Dorkys is pretty cool bar arcade in downtown Tacoma. I've been there 3-4 times and never have any complaints about the staff, or games. Went their on Saturday night with m'lady, and had a good time. The only reason they get 4 stars is due to the food. It's not expensive, and it is still a bar, so I wasn't expecting too much, but after being recommended the garlic chicken bacon ranch pizza, we ordered one. Haven't tried there other foods, but I will be back. Just eat before you go, or plan to eat somewhere else when you get hungry. read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - Grumpy pikachu - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

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Came here for the very first time and i absolutely enjoy myself splurging being a kid again !!! i grew up with video games starting with oregon trail and atari on up. As you walk in you are greeted with smiling faces and their staffs are awesome ! the theme is fun arcades everywhere and you are bound to find one of your ol time favorite games :D from simpsons multi player / ping pong to pacman / rampage / mortal kombat / bubble bobble and more !! we had their pizza dishes along with some garlic bread and cheese melts i wasnt complaining at all ^-^ if you ever get a chance to come out here on a boring day and dont know what to do ! this is a must. so happy to see arcade read more

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The "owner" of this establishment is super unprofessional and talks very rudely to guests. We've been here a handful of times and witnessed him disrespecting a customer but never had a problem ourselves until just recently. Apparently, it was our turn...He came up to us and yelled at us for my son being 4 ft away from us. There is a polite way to ask for him to be closer. He should probably take some courses in communications. The place is dirty and run down. Food taste disgusting. I feel bad for the fact that the lady working at the bar is busting her butt off because he's too cheap to hire more help. Maybe, if he did he could hire someone that could do the communicating with guests for him. . After reading several posts with the same complaint I found this information: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mynorthwest.com/12567/arcade-owner-apologizes-for-using-n-word-at-black-lives-matter-protest/amp/ Nor acceptable in any way!!! I would not recommend going there. read more

Such a fun place. All the games work so that a super + they also have a good beer selection

This is a fun, family friendly kinda place. It's a bit loud and had a lot of things going on so if you can easily have sensory overload (like me) choose the time you go wisely. There are games for old school and new school. They have the largest PAC-MAN & space invaders screens I've ever seen. It's nice to be able to have a beer while playing or watching some one else play a game. There's a change machine for the games and they if you're using a credit card they will run a tab for you. If you buy them one at a time and you don't have enough cash there's a 50 Cent charge per credit card use. They have snacks and serve pizza. I ate before I got there so I didn't think to check out the menu. We had a great time! read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

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Such a fun place to go and play some games and get some good pizza and chicken strips!! Definitely check it out if you are looking for something fun to do! The owner was super nice! read more

Super fun date night! It gets really crowded on the weekends and in the afternoons and due to Covid they can't let everyone in so the wait can be pretty long. Games are fairly priced and you can buy food and alcohol inside read more

We had a fun time overall but it was a bit of a rocky start. We planned to eat there but the kitchen was closed for a party so that was a bummer. Bathrooms are kinda sketchy so maybe it was a good thing we didn't eat there anyway. Games were fun, good cider selection. Bring lots of quarters. Lol read more

Tons of fun!! We went for the pinball games and we definitely weren't disappointed! Not very often that a group of 50 something's can all be entertained at the same time but Dorky's managed to keep us there until closing. Not to mention it was way cheaper than the casino! One reason for only 3 stars is the fog or "smoke". It was so thick we could hardly breath and several of us continued to cough for a couple days afterwards. Not sure why it was so thick but it was being piped from the ceiling and it went all the way to the floor! Not sure if that's an every night thing or if we just happened to hit it on a special night. We'll call first next time! Didn't try the pizza so can't comment on that... the beer was cold so that's a good thing! Another reason for only 3 stars is we noticed quite a few machines were out of order and some were just tilted but nobody was fixing them. We still had plenty of options but would have been nice to have a floor attendant. We'll definitely be back! read more

This is definitely a top attraction in Tacoma. A huge array of games (see the other reviews), all for a quarter, they way it should be! They're open really late, accommodating drunksters like myself, and even serve food (which I haven't tried). There was a hot dog cart out front which treated us right though. Definitely come check this place out if you're looking for fun or nightlife in Tacoma. read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Is this grilled cheese or burnt panini? I can't believe I wasted my carbs for the day on this. read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - a grilled cheese sandwich - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

The team at Dorky's did a phenomenal job for my wife's birthday. The service, food, experience and games were fun for all. They even made a special order veggie tray with some delicious hummus for us (off menu) for our friends with dietary restrictions. The pizzas were really good too. Lots of great toppings and cheese. Good dough. read more

Not anywhere a respectable human being wants to frequent...Bad food, terrible service, and the beer was overpriced. A bunch of the games were out of order, the place was dirty, and kinda smelled like urine in the gaming area. I would estimate the last time they cleaned the place was roughly 6 months before I was last there. Definitely not a place you want to spend your money, literally 3 bars across the street that would be better simply because you have less of a chance to catch a disease from em. If zero stars was an option this place is what a zero looks like. read more

Very fun! There are lots of game options for a low price. Perfect for taking the kids out or going out with friends

Wow! I got to relive my childhood with these awesome 80s arcade games. The owners were friendly and what a great selection of beer! It is family friendly. Does not become adults only until after 9 pm. A great place to bring the family or a group of adults. With most games at .25 cents, your money goes a long way. I will certainly come again. read more

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Everything you could ask for in an arcade that serves adult beverages. We hung out before dinner, played a little air hockey, Pac Man, pinball...the usual. No complaints. read more

BLUF: Great bar with great games for good times! This bar is one of my favorite places to visit in Tacoma! You have the perfect combination of pizza, beer, and arcade games here. I'm continuously amazed by how cheap the arcade games are here - if you went anywhere else they would be at least double the price! They have a wide selection of beers ranging from normal classic beers to all the craft brew IPAs that you could want. I never tried any of the pizza but they definitely looked good AND smelled amazing. My favorite games here were time crisis III, teenage ninja mutant turtles, and of course, Star Wars pinball! They have all the pinball games you could imagine! I definitely will be frequenting this place, highly recommend coming here if you have not! read more

The absolute best place in Tacoma to go for a cheap, but excellent time. In the arcade, there is everything ranging from super classic to brand new. A lot of the old games, such as Dig Dug, Centipede, and Tetris, are all 25¢ per play! On top of that, most all Pinball machines (which, might I add that there are a giant selection) are only 50¢. Pizza, Snacks, drink, and alcohol are all available for purchase, served by awesome staff. (After 9pm, though, minors aren't allowed in.) Other than than, weekends can be pretty packed so you might have to wait or play something else before you can get to your favorite game. 10/10 would recommend for any occasion, like Birthday parties, dates, hanging with friends, or when you have nothing else to do. (Might I add, there is a gift shop, and several events hosted by Dorky's.) read more

This is a great old school arcade!!! This is a great place for families of all ages! read more

My favorite game is Guitar Hero, and when i found out this arcade has Guitar Hero, that was a big incentive to check it out. I was very surprised when i saw how much it costs to play the game. It cost 25 cents. The Guitar Hero machine at Round 1 Arcade in SouthCenter costs a whole dollar to play, and two dollars to play a premium song. This place is great. read more

Been going to Dorky's for several years. Overall had good experiences. My family loves the Super Mario pizza! Really tasty. Husband and I enjoy a hard cider while we play. Update: unfortunately they no longer have pizza when we went tonight. Closers due to COVID have made it too costly to keep up! Sad! I hope they bring it back in future. read more

Smelly nasty, sticky floor, yuck. The only good thing about this was, the server at the bar was very pleasant and the price of beer and hard cider was reasonable. We went on a Saturday afternoon checking it out to take my boyfriend seven-year-old. There is no way I would ever take him there. There is no way we will ever go back read more

Horrible service , had multiple machines eat my coins and was refused a refund, not to mention the attitude I received when asking for my money back. read more

My boyfriend and I dropped in here very randomly to check it out. We had a lot of fun. Sure; it was dirty and sticky, but the service was good, the music was good and we just had a lot of fun. read more

Staff lies about who they are when service is needed so they can cover they're ass while mistreating costumers. I was in and ask for a manager after a poorly trained bartender door man was letting in minors after 9 we got to the bar at 10 pm and abusing his authority letting them in. The door man began to creat conflict where there was no conflict. Just as per to the last time we visited the same idiot yelled at us from behind the bar to us that this is TACOMA. Is you don't like you life or job don't bring your toxic misery out on to people trying to have a good time. When we tried to talk about the fact this same idiot was letting in minors. A random server claimed to be the manager when the issue was brought to their attention. Come to find out when we called to make sure the issue was heard . That the server lied and was not the manager. The owner then began to lie as well claiming that the server never said that. Assuring that they feel they have justification to be rude to people and people they feel are not regular and can sever whoever. They proceeded to slander and blame the level of danger on this strip on the bars in the other locations. Completely throwing out the responsibility for the actions of their own staff. They will never get a dollar from me again. The attorney general, BBB everyone will know about the poor behavior of the outrageously untrained staff. read more

I'd say it has a wholesome old fashion quality like a roller rink would, but personally don't see the hype in it. I'll admit I was there during the day with my children and spouse. Older gentleman I assume is the owner, seemed odd, I am a very friendly person but also awkward so I usually can find my fellow awkward kind peeps, he was more of a standoffish dude. I choose to not entertain negativity so it didn't deter us from enjoying ourselves as a family. Its cutesy enough for a date night if you want to be silly, since there were different type of brews/ciders to drink. Don't see it being somewhere we would revisit though. read more

We loved the dessert pizza! So nummy!! My whole family loved playing the games. They brought back lots of memories. We had a great time and will be back. read more

For years now I have heard rumors of the rudeness and unprofessionalism of the staff here. Never once did I really notice all too much until last night. We came, enjoyed the wonderful selection of games, relaxed, and had a good time. At the end of the night however, sitting down to eat the food we had paid for, we were suddenly asked to leave. We were more than willing to leave, but when we requested the reason as to why before we did so, we were met with nothing but glares and threats. Not wanting to push the issue, we grabbed our stuff and left. On our way out however, we saw the same employee, grabbing the food we had paid for, chuckling to himself while eating it. It really is a fantastic arcade that I used to recommend to all my friends, if only you can avoid the staff. read more

Always the best of time at Dorkys! Great pizza and quirky, friendly, staff. Ps thanks for not charging a cover :) read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Dirty and garbage. Claims to be a great place for kids, only if your kids train for the hunger games. People will move your stuff to that dirty floor to steal a seat, even if you have food and drinks on the table. I had staff throw away my kids full drinks and put our coats in the corner, all while we were waiting for 1hour+ for a garbage pizza that is SUPER OVERPRICED, drinks are insane expensive too. Had been going for years. Should have read the recent reviews before i went this last time. Total WASTE of a Sunday, had to spend hella extra money to take the kids to a movie after we bounced on this DUMPSTER FIRE. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. that is unless you are looking for a fight, the SUPER TOUGH staff got in my face as i tried to get my two kids in their jackets, as a single father i have enough on my hands. Will ruin your family's day. read more

I've been pretty spoiled by all the better barcades in Oregon. Dorky's has charm and great location...but it felt overall scuzzy and gross to me. Didn't try the food. Just the overall cleanliness and decor of the joint was so much less than I thought it would be. The bathrooms had both doors completely open to the public- so if you went in to drop your drawers, everyone was going to watch. Dorky's did have a good mix of games. The correct classics were there along with a good hodge podge of fighters, platformers, brawlers, drivers, shooters and modern machines. However, there was a good number of machines that were turned off or battered. A simple pinball like Evil Kenevil is awesome- but when the playfield is bare wood and parts are broken all over it you begin to ask "why"? Why have this game on the floor if its in terrible shape? Seems like an ok place to spend an hour if I had more time, but I would not spend more than that here. Nothing to come back for in my mind. Just way too many bar arcades in Oregon. read more

Update: I kept to myself most of the night playing pinball. I wasn't around the groups until I was leaving the building, which is where the aggression happened. Great assumptions of who your guests are though. I never spoke to your staff by the way. So I wasn't the one treating people wrong poorly. Nice "professional" response. I am giving you feedback based on what I personally saw and experienced. Not one person spoke to me when I was alone in the back towards the end. Are you assuming which guest I was? There were a lot of other girls there who , based off my photo, could pass as me. yes, I admitted I wasn't paying full attention when the DJ made an announcement. I was playing games, focused. That's what you do at an arcade. When will you own up to the possibility of your staff having attitude towards some guest who weren't doing anything wrong? I understand the policies definitely. Being adamant is one thing, but what I saw wasn't that. There are better ways to handle certain situations and people. Thanks in advance if you take this seriously though. ----- First and last time at this place. After reading other poor reviews, it seems this isn't an uncommon encounter, especially from the owner apparently. I'm not one to leave reviews but this was ridiculous. My friends and I stayed until close but majority of the staff here seems to have a bad attitude. I have never been treated or talked to the way I was. Especially simply because I didn't hear that the place was closing. Why would I? This place is an arcade. If I'm REALLY focused on a game, I'm not going to be paying too much to what's going on around me. I was in the back alone as well. I didn't see what was going on. I do vaguely remember the DJ speaking about something at one point, but I tuned him out because AGAIN, I was having fun and focused on the game I was playing. HONEST MISTAKE. It does not justify the poor treatment. Maybe some advice? 1. Turn the music off 10-15 minutes early if you're going to be rude jerks and basically aggressively force people out of the place early before it's even 2am. This place is made for entertainment and service, but this was pathetic. (You turned it off maybe 5minutes early? And didn't even give people a chance to leave before being aggressively rude after doing so. ) 2. If you're going to be so obnoxiously rude about telling people to leave, perhaps come up with better closing procedures. Such as what I just previously suggested. When I heard the music go off, THEN I knew without being told. 3. How about going up to guests and letting them know you're closing soon? I was never approached and given a warning. Even from the start when we entered, the guy at the door had such a poor attitude. If you dislike your job, or have a bad attitude, you probably shouldn't be working in this type of job environment? This guy was talking a lot of nonsense to people leaving as if he was some sort of innocent angel. "How disrespectful isn't it?" ... hypocrite. No need to be passive aggressive. Also, don't assume everyone you're treating poorly and aggressively as if they're drunk or have been drinking tons. I for one was completely sober, just distracted. I assume that was one reason why you treated my group, and another group, poorly. You work in ENTERTAINMENT/CUSTOMER SERVICE. Ridiculous. I understand the desire to close on time, and handle unruly guests...I've worked customer service for almost 5 years now. I get it. But I saw NO ONE being unruly or disrespectful. Didn't even hear anyone from the two groups talk back to you until maybe the very end when we were already outside? Not in the two groups I saw you treating and speaking to like trash anyway. Were people slow to leave? Sure. Because one group was waiting for their friends to regroup with them so they can leave together. No justification for poor attitude and service. To not hear a closing call in a loud arcade when you're focused on games should be understandable. Not treated with such PATHETIC DISRESPECT. Especially coming from what seemed to be middle-aged men who should know better. Thank you to the one staff member who wasn't being ridiculously aggressive that night. Congrats on being my first ever yelp review! What an honor for a 1-star review. read more

Just as the name states ..a Dorky Bar & Arcade. Be transported back to a place where you spent all your allowance as a child. But this time you're old enough to drink beer with your pizza. Remember those mom and pops shops? Aka hole in the wall joints with all the classic arcade games? Next to the laundromat, where your mom spent most her days? Sure you do! This place is just like that. Talk about blast from the past. I love the ambiance and more importantly the sounds of every arcade game. Very nostalgic. Reminiscent of my childhood. If you're expecting a plethora of state of the art games, Don't! People say "it's dingy and scummy". I say it has character. They say " the pizza sucks". I agree. However if you drink enough beer, you won't notice. They say "it's pricey". Everything is expensive these days. Remember when a movie ticket was just a nickel? This is just a small funky place for you and your friends to have a few beers and hang out. Whilst being big Dorks playing video games, talking about old times. It is what it is.. and don't expect it to be something it's not. You'll ruin the fun. Keep it classic! Last but not least, the highlight is the Air Hockey. I've had few first dates here and I beat them all in air hockey. Hope this place survives. We need more time machines like this in our city of Tacoma. If not they could always turn it into a smelly seedy lil adult bookstore. Almost forgot the staff were amazing and always friendly each time I've been in. So break open your piggy banks and visit this special little place we love to call Dorky's. read more

Great arcade, good prices, great selection of cider. If you haven't gone go and check them out.

Pros: great selection of video games, nice service, good beer selection Cons: some of the games can be pricey, pizza is not very good Had a fun time relaxing at Dorky's, traveling back in time playing old school video games of my childhood. They have a great selection of old and new video games and other games like air hockey, beer pong, etc. The service was great with really nice people taking orders. They have an impressive beer selection, but not a very big food selection. The pizza we ordered was humongous but not very good. Next time I will return for the beer and games after eating dinner somewhere else. All of the games take quarters, and some of the games can get pricey at a dollar a pop. read more

I've been going since they opened and frankly love this place. Went again tonight after having not been there in quite some time to see some new games and old faces. This place is always crowded on Friday and Saturday nights and I can see why! Personally I enjoy their food: pizza, sandwiches and hot dogs. And it's nice that the fountain drinks are free refills. I've not once had a problem with the staff. They're always nice and chatty and go above and beyond to help you out. I notice a lot of complaints about "games not working" on here and really everytime I run into a game that breaks down, I'd tell the staff, they'd refund my money and put a notice up on the machine. Yeah that can suck sometimes when it's a game you've been wanting to play but things happen. A complaint or notice to the staff while you're there usually fixes things. And often times when I go back later the game is fixed. There's maybe a handful of games there that have disappeared or continued to be broken down because they're harder to get parts for. That's totally reasonable though. You got to remember a lot of these games are old, used, and hard to find parts for. Generally though? I do t run into many problems. The only problems I've ever run into are with the patrons there. Like tonight. Our group set the table marker for our pizza down on the table then we walked away to go check out a game. One of my group went to check for the pizza and saw the table marker was gone. It's lucky I remembered the number and my friend hunted it down and some old guy jerk decided to take our marker and try and get a free pizza on my bill! Thankfully we got it back and since then we had to leave someone at the table the entire time until we got our food and ate it. That's really the only problem I faced here. Over all, dorky's is one of my favorite places to go and enjoy some awesome games and good food and occasionally a tasty new cider. I definitely recommend the raspberry cider, it Delish! read more

Dorky's Bar Arcade - Destiny's special pizza (meat lovers!) - Arcades Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

[[UPDATED]]One of the staff opted to reply, and in a couple cases I had clearly misinterpreted events, so I'm adjusting my review and score accordingly.]]] We recently visited Dorky's, which came highly recommended from several people. The trick, we've realized, is never visit on a weekday; I have to assume the generally high marks given here were given by weekend patrons. Our overall experience was negative, which is a shame, because Dorky's conceivably has a lot going for it. (On the other hand, it was a nice reminder that Ground Kontrol in Portland is awesome.) On a positive note (and, sadly, the only positive note I can drum up from an otherwise dismal experience), the selection of retro games is pretty good, and the games themselves are clean and reasonably well maintained (at least cosmetically; several of the games I played had very unresponsive controls--a facet, no doubt, of the games being as old as I am, and something I just expect in an arcade). So it hits the bare minimum of expectations in that regard. It has beer. It has videogames. Check. On the negative side, the staff and owner are almost indescribably rude--hostile, in fact. A sign greeted us as we entered mentioning $3 microbrews. When my wife attempted to order one, the staff -- seated at the bar and using her laptop-- vaguely waved at a wall of beers, (and it is a huge (120+) beer selection), and then began to roll her eyes, exasperated that we were not already well-versed in their offerings (because we had committed the cardinal sin, it seems, of never having set foot in there before), and didn't know which ones were actually the $3 beers. [[[The server in question has replied that she felt we were, in fact, rude, and I'm willing to chalk this up to one or more of us having a bad day. That said, her contention -- that doing video production work on her computer was more important than assisting a customer with cash in hand is certainly telling. I'm also willing to stand by my years of experience as a journalist, writer and general observer of human behavior to say with confidence that, yes, she rolled her eyes and behaved as if we were a huge annoyance; her mileage clearly varied, but there you go. That's about as much "he said, she said" as I'm willing to devote time to.]]] Later, my wife had an issue with the pinball machine she was playing -- ball stuck in play, which also happened to me, on the first ball I launched; it got stuck before the ball ever made its way into play, just sitting there. So she went to report the malfunction, and again, the server was confrontational, telling my wife that she "better not try this" when the owner was around; apparently, expecting to play a pinball game in an arcade after having put in one's quarters is a terrible affront. Finally, after being scolded by the staffer for several minutes and being blocked from actually playing the game, my wife asked "Is it really worth arguing over 50 cents? I just want to play the game. I don't care about the quarters." [[[The server in question indicated that we should've waited until the machine kicked the ball, which is certainly valid. I did so with the Indiana Jones pinball game right next to the one my wife was using. The ball got stuck as soon as I began play. For all I know, it's still stuck. But again, I'm happy to consider her comments in reevaluating my review. She's also cited abusive behavior by my wife, which is, frankly nonsense, but in the interests of fairness, she may well have perceived hostility, as it seemed we triggered her dislike upon entering the business. ]]] As my wife and left the establishment, she said, "It's a cool place. Too bad that lady is so rude." Another passerby -- who must've been a regular customer or an employee -- shot us a dirty look, bolted inside, and by the time we had gotten into our car and started to pull out of our parking space, the owner raced out to confront us, holding his keys like a stabbing weapon and yelling "ARE YOU THE PEOPLE BEING RUDE TO MY STAFF?!!!" [[[I am now informed by the staffer in question that the owner is also her boyfriend, and the contention is that we somehow were yelling out how awful our experience was and name-calling, etc. Apparently, we managed this in the 10 second walk to our car, which I was already driving by the time the owner/boyfriend made his dramatic entrance.]]] When you read the other reviews here about how the owner and staff are rude, in my experience they're selling them short. I genuinely thought the owner was going to assault us, over a 50-cent credit on a pinball game. [[[As for the attitude and behavior of the staff, her own comments remain below, so you can be the judge. And this specific staffer is cited in many of the -- and please note, otherwise positive -- reviews here as being unpleasant and rude, so the attempt to somehow scold or shame me into perceiving her behavior as somehow justified should be obvious for what it is.]]] read more

Often come to the area to visit my parents that live up here near the community college. We have something similar in Salem downtown. After the great reviews I was excited about the prospect of the adventure I was going to partake in. Then I arrived. My issues: 1. Rude wait staff 2. Long waits 3. Overpriced beverages I will pay more for awesome and fast service. I will NOT pay extra for rude staff that cannot be bothered or long waits for simple items. Please get it together. Also embarrassing that I had to learn AFTER the fact that I'd spent my hard earned American dollars at a place that isn't friendly towards Americans of the darker complexion. Enjoy that money of mine, you won't see it again. Also, I find it hypocritical of the site to not allow users to mention this. You allowed users to DESTROY the homophobic bakery but it's okay for business owners to refer to Americans as racial epithets? Keep it klassy! read more

I loved the games, and the crowded game room is very 1980, which is exactly what I love about it. The pizza isn't great, but there's a good selection of beers, if a bit pricey. Took my son there for his birthday. He was very interested in the games of the past. I would take him there again. One word of advice, if you aren't the photogenic love to look at yourself type, avoid the first table. There's a photo booth machine that constantly takes your pictures all through your meal. read more

Holy crap guys. Louder does not always equal better. I love the extensive and well maintained collection of games. The selection of brews is fantastic. I'd have stayed til closing! Except... You need a competent sound person. Like, before you started booking DJs. It was physically painful to be in some corners of the place, even with earplugs in. Eardrum shredding highs paired with too little bass equals me leaving a couple hours earlier than I might have otherwise, and never coming back unless I hear you've fixed that garbage. read more