Headquarters Beercade River North

SUB PAR SERVICE AND SHITTY/​RUDE EMPLOYEES! The free games (unlike emporium) are awesome and the place is designed very interestingly but f*%@k this place. Go to Lincoln park location if anything. This may look like a hip spot but it’s snobby rude river north through and through. Don’t stay open until 2am if you are shitty at 1:30 and lie and say you close at 1:30 when you are supposed to close at 2! Some people go out for a couple drinks post work, they’re not rude drunkies trying to close down the bar everynight, and your service should be at least halfway as decent at 1am as it is at 10pm. OR just close earlier or GET A DAY JOB!

This place is pretty cool with all of the classic video games… LOVED IT!!! But the food, the beer, and the service was blah considering we told the staff this was our first time here. Their food menu was not long at all so don’t expect to eat a meal here. We ordered their Italian beef and it seemed to be roast beef with red peppers on a soft sandwich roll. We asked the bartender if this was an authentic italian beef before we ordered and she said yes. It was not so don’t order it. If you are into craft beers then this place is for you. Don’t expect to get a Corona, Stella, or any name brand beer of that matter here. All of the video games worked. Nothing was broken. The video games was the best part about this place.

I am a big fan of the Bucktown location. However, when I learned there was another location in my hood I quickly went to check it out. I came here with a friend from out-​of-​town who fell in love with this place! The décor is a throwback to the 80’s which I loved. There were many options to choose from for beer and at a a reasonable price. The best part… most of the games were free! The one clear exception was GOT pinball which I thought was silly. Overall, a great place at a great price and free hours of entertainment. We went on a Saturday afternoon, so this might be a different situation at night. Regardless, I know where I am going again soon!!!

Awesome place, and great for a date with the right girl or buddies.
Dude, the games are free to play. The craft beer selection is rock solid and it’s full of nostalgia. It’s a fun place whether you’re an experienced old-​school gamer looking for Mortal Kombat 2 or NBA Jam or just looking for a good time.

I was at HQ River North recently for an event and couldn’t have been more impressed with the venue and entire experience. The handcrafted cocktails are crave-​worthy (my favorite was the Assault & Pepper), and the game selection is on point… did I mention they’re all free? The event coordinator was attentive from the point of first contact throughout the duration of our event, and the service staff was pleasant and fun to interact with. HQ seems like a great spot
for events, birthdays, etc. I’m going to keep the idea of doing something here in my back pocket for future reference. It also makes a good date spot as well :)

Let me preface this by saying I’m not into video games so the fact that this is an arcade too is neither a pro nor con. The ambiance is very open which is nice but the drinks were just not strong enough for the price. I’ll probably be back but certainly not at the top of my list for River North bars.

DON’T GROW UP IT’S A TRAP!
If I could rate this spot 10/​10, I would! I absolutely love the concept and they seriously put a lot of thought into opening this business. Hipster, 90s arcade games, Pinball, 90s theme, good craft brews? Count me in.
This place can’t get any better. They have all a good amount of Pinball machines and all of the classics such like NFL Blitz (Which is my favorite of all times), NBA Jam, Pacman, Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs Capcom, and many more. Oh yeah, all games are FREE! They got you covered. Play until you’re tired. Security guards here are all chill, so don’t worry about that!
The vibe here is on point. Drink menus are inside vintage yearbooks, there are little tiny lockers to charge your cellphone, a fireplace downstairs, and the checks come in ridiculously bad vintage books.
HQ, ya’ll need to expand to the California! I promise I’ll be your #1 customer, hahaha.

This is literally the best thing I’ve ever experienced at a bar.
ALOCHOL + FREE PLAYS ON OLD SCHOOL ARCADE GAMES?
Seriously the dream place for gamers and drinkers.

First of all, I can’t exactly rate on the quality of games, as I am terrible at games and refuse to play. It’s really for everyone’s benefit that I’m not seen getting frustrated at a game.
Anyway, I came for a company happy hour. I ordered the Basic AF cocktail. I can’t remember what it was made of but it was vodka based and came with a rosemary twig. I really liked it that I drank that the whole night. I didn’t get to try anything else but my coworkers enjoyed their other cocktails.
Their food seems pretty classy for a beercade. There were bacon wrapped dates, which were good, but seemed like they were sitting out for a while. The mac and cheese along with the mashed potatoes were good too. My favorite was the deep fried artichoke hearts.
We got cupcakes for dessert, but I was less than impressed by them. They were previously frozen, so the icing was hard and the cake was stale.

First off, this is nothing like the Headquarters in Lakeview. THEY SERVE FOOD.
Yes, the free arcade games are great (I mean, honestly, get me a little sloshed and I somehow think I can beat the high score of every machine). But really, this place unexpectedly gets BUMPIN on the weekend. There’s a DJ, there’s a basement of more music.
Their beer selection is awesome, they do have cocktails (though these get a pricey, fast), and most importantly, this place is far enough away from Hubbard/​Illinois that you avoid the typical River North crowd.

Had a blast at this place from the time I walked in to the time I walked out! Awesome collection of old school games available with a great crowd! Good times.

Greatest concept for a bar ever in life? Maybe. They are straight up packed with pinball games and arcade games for your enjoyment. Even better, it was free play on friday night, so grab a beer and play the night away. Why go elsewhere and sit at a table talking and «socializing» when you can be playing pac man or electrocuting your girlfriend with Raiden’s lightning fingers in mortal kombat? Pac man, frogger, big buck hunter, about 20 pin ball machines and good ones, I was in heaven. So many other, more inferior, bars make you pay them to play pin ball. Headquarters knows what’s up. They also have interesting, nostalgic décor, with one wall covered in cassette tapes. Two floors, too! Such a great place to chill with a beer and some friends.

Grat beer selection combined with old school games and tv shows turns this place into the hang out my inner-​child never knew she wanted.
The draft list is great and always changing as are the game counsels. Beat part is that you don’t have to pay to play the games and you can watch American Gladiators or old school wrestling while you wait your turn. Though, they were showing March Madness games last time I was there.

Enclave turned videogame arcade!
It’s a blast! Games are free. No cover. 1980s at it’s best. Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Donkey Kong, Pac-​man, Asteroids, Galaga,…etc. and of course pinball!
Cool vibe. Hip music. Great Drinks.
The menus are refurbished children books. Sideways TVs line the walls, as well as kitchen sinks and an actual bath tub behind the bar! Funky place, which makes it artistic, interesting, and unique.

There could not be a better place for games, hipsters, and nerds to hang out. Old school Street Fighter II? Check. Pinball? Check. Little tables next to games to put your drinks? Yup, got those too. The vibe here is on point. Drink menus are inside vintage yearbooks, there are little tiny lockers to charge your cellphone, a fireplace downstairs, and the checks come in ridiculously bad vintage books.
The cocktails were just okay, but I didn’t even care because I was having too much fun running around playing pinball and Paperboy (which is way harder than the Super Nintendo version, PS). Great beer selection and wine list too.
Definite visit for having fun drinks or a really cool party. Hat Tip to AIGA Chicago for hosting a design mixer here and introducing me to its awesomeness.

Amazing barcade. It has two levels!!! I think we went at around 1am and it was packed.
They have sooooo much variety of drinks here in terms of beers, mixed drinks and even shots.
Drinks are decent and average priced.
Another thing that makes this place five stars is the fact that all the games are free!!!

HQ could possibly be my favorite bar in Chicago as I do seem to find myself here once a month or so.
Always a consistent rotation of really good craft brews. Only wish they had printed out menus, but they always seem to be rotating so I can understand why they don’t. Cocktails are aiiite… But take advantage of that beer selection.
All games are FREE! Pinball to NFL Blitz to Pacman… They got you covered. Play til you can play no more.
On weekend nights, it basically turn into a club with a DJ spinning in the booth. Good place to hit up if you feel like tearin’ up the dance floor. GET IT!
Recently discovered they had a lower level section on a really busy night with even more games and if I remember correctly an entire bar with different beers on tap.
As for food, they do serve up until 10pm I believe before switching over to their limited selection late night menu. I’ve tried a bit of everything from the mac n cheese to their sandwiches to their beef stroganoff and all were yummy! My only only gripe was I feel like the mahi mahi tacos were a rip off for 12 bucks. Super tasty, just not $ 12 worth of food though.
Anyways, leave the drama at home and GO PLAY, DRINK, & DANCE! ‘Til next time, cheers!

I came on a Saturday during the day and then again at night– just couldn’t get enough of this place.
The games are fun (especially because most of them are free ninety-​nine), the drinks are great (the Motts drink is yum), the DJ was sick (played a ton of my favorite 90s songs), the vibe was chill (girls– you can wear sneakies)… basically I loved everything about it. I dont think I’m ever going to party anywhere else in Chicago.
A lot of the negative reviews I’ve read are mainly centered around the dining experience. I’ll report back once I’ve had dinner here! Stay tuned Unilocalers.

Free entry
Free arcades
Free pinball
How can u not want to come here all the best 90’s arcades in one building with a bar and grill. I love this place I feel like a kid again watching retro gladiators or wwf. It’s open late there’s nothing to complain about 2 floors of games with a live Dj.

All I can say is Free Free Free! For those looking for a fun interactive date spot or just a chill spot to come with friends… this is the place. First off door people are awesome! None of that pretentious BS. There very friendly and get you in quick.
The space size is pretty decent and the cost to play the games is… FREE! I hope they never change that. We played shooting games, pinball, pac man, etc… and had such a good time. The cocktails are average price for Rivernorth. I had the punch out which was pretty sweet, but good. I wasn’t really a fan of the music, but overall great place!