Barcadia Bar & Grill

The environment is kind of hipster. But the games do make it cute. Unfortunately, we won’t be going back because one member of the staff was repeatedly rude to our group.

Free arcade games, skee ball, life size Jenga and connect four??? Who can say no to this?!
Great outdoor patio area to hang out as well but can get pretty crowded. The vibe is way chill and they have typical bar food available as well.

What I like about Barcadia is it has some of the elements of a giant mega-​bar but retains a neighborhood bar feel.
For example there are TVs in there, for game nights, but not giant flat-​screens posted everywhere. There is an outdoor patio which is drive-​way sized not beer garden sized. It’s not a mall arcade circa 1997 sucking down quarters but a retro watering hole with good taps and ²⁄₃ of the machines functioning freely. Even on a weekend it’s got folks in there drinking and gaming but you can still get a spot and an opportunity to try your dexterity on the third level of Pacman.
So on some level there are things to be desired but its neighborhoody enough that you can’t really hold these scruples against it. And when you step away from it, free retro games, good beers, low-​key and outdoor over-​sized jenga blocks what’s not to applause?

I like Barcadia for the Giant Jenga, arcade games, and convenient location near my office. However, things aren’t ideal here.
Bought a bottled water from a waitress along with two beers for my homies, and then a few minutes later the other waitress tells me «I can’t have that [water] in here.» implying that I somehow was so ghetto I had to bring bottled water from home.
Then I proceeded to grab the receipt from my back pocket, but she saved herself the huge embarassment by asking the other dude whether they did. And of course, he mentioned to her they DO in fact sell bottled water.
—–
Everyone’s sorta crazy (myself included) but I am sure the bouncer is a nutjob — he was giving passing bums a hard time as well as double-​checking everyone’s ID as if the whole town’s trying to sneak in here.
SIDE NOTE:
But what’s my opinion on bars worth? I quit drinking 8 weeks ago.
Grew up in Houston but have never experienced such incompetence… in a bar.

Fuck yes.
Monday has half off food, and with $ 2 cans of cheapass beer, it almost feels like brazen thievery at these prices. Let’s not forget the free play on the arcade machines; there may be a 5% fail rate on the buttons of the machines, but you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Food’s on the upper end of bar food, and they even have ahi tuna.

Alcohol + arcade games + novelty sized Jenga pieces + Midtown (the good kind, not the Ed Hardy kind) = wait, did I die and go to the secular happy afterlife? This place is good to come after work and just unwind, drink, and be happy a place like this exists in Houston (after being apart from the one in Dallas for so long.)
This place is never packed to the brim full of people, which I like. The waitstaff never get snippy and short with you, which is important to keep everyone in a giddy, buzzed, happy, child-​like bliss cocoon from the evil outside world.
That explains why it closed so quickly I guess.

I love this place. It’s got everything I want in a bar: Good stock of alcohol, plenty of space (indoor and outdoor), fun bar games like giant Jenga and giant Connect Four, aaaaaand (drumroll please) my favorite arcade games! What more can you ask for?!
The service is fast and the clientele is kickin’. I mean, you KNOW everyone else there has to be cool because they’re in a freaking arcade bar! I’ve enjoyed my 2 – 3 visits here. Still haven’t tried the food, but hey, I’ve been looking for a reason to go back!
I’m not sure what the arcade prices are on the weekend, but each time I“ve been is on a Thursday and the games are FREE! Galaga high score, here I come!

Whoa, the veggie dogs here are quite good! Get it with veggie chili, cheese, tomato, onion, jalapeño relish, pickle relish & sauerkraut. It’s awesome… especially after a few beers. Then go play Jenga and other classic video games!

I’m a fan of this place. Truly a fun hang out for my friends and I. Bartenders are friendly and seem to really care about what you want to drink. Most bartenders I come across just want to get your order and could care less if you are satisfied with your drink or not.
To sum it up, Barcadia has what it takes to keep Houstonians coming back. Great drink specials, yummy bites to much on if you get hungry, variety of arcade games, jenga in the large patio areas and great service.
Cool points for:
+ Fried peanut butter n jelly! Comes with milk! (but. if you’ve been drinking some booze before, I would not recommend consuming milk)
+ Having Paperboy for me to play!!!

It is barely a 3 star but no worries I’ll upgrade ya … Went for my friends bday party, so it was a big group (I am only friends with winners) So the set up is OK, video games inside and big life size games out on the patio. Now I didn’t grow up playing video games, but this concept seems cool but it was like they need more games inside, now they have several video games but they desperately need to quickly go out and buy some more, maybe when moms gives them some more allowance money … the clientele was fun to watch, a mix of some d-​bags, reg peeps and reject hipsters. The bartenders are these too cool for school hipsters that may or may not be angry due to the fact that they do not work at a hipster bar (maybe they didn’t pass the cool quiz at dirt bar or aren’t attractive enough for Royal Oak?) whatevs, so my issue with the bartenders went like this:
2 friends and I are at the bar trying to order some drinks friends 1&2 get into deep conversation about dating (well friend 2 ain’t gettin no play from another friend, let’s call him T-​money like he is a raper, which he isn’t he wears white socks with shorts) anyway bartender ladies asks for my order, i order 3 distinctly different drinks (3D), she starts making them but then asks me again what i ordered, I tell her again 3D to which she responds in a loud manner:
«YOU CAN ONLY ORDER A MAX OF 2 DRINKS PER PERSON!!!»
I turn to Christina, I mean #2 and say hey the lady needs to see that you are with me so she can make our drinks and so she won’t yell at me. Angry hipster reject bartender lady (AHRBL) then loudly states
«I DID NOT YELL AT YOU»
So loud that everyone turns to look ~ kinda like that show Parker Lewis Can’t Lose
She then finishes making us 3 angry loud drinks … so my tab was closed right after … as I left that night, I walked past AHRBL who is on a smoke break, she tells another HR, «I am having such a bad day today, just really frustrated»
It’s cool AHRBL, maybe you can study some more and listen to the Pain Teens back from the early 90’s and they’ll let you work the brunch at Dirt Bar for starters, but start working out and running at memorial if you even think about applying at Royal Oak … that’s my tip to you lady
So in conclusion an OK place not too terrible but watch out for full moons man!

Great concept! A union between arcade games (what we liked as children) and booze (What we like as adults!). Can’t remember the last time I hung out in Midtown (Houston) for happy hour but after a happy hour I usually attend was cancelled a couple of us decided to try this spot.
Apart from the scattered arcade and skeeball games this is a typical midtown bar. Three bartenders behind the counter… one dude looked like a failed attempt at Brett Michaels while the ladies were chatty towards the patrons. One of the waiter’s walks in and the bartender ladies notice his apparently drastic haircut. He yells out, «I had lice!» really loud… really dude? That just sounds extraordinary.
Barcadia had better beer selection than many places in midtown (which is refreshing since most of the places don’t try hard enough outside the standard Bud, Miller, Coors, Shiner and whatever commercial craft knock off is around.
Food menu was very interesting considering it was a bar. My lady friends ordered Bustos’ Tuna. We were within eye shot of the kitchen. Turns out we were also within nose shot to because the food smelled really good. It smelled great… so much so that I decided to order something to. I have this thing about sandwiches and burgers so I ordered some sliders. Came out pretty quick! Nothing super special but better than most places. Downside?
Downside…even the happy hour prices weren’t really all that great. The food service was much slower than I would have anticipated. I guess I have to come out for special events. Honorable mention goes to the art on the walls and handouts!

Bar… arcade? barcadia!!!
Why does this place have 3.5 stars? Ima fight them. jk.
Cheap drinks, attractive & friendly staff, spacious, Eclectic atmosphere, good cold a/​c, clean bar, counter, floors and rr, nice concrete patio, cool games, unique oversized board games, great crowd, lots of parking, safe well-​lit parking lot. wonderful location, …errr…what have I said thats not deserving of 5 stars?
Havent had food yet so cant comment on that. Havent even seen their menu.
Dont miss out, come here and have a good time. Props to the owner

I don’t care if this reveals my inner nerd. I freaking loved this place.
I got a Mardesous beer in the right kind of glass from a tattooed bartender with a good mohawk.
Then I rocked the bejebus out of Street Fighter II, beat the game with my boy E. Honda. Threw in some skeeball and some large jenga (it’s not giant sixed unless the pile is as tall as you are people!) and I am hooked.

Kind of a nerd bar with all the arcade games, giant jenga and connect four, and lack of space for congregating. All the arcade games are so close together that it’s not like everyone can gather around Pac Man. Then, there’s no space to just sit while your friends game. The only sitting area is at the bar (with barely seven bar stools) or in the dining area, which is kind of awkward for just kickin’ back.
But maybe my real reason for not enjoying this place was just how cold I was. The outside was kind of chilly, and they had the fans going inside. Uncomfortable.
Bonus: The back skeeball machine was free, so that got us a cheap entertaining night.

Placed in the same center where Reef’s located… Barcadia is my type of bar. Other then Sports Bars, I really don’t care much for the neighborhood watering hole. Call me a snob, but I rather go to a wine bar any day of the week. So imagine my delight when this popped up.
The appeal here of course are the vintage video games. Dig Dug, Tron, Popeye, Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Ms. Pac Man, Qbert, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and omg… Paper Boy (fond memories playing this game when I was younger). They even have skeeball, pinball machines, and a large jenga and connect four outside.
What really draws me in are the nightly specials…
MONDAY (that’s when I’m here) and everything on the food menu is half off and happy hour all night. The menu has a good variety of bar food. Maybe not gourmet, but for half off (entrees around $ 10 regular price)… it’s a great deal. The little doggie (mini corn dogs), frito pie, and PB & J (peanut butter, strawberry jelly sandwich that’s deep fried w/​confection sugar dusted on top) TOTALLY ROCKS!!!
TUESDAY is free game night. All the video games are free for customers.
WEDNESDAY is pint nite. Most pints are for $ 3.

This is definitely my kind of bar. The walls are decorated with vintage magazine covers, Sailor Jerry-​inspired art and the walls are lined with video game machines. Classics like Mortal Kombat, DigDug, Paperboy, Super Mario Bros. and Tron inside and the outside patio boasts picnic tables along with giant games of Connect Four and Jenga. If a machine is down, the signs stating so are hilarious, like the Ted Nugent pinball machine had a sign that said «Gone Huntin’»
The music is great (for example, a few songs heard were «Pure Morning» by Placebo, «Bigmouth Strikes Again» by The Smiths, «Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down» by Interpol), the staff are friendly, attentive and humorous.
The only gripes I have are that you cannot get cash back at the bar on a credit card, so you have to use the ATM and change machine to get quarters for the games. I ended up with $ 20 in quarters, which got me a few hilarious games of Mortal Kombat with my pal Meredith N, skeeball, fumbling my way through trying to play Tron and crapping out at Paperboy because I’d had a few Shiners.
The location of the skeeball machines is not ideal, as they are in a narrower area and don’t leave much room for the crucial backswing. Needless to say, I threw a lot of 10s.
It’s also difficult to find a place to set your beer among the machines. However, I had a fantastic time and really dig the atmosphere of this bar. I will be returning, perhaps for a MK rematch.

I have visited this bar twice now and I have to say that this bar is way more entertaining on a weekday when there are less people. The bar has a ton of video arcade games, skee-​ball, big Jenga, and big Connect-​4. However, with a large crowd its hard to enjoy these games to their full potential. I mean, you do need room to play these games, and without room they are less enjoyable.
There are 3 skee-​ball machines and at least one machine seems to be always out of order. Come on Barcadia, fix your machines! I love skee-​ball and I wanted to play but I wasn’t able to the second time I was here because there was a line for the 1 skee-​ball machine that worked.
Drinks are around $ 5-​$ 7 per drink. Not too shabby. The bar staff is extremely friendly and always willing to pick up a conversation which is nice.
Definitely come here with a group of friends to play some competitive Jenga and Connect-​4! So fun! All of the Jenga blocks have inappropriate words written on them which makes for a more entertaining game. Just don’t be the drunkard that makes the blocks fall!
Come here on a weekday night with your friends! You will be able to enjoy all of the games and just have a great time!

When I first heard about this place, I thought it would be more like a Dave & Buster’s where all of the old school games would be scattered all around the room. Wrong. It was about 20 or so machines lined up against the wall. We decided to come here for HH tonight. Got there around 6 thinking it would be super crowded from the parking lot, but it was kinda empty inside. Very chilled place. Music was bumping but not overly loud like some places.
So we ordered some margaritas on the rocks… bf said it tasted like Squirt… it didn’t really taste like margaritas… so I would pass on that the next time. Then we ordered the Little Doggies, Fried PB&J, and Mini Cheeseburgers without the cheese. Little Doggies… we thought it would just be mini corndogs, but the hotdog was different on the inside. It was more like an Italian sausage… didn’t really care for it. Came with a few onion rings which were very greasy.
Fried PB&J…uh…yum?!! Peanut butter just tasted so creamy… I thoroughly enjoyed this… and it was so cute b/​c it came with a little carton of 2% milk! I felt like a kid again… nostalgic feelings here indeed.
Mini burgers were actually decent. It didn’t really look all that when it came out, but it was served on Hawaiian buns… served with thick fries… not bad.
As far as the games, 25 cents for the games. I really liked the giant Jenga blocks. I usually don’t play Jenga but I love things when they are not the normal size, so I had to just mess with them… be warned… all the blocks have some crazy stuff written on there…
Valet parking here only… which I think is eh… don’t know if it’s complimentary or not though… but still. We opted to park around the corner.
I’m surprised I don’t have a stomachache yet from the margarita, little doggies, pb&j, burger, and milk. :) I’ll be back…

Great concept. I liked the 80’s vibe that Barcadia had (both in the game selection and the music), without being too over-​the-​top. The place was pretty packed so the wait for some of the arcade games was a bit long. Which brings me to my one gripe, several of the machines were malfunctioning. They seemed to have somebody onsite to fix the games, but even so, 2 of the pinball machines and 3 – 4 of the video games were out of commission. Even so the game selection was good. I was very excited about Ghost ‘n Goblins and I managed to remember a few Street Fighter tricks.
I didn’t get a chance to play the giant Jenga game because I didn’t feel like being outside in the cold but it sure looked like people were having fun with that.
The bartenders were great and and top of their stuff. Good beer selection and they have the usual pub food menu. Barcadia’s a decent option and a good addition to Midtown.

A bar with a whole bunch of arcade games… I’m so there! I love me some good old pinball action and paired with a few drinks… couldn’t ask for anything more!
So my boyfriend and I decided to meet up with some friends there on a Saturday night. Parking in midtown definitely sucks, so just opted for the valet. It was $ 5, so not too bad. Of course you have to factor in the tip, but I’ll tell you about that later.
We walked in and the place was A LOT smaller than I expected. The first thing I did was walk around and see what kind of games they had going on. The first thing I noticed was the skeeball games, but unfortunately when I went only one was functioning. The same goes for the pinball machine and sad to say it wasn’t the greatest pinball machine around. Some of the games seemed to be free whereas some of the games you had to pay for, but you didn’t know which one until you tried them out. I kind of wished the bartender told us this before we decided to change 3 bucks into quarters. We ordered a couple of drinks and told the bartender we wanted to pay cash so when we got our drinks we expected a total, instead she kind of just looked at us and we had to ask how much a couple of times before a total was answered and we exchanged money. Maybe it was loud who knows, but as a bartender you kind know these things.
The night went on and the place started to fill with people. The games were nostalgic to some degree, but they were stacked so close together that it was difficult to have a two player game and not bump into the people next to you. Also where are you supposed to put your drinks while you play? It would be wise to put tables in between the games and give the guests more room. My favorite part was the Connect Four outside, I definitely had fun with that because clean up was easy. The Jenga, well I just wasn’t down with cleaning it up.
I think if the set up to this bar was differently and there was more space and better service, I would rate this place differently. I’ll attempt to go maybe for happy hour or a less crowded time and see what happens… til then sorry Barcadia, you’re only a 2 in my book.

Jenga! Jenga! Jenga!
CRASH!!!
This Bar+Arcade, is super happy fun time!
They have a 3 sets of giant jenga on the patio. The blocks are oversized wood blocks so be careful, as this leaning tower will leave bruises. Behind the jenga are 2 giant connect four boards made with paint can lids. You remember when you finish a game and you pull the lever to release all of the chips? Just multiply that feeling times 10. CHA-​CHING!
Inside this place has a great playlist of a variety of 80s and 90s classic songs. With vintage arcades all around. I came on a Monday night so there was Monday Night Football on nice TVs, the rockets game was also on this night so perfect sports bar also.
Monday they have a special on all night happy hour so $ 1 off every drink, and half off food. We had the sliders, chicken tenders, ham and cheese sandwich, and mini corndogs. Everything was superb. Add in 2 glasses of wine and 2 beers and we were still under 30.
Jeannette the bartender is great. She’s quick with the orders and fun with the crowds. She handled a drunkard pretty well in my opinion when he was complaining about the laws raping him in the ass, and she in turned say isn’t sodomy illegal? haha
Anyways, great new spot in Midtown. I will be back it’s right next to my old favorite bar, the Roof.