bar collection but where Joystick shines is there unique cocktail selection. You have to try them! They don’t have your usual liquors because they support smaller breweries and distillers but their bartenders definitely know what they are doing and the drinks are superb.
I haven’t tried any food at Joystick but I do know that they support new businesses using their front to establish their name just as they did with Illegal Foods before they moved on. I’ve heard nothing but decent things about the food though.
Go here to come as you are, relive your childhood while you do adult things. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

I’ve been wanting to come here forever and when I got here, I saw why! I found myself walking through Edgewood somehow. We were headed to «Church», but it was closed, so we ended up at Joystick. We went in the afternoon when there was only a small crowd, but it was Saturday so it was nice that we weren’t the only ones there. The bartender was super nice and helpful with it being my first time. I tried their hand-​made sodas. All of them are great! They are small, and $ 4, and not sure if they have free refills, but they all tasted great. It didn’t take away from the experience, just because I didn’t get a beer or cocktail. The hibiscus honey soda was sweet & floral. The ginger beer was spicy. The chai soda, my least favorite but still good, was also great. And their Cowboys & Indians probably tastes great since it has that chai soda in it. All the arcades were super fun. I had always wanted to go somewhere with arcade games. With just 25 cents a play, it was a lot of fun without being expensive. I especially liked their back room and playing pinball. They have a lot of board games and couches and tables to play those too. I think it would be fun to have a board game night one day. It costs money, but you can also choose the playlist with their jukebox machine. It is 50 cents per song. I think this is a great place to relax, hang out out without pretentiousness, and play arcade games with friends while drinking.

Joystick is awesome! I came here recently with Ravi and some friends, and have visited sporadically since the bar first opened it’s doors in 2012, replacing Dynamic Dish by phenomenal vegetable orchestrator Chef Robert Sweeney (Cakes & Ale, Restaurant Eugene); which had been a favorite of mine.
Overall, I would rate the ambiance and experience at Joystick as a solid four stars. Classic arcade games like Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Mortal Combat, and The Simpsons line the walls around the bar, with a space upstairs offering a more laid-​back atmosphere with board games, foosball, and pinball machines. Drinks are good, staff is friendly, and be sure to check out the polish food selection from Chef Joey Zelinka, whose concepts «Junk Food» and «Babica’s Polish Food» currently operate from the kitchen in the back.
I’ve given this place an additional star due to it’s support of local chefs who are looking to develop their own concept, and who will often use Joystick as a sort-​of testing space in order to work out the kinks before going after their own brick-​and-​mortar space. Illegal Food has been a recent example of this partnership working out well. I’d highly recommend this place to anyone look for something a little more creatively different than the usual bar, as well as those who want to relive nostalgic childhoods via their awesome collection of arcade machines. Just don’t bang on them, they’re old!

I really like this place. It’s a great place to chill and meet new people — you can hear both the great tunes as well as the voices of others speaking to you. Love that. There’s a cool back room to get down to a producer or DJ and the games are fun — they’ve got all the classics you need at any good barcade. My favorite one I’ve been to was in Eugene, OR and this place is actually much better! So many photo ops– great vintage décor.
Also! The guy Doug (barback?) gave excellent customer service. The bartenders were also very friendly and the Cowboys and Indians drink was amazing. Love the house chai soda and since I’m from Oregon, greatly appreciated both chai and Oregon whiskey combined to make a very tasty drink !

I’m a fan of old school arcade games. Located in Edgewood Corridor in downtown Atlanta. They serve drinks (well drinks, draft and bottled beer) and snack food. You cannot beat $ 5.00 well liquors– names like Cathead Vodka, Betty Collins, Nico 75, The Nabokov, Vogue, and my favorite Bourbon-​Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon… You cannot help to order or pass up. I’m also a sucker for junk food. Foods like Grilled cheese, chicken fingers, fish sticks, pork fried rice, blooming onions are right up my alley. My brother and I just had dinner so I was sorry that I had to pass up their meals.
Joystick offers popular arcade games from Donkey Kong, Dolly Parton Pinball, Galaga, Mortal Kombat, Ms. Pac-​man, Centipede, NBA Jam, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Street Fighter II, The Simpsons and more.
There is a charge for these arcade games. There are ATMs in the bar along with change machines.
Make sure to bring ID, because you are carded before you enter.
Overall, I had a blast being here! The other side of the arcade is a lounge room which was dimmed and cozy. I could have stayed there for hours.
This place really took me back to my childhood/​teenage years. (grew up in the 80’s/90’s) THANK YOU…

I’ve been to Joystick probably a dozen times and have always had a fantastic time.
Super casual atmosphere — come as you are. Concrete floors, feels pretty grungy. The crowd is very diverse in age, gender, ethnicities, style. Everyone loves Joystick!
There’s one room with a full bar and a good selection of old school arcade games, all of which cost 25 cents to play. They cap the crowd on the weekends, so even when it’s very full it’s not totally unbearable and you still have a good shot at playing everything you want to play. The beer selection is fairly limited, but good. They make REALLY good cocktails. The bartenders put the work in!
The second room is full of retro sofas, tables, lamps, and misc furniture, and board games. You feel like you’re hanging out at a really hip version of your grandma’s house.
There’s a new, third, small room in the back with a black light and about 8 more games, including two boating games!
Joystick is really great for birthday parties in that your friends can come and go as they please, and pay their own way easily. Love this place.

Wonderful idea! Arcade games, full bar, high-​quality food, and board games (with couches)! What more could you ask for on a Friday night?!
I have gone here twice in the past month… unintentionally. We were supposed to go to an event here, got there, and ended up being a week early for the event. Oh well, just allowed me to get a super private first look before the rest of the group came. Fiancée and I ordered some craft beers from the bar and ordered some fried rice and tacos. The bartenders told us that they didn’t have one of the items on the menu, but that was ok, we were more than happy with the other options. Both the fried rice and tacos were MUCH more delicious than I had expected from an arcade game bar. It was very flavorful and unique. The portions were small (as the bartenders noted), but for the amount of flavor, they were super under-​priced :)
We enjoyed playing some of the arcade games, but they were at least 50 cents per person to play most of the games for a minute or two. We played some of the games then moved on to the board games. They had tons to choose from: Battleship, jenga, candyland, monopoly, etc. Great for both adults and kids.
The décor is eclectic, antique TVs made into tables, odd pictures on the walls, etc. It is dark but they have plush couches with coffee tables in the middle to play games on.
Cool place, great idea and would definitely go back again, maybe not twice in two weeks, but definitely we will go again when we get a hankering for arcade games and good food.

I have no complaints with Joystick! Every interaction I’ve had with them has been professional and friendly, it’s a classy venue that’s relaxed and fun, the drinks are great, and they open up their kitchen to cooks looking to try out their food, which I think is an awesome idea.
My first time at Joystick, I asked for a kahlua and cream, but they didn’t have kahlua. Instead, they worked with what they did have (including a South African liquor I hadn’t known of) to give me something just as delicious. (Maybe it’s silly, but I felt so special to have gotten a custom drink!) The bartenders were all very friendly and handled our large party with grace and smiles.
Right now, Joystick is hosting Junk Food in its kitchen. Junk Food’s grilled cheese and tomato soup dish is an innovative spin on an old classic: pullman & sharp cheddar terrine and tomato soup aspic with black basil. The aspic was creamy and savory, and the terrine was crispy and buttery. The presentation looked gourmet, and the food tasted gourmet! Not bad for $ 8! I wish I could have tried all the rest that Junk Food was serving that night, but I guess that just means I’ll have to go back soon!
I talked with Brandon, one of the guys on management, about reserving Joystick for an event. I wasn’t able to make our event happen, but throughout all of our communication, Brandon answered all of my questions, gave me options, and gave me confidence that he and his team would be able to execute my plan.
The main bar room has fun retro arcade games, then the back room has board games and couches. My large group loves going there for our happy hour. You can be loud and have fun if you want, or you can relax and have conversations if you want. Joystick caters to both.

I finally made it to Joystick over the past weekend! It’s a cute little spot on Edgewood that has all the old school games I love. They have Donkey Kong, Ms. Pacman and Centipede, all favorites of mine. Let me tell you, I’m a BOSS at Ms. Pacman and I quickly beat that high score that was on the game. Used to be that when you beat the high score, you could put your initials up there, but I guess that was left behind. Boo!
So, there is the bar where you can get some tasty cocktails, and then there is a lounge area with couches and board games you can play. Love it. Couples were chilling in this area when I arrived. Me and my associates decided we wanted to play some Scattergories and so we did. It was a fun time.
They have a machine to give you change should you need it and games are only .25! I find that delightful. I will most definitely be back here. The games will be my main thang, but I need to try the food too. I hear that it is bomb.
Should you be feeling yourself and want to challenge an absolute Boss to a game of Ms. Pacman and, consequently, get your feelings hurt, hit me up and I’ll meet you there.
I’m so happy there is a place where I can play an arcade game of good olé Ms. Pacman that I don’t know what to do. Yaaaassss, baby, yaaaasssss!

I still remember that a UYE was hosted here 1÷13÷14, not because I was at the event — because I wasn’t — but because it was on my birthday so I couldn’t make it. But ever since I heard of Joystick through the UYE mention, I had bee interested in visiting.
I didn’t try the food but it smelled heavenly.
I didn’t play any of the video games but I’m not a gamer at all, except for my extreme addiction to Candy Crush.
We ventured to the back room where we honed in on a couch that another group offered to share with us. They also shared their Jenga game, which was totally awesome. I love the crowd, how open they were to talking with us and playing Jenga with us as if we were already good friends. We sipped on waters one of our friends scored from the bar as we slowly sobered up. Unfortunately, that meant I started drifting into my late night sleepy stupor as I settled further and further into the warm comfy couch.
One day, I want to make this my first stop so I can grab food, play a real video game, order a drink, and meet some more cool people.
The end.

I’ve been to Joystick a few times to try to understand the vibe of it, but after my last visit I’ve accepted that Joystick doesn’t have a vibe. It’s just what it is — a small bar with a nice-​sized lounge area, old school video games, and not-​quite-​the-​norm bar food.
I’ve been after work for happy hour where the bar is occupied by a few regulars and a group of 20-​somethings just out of corporate training (they were still wearing nametags). I’ve been on a Saturday night with it so packed that turning around was difficult. And most recently I visited Joystick on a random weekday evening where there were kids present around 9PM (parents just don’t give a damn about school anymore.)
A new food supplier has taken over since my last visit — Bad Dog Taqueria. I ordered the Jack-​Me-​Off burger with boniato fries (see photo). The burger tastes better than it looks and although there are two patties, I was able to take a bite with ease (I didn’t have to stretch my mouth super wide which was nice.) Even though the burger has pepper jack cheese, it was much spicier than I expected to be, but I LOVED it. The spicy kick was a pleasant surprise. I would definitely order it again. The boniato fries were a disappointment. (Per the menu, the boniato is a white sweet potato.) These fries were really dry. So much so that I couldn’t eat them and passed them along to my dinner companions who enjoyed them.
I had two cocktails — the Vogue and the Betty Collins. The Vogue is a bit spicy and citrusy thanks to bechorovka (a herbal liqueur) and lemon; I didn’t like the combination. It wasn’t awful but not my taste. The Betty Collins is very refreshing thanks to vodka and pamplemousse (a grapefruit liquer); I think it’s more of a summertime/​daytime patio drink, but I would order it again.
Street parking is still free after 7:00 thank the Gods! And service is laid-​back as befits such an establishment.
A part of me wants to love, love, love Joystick, but I just kind of like it. It’s a cool place to hang out, get something to eat, lounge or play video games. I gave it 4 stars because on most nights, it’s not a place you have to look a certain way for and that’s rare for intown establishments.
Unilocal 100 #10

This isn’t exactly a real arcade bar. I’ve been to a few good ones that actually merit the name and like another Unilocaler pointed out, having a few machines doesn’t make you a barcade. This place was packed to what seemed capacity but I just sensed a little sadness mixed with subpar cocktails (not cheap). The air was thick with desperation to make it seem worthy of Saturday night. Also, what the fuh is up with them not having ANY decent libations. No Fireball, no Kettle One, no Goose, no Souther Comfort. Just a bunch of hipster liquors that no one has heard of.
They have a back area with couches that’s pretty cool but I think that for me this is a one and done sort of joint. Try for yourself and see if the shoe fits.

Old school arcade games +bar + food = heaven! I came across this place with a group of friends who actually live a few blocks from this eatablisment. It located in Edgewood eight on the new Atlanta street car rail. Not far off of ⁸⁵⁄₇₅.
The place consist of a fully stocked bar with 4 local beers on Draft and cheap tall boy beers price from2−5 dollars. Specialty mixed drinks from 8– 10 dollars. Food was provided by illegal goods now is bad dog offering tacos and burritos. With my verdict on the new food it ok.
Game they have oh my god street fighter to pac man to Mortal Combat. All for a quarter. There is a lounge type set up with sofas and couches in the other room. No tvs in this location. Street parking is only avaliable parking, but it’s free after 7 pm.
Over all great place to catch a beer play some vintage games !!