this place is very family, friendly, has video games for pretty much all ages, a really nice area reserved for private bookings, and also caters to the adults with two bars. There's Apple space to move around and very bright and lightly. The food choices are pizza, chicken tenders, cheeseburger, sliders, fries, cookies, and drinks. The service is bar none where they're so helpful and inviting. read more

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First & Last time here. Purchased a Package to celebrate my son's birthday party, set up was nice & food is good, Wish i could say the same about Manager, his customer service is TERRIBLE. I booked from 6-8 NOWHERE IN MY CONTRACT OR PARTY FAQS SAYS KIDS AREN'T ALLOWED IN BUILDING AT 8:00pm. I understand if it's their policy but i wasn't told on any emails when i booked for adults & KIDS. I had previously ask my bartender and server if my guests and I could cut the cake at 8:00 since food is served at 7:30 they said Yes ofc then manager comes around 8:05 to tell me "KIDS HAVE TO EXIT BUILDING AT 8:00" he gave me a "chance" to cut cake and stay until 8:30 and then we have to leave property, i felt so bad for my guests with kids who were rudely told they can't longer play games & had to leave, we cut cake rushed and they took them to go since they were not allowed to stay and eat on site. One girl there did apologize bc i showed her nowhere in contract nor email with planner party named sam told me about this policy and manager simply said "you have to talk to the person you planned your event with & that people usually play, eat and then leave" like really no one stays on site even if they have to move tables? I understand that but we were the only ones who had booked at that time & there were plenty of empty tables and chairs available. It was just very rude of them to say Kids have to exit the building as if these kids were not being supervised and playing with their own parents. SIMPLY RUDE & they could have communicated this policy with me before even booking it. They did charged me for everything 2 days before event though so they know what what they're doing. I emailed party planner and I've been ignored now. Only Bartender gets the star, very polite. TY. read more

First time going here, went on a Tuesday night with my lil family for my son's birthday he loved it! They do have a full bar and a seating area they do have also have food. The music and atmosphere is good they have arcade (a lot Of games to play) they also have private game rooms to rent and private seating sections to rent as well and computer stations for those who like to play on the computer. The service was ok the food was pretty good for an arcade place. It's better than Dave n busters! read more

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Decent spot to have some fun. We got there a little after they opened and it wasn't yet crowded. As a result, back bar was not open. They have a variety of games including air hockey, throwing games, shooting games, and just games to try and win tickets and prizes. I didn't have to wait for any games. Spent about an hour here and that was plenty for me. read more

Kind of a hidden arcade. It's easy to pass by. There's plenty of parking in the side, gravel lot. Be careful, they have a sign that says it can get muddy on a rainy day. We never interacted with staff. Most of them were behind the small bar. I'm not sure what they serve, but they didn't look too experienced with cocktails. There were no kids when we went. The place was clean, and I like how you can redeem prizes yourself via the machines. read more

I almost do not want to share Skokie's amazing gem that is cool for kids and adults. My favorite part are the employees- not sure on names but the person in front- They are always so pleasant and happy and truly all the employees have worked there forever - it must be a great place to be :) read more

I usually save Ignite for rainy or cold days so it had been awhile since my last visit. I took my 11 and 8 year old boys (and their friends) for some rainy afternoon fun and was delighted to see that it also happened to be the grand opening of their new arcade. The large party room in the back turned into a big arcade, which really excited by boys. In fact, my 8 year old was so excited that he asked me to book his upcoming bday party here. I had a great experience for my other son's bday here when he was the same age so I sent an email to set it up...and got a response within minutes. After some back and forth we're all set for an upcoming arcade/gaming console/lunch party a few months from now and my son couldn't be more excited! This used to be a great way to kill 1-2 hours, but with the addition of all the arcade games you could easily spent 4 hours here. Or perhaps even longer considering I had to drag my kids out after that amount of time! read more

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Large selection of interactive games. They have good and drink offerings. Also a good place to take children.

Very cool place to play arcade games, and I believe you can also play computer games here. It seems like a great spot to hang out at night, especially for those who live nearby. They also have a bar, and the bartender, Alex, was super friendly and nice. The drinks here are really unique - I can't remember the name of mine, but it changed colors to purple, which was awesome! read more

Ignite Arcade - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Overall fun it was really pricey for games, I went on half priced Tuesday and that seemed a little more reasonably priced. The drinks were meh for how expensive they were, the bartender was not very nice. But they had a wide variety of games for all ages so that was fun read more

Update: BEAUTIFUL BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE STAY AWAY!! They will lie on you to save their image. They called us hostile and aggressive, but can be unfair to us. Isn't that something?? Couldn't even pay me to come back here. ALL HISPANICS STAY AWAY!! The bar manager was so racist and pretended that a drink we purchased from the bar wasn't actually from the bar(????) just to kick us out. So weird and unnecessary. She kept giving us an attitude and hated the fact that we spoke Spanish. Her entire personality changed once she saw us speaking it. Food was horrible and overpriced. The drinks watered down. We spent $200 on arcade game plays and $50 for food and drinks. She seen us purchase all of this and still kicked out the whole group. Kept giving us the run around so we wouldn't get refunded. Mind you we overheard her serve alcohol with someone with an expired license. The only difference was skin color. Shame on you Ignite. Only have about 5 good games to play on the arcade side. The games don't give out tickets so most of the games eat up your credits. More cons than pros. Please stop hiring racist managers so you don't lose out on business!! read more

Held my husband's birthday party here and it was nice because adults played games and brought their kiddos who could play as well. Ordered food as well and all was good. Nice venue where both adults and kids could have fun. We didn't reserve a party area formally as the event people said we would need a package so we just came early and got tables (which they recommended). We ended up having plenty of space and we brought a few decorations that we set up on the tables. Worked out well overall read more

I had a wonderful date night the service was amazing and the food was delicious and we played almost all the games read more

We've visited this place for the second time to celebrate a child's birthday, and the little ones really enjoy it. Since they don't get to play many games at home, they have a great time letting loose here for a few hours. read more

Review from my 8 year old son: It's fun, cheap, and it is really joyful . You can do a lot of cool and fun things there!

Family had a blast. It's good to get there early. The place is clean. The food is kid friendly. Lots of games + prizes. Staff & owner is extremely nice. Happy Hour #Groupon read more

Had a blast! Friendly staff, pizza was good and many arcade games to choose from! Nostalgic atmosphere.. a great date night! read more

Ignite Arcade - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Never heard back for gift card upset about the gift card yet I called and didn't get a call back

Kid had a great birthday party at Ignite. Attentive staff. Would consider it again in the future

They have a good selection of arcade games. They seem to have a lot of private gaming tables set up with computers on the first level and small loft on second level. However, I wish they had pinball machines because I do not play video games much. The space is large and they have room to accommodate adding 6-10 pinball machines along a wall in the rear section. We played air hockey (2 available machines) and skee ball (2 available machines) which are my favorites. They have several pool tables (four total) as well. They offer two separate bars (front and rear of building). If you want to eat and drink, the rear part of the building has dining tables. Staff is friendly. Groupon is offering discounted arcade game cards. The "L" Yellow Line (Skokie) subway station is directly across the street which is a plus. In addition, Ignite has a free fenced-in public parking lot across the street next to the "L" tracks. read more

I frequent this place with teen son and sometimes host son and his friends. They all have a great time when we go. I have also hosted son's birthday party here. All had a fun time! Their policy has changed over the years. I would recommend going on a weeknight when hourly session is less than on the weekends. There was a gaming competition one weekend and the event looked great! Definitely recommend this place for gamers. read more

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Super fun venue with so many different games! Motorcycle or race car simulation, sniper , basketball, dance, air hockey and more! Full bar, free ice water. Had a blast with friends! read more

I went to a bar- mitzvah party at the arcade and the ambiance with music was awesome. Also all the food tasted good and crispy. My one complaint that may almost have ruined my whole experience is getting a game card that is useless. Yeah you heard me right they only give you a card that you can only play games on but no prizes. The service people were just like oh yeah only these cards are only for play and you can't cash them in. This made me very angry especially because I worked very hard getting many jackpots just to realize they were worth absolutely nothing. read more

Massive | Groups | rock-band | bites Massive: the space is HUGE! They have effectively two main spaces. Space 1, where all the gaming is and space 2, which is blank with its own private bad for private events. On the gaming side, they have a full up bar which can make anything from cocktails to slushy red bull vodka. In addition there are five main sections: 1) alcoves that fit 4-6 people with a 60 inch tv. 2) LAN games, 3) two private rock bans areas, 4) 2 VR sections, and a private loft for LAN games. Groups: this is the ideal space for anyone who likes to game. Where her you are 40 and want to have flashbacks to 1999 or 27 and want to play madden with the boys, this is a great place to meet with friends and have a good time with a console. Rock band: this was the coolest part of the space IMHO. They have two rock band rooms which resemble the private karaoke rooms. This allows a group of friends to just rock out in private. We had a great time with friends just giving 100% energy on songs without fear of Judgement for our less than "pitch perfect" voices. Bites: they have pretty good American bar food. The fries, pizza, and chicken tenders were more than enough to keep us going. Pro tip: you can take the L or Metra to the location. It's literally across the street from the yellow line L Skokie stop. And about 1.5 blocks from the metra Skokie stop. They have parking which is behind the L station. read more

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My son had a terrific 10th birthday party here with afew friends. Katie the events manager made it very easy to arrange everything.

"They have Qanba arcade controllers to play video games. What more do you need? If you don't know, you don't know fighting gaming" and that's what I wrote 4/21/19. Since then, the other Ignite Gaming in Chicago which was the original shut down. Now, this place has an arcade and it's overpriced AF!!!!! I used $25 in a matter of 15 minutes, and there isn't much in the arcade at the moment. It's alright here though I feel they aren't doing what they could potentially do with all the space they have. read more

Pretty disappointed. I've been coming here for years. I love to introduce my friends to hang out and wind down here since we're all into gaming and hanging. Got a lot of referral hours to my account because of me inviting others. I had also purchased hours for Black Friday back in 2019 and used it occasionally. Imagine my surprise when I come back for the first time since the pandemic started, only to find out that game time I had previously on my account from referrals and from purchasing, was expired and was told they would not be able to restore it since "it expires in 30 days". I'm extremely disheartened by that. I've brought a ton of people over to Ignite, and for that to happen just surprised me in a poor way. It's in their own policy to restore expired time due to the pandemic. Have they been open since February? Yes, but this pandemic is still ongoing as of June and not everyone has immediate access to vaccines that would make us comfortable to go. read more

Ignite Arcade - They sure didn't have my back here. - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

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I had the chance to experience the soft opening of the Skokie location on December 18th for the free games, food, and drinks - and other than the long line to get in, everything and everyone was superb. Having no prior experience with a gaming lounge my expectations were certainly off. This renovated industrial space is beyond impressive and gives off both a vibe of being a place for intimate small groups and large social gatherings. With many stations for PC, Console, couch co-op, Rock Band, and VR (coming soon!), the scale and scope exceeded my expectations. It's catered more towards the 21+ crowd with a bar including specialty game-themed cocktails and drinks in addition to the regular beer, wine, and spirits. The quality of drink and food was great, and the service was friendly and went beyond the norm. I could tell everyone employed here was happy to be there and eager to help us have a fantastic time. Will certainly be coming back again in the near future, and will update a review then. Update January 2019: Yes, still amazing! Was able to get some PC gaming time in and some couch multiplayer action on second visit. PC set up: PROs: comfortable, customizable seating and accessories. CONs: Issues with logging into and tracking progress with private Steam accounts (i.e.: could not manage it and used just the Ignite accounts). Couch multi-player set up: PROs: Spacious, comfortable CONs: a bit too close to TV for little leg room and inability to change TV volume. Also, I was a bit disappointed not all the games on the website from Chicago location were available at the Skokie venue, but this would've been easily confirmed by a call ahead of time as the service is still above and beyond. Overall still up and coming, and still worthy of a visit - especially for PC gaming tournaments. read more

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Went to get a drink at the bar, brought it to my table. and placed it on my girlfriends area in order to make space to setup my gaming area. Girl came over and asked her for ID. My drink was simply on her side, she did not take a sip. No refunds provided for drink or time for gaming. sorry I have to contact for a card dispute forunaut read more

Celebrating my daughter's birthday and we had an amazing time! The arcade is perfect for families. The food was delicious and hot when it was delivered. The bartender Johnson took our order and made great suggestions! Loaded tater tots are a must!!!! The owner made sure the place was clean and customers were satisfied! This is a great place for children to have fun and adults as well. Can't wait to come back! read more

Last time I was here was actually October 2019 for the Chicago OW Lakeside Showdown 2. I was also here when they had the first Lakeside Showdown as well in April 2019. First, I love how large the venue is. There is plenty of space for all the gaming stations without it feeling cramped. I was able to walk around freely to take pictures of everyone playing in the tournament. And because this was during a tournament there were a lot of people. There are a lot of gaming stations throughout Ignite so if you were to go as an ordinary patron and not there for a tournament, there are plenty to choose from. They even had a little area for broadcasters if the venue were to hold a tournament. Aside from the many PC's, there's also an area for couch party games and even private rooms for Rock Band sessions with friends. When I was there in October, they opened up a separate area of Ignite used specifically for viewing tournaments. While the players played in the main area, friends and family can watch the live broadcast in the other room. Now I haven't had all the food and drinks at Ignite but I will say they have a good size menu. It's enough food to feed you for a whole day of gaming but not an overwhelming large menu. Aside from their signature cocktails, they can also make other drinks. I saw they had Midori on the shelf and they were happy to mix a Midori sour for me, which happens to be my favorite mixed drink. Bartenders are amazing and super chill. And the food was just good all around. I have yet to actually play on their machines since the only time I was there was to hang out and take pictures of a tournament But just based on specs alone and watching all the players, it looks like they run well enough that it worked in a tournament setting. I highly recommend going to Ignite to hang with friends, drink, eat and play video games. It's definitely an experience. For those who run tournaments, I recommend it as well. Great experience for the players and their friends and family! read more

Ignite Arcade - Taken from a loft area with additional computers. This was taken in April 2019 during the Chicago OW Lakeside Showdown tournament. - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Ignite Gaming Lounge saved the day with my son's 10th Birthday! We originally planned to have my son's party at a different gaming lounge. Unfortunately, that particular gaming lounge had to shut down temporarily due to an internet outage and my son's party was canceled at the last minute! It was a nightmare and I was left scrambling to figure out what to do... Luckily, Sam (one of the owner's of Ignite), read about my ordeal through my Yelp review of the other gaming lounge and personally reached out to me to help set up my son's party at Ignite Gaming Lounge. We worked out the details and the logistics of the fairly large party (38 kids) after exchanging a few direct messages with each other and I was able to send out the Evites to everyone right away. The party went smoothly without a hitch! The host and staff were all very friendly, patient and helpful. We had 3 technical support people on hand to set the kids up on their PCs. I would recommend that you make sure that your guests bring their Fort Nite user names and passwords, otherwise you will be chasing down their parents for this information. Once everyone was set up on their terminals, the party was basically on cruise control. The staff brought out their pizzas and beverages quickly. The quality of the pizzas were great - thin, crunchy tavern-style pizza - my favorite. Although this party was a drop-off party, some of the parents decided to stay and hang out at the bar. In addition to having a PC terminal with game controllers for each kid, they reserved us a private room for Rock Band! My son's friends all had a great time...in fact, I don't recall hosting a party before where so many of the kids came up to me and told me how much fun they were having! If you are planning on throwing a birthday party for 9 and 10-year-old gamers, I would highly recommend Ignite Gaming Lounge! read more

Ignite Arcade - My son and his friends had a blast celebrating his 10th Birthday at Ignite Gaming Lounge! - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

This place is really awesome. Ignite caters towards families and kids during the day and more of an 18 or over crowd at night. The place is open generally from 4 PM to 2 AM most every day. It's clean and the staff is very friendly. The food is very good and so are the drinks. Prices are competitive for this type of thing. I give it a price rating for the games food and drinks at three dollar signs out of four. Hope you enjoy yourself when you go. read more

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first time and will be back, it's not super cheap but the drinks at legit and you can be strategic with the points / didnt get bored and will be back with the kids next time read more

I feel like I have been to Ignite Gaming Lounge enough times and have met enough of the people there to make a thorough review, so here we go: First of all, this place, being in Skokie, right next to public transportation, and near where I live and work is already amazing. Secondly, the fact that they are a GAMING lounge with actual PC, console, VR, Rock Band, and couch co-op gaming on high-quality setups COMBINED with the amazing staff, delicious food, and superb drinks make this a place to keep coming back to over and over again.. which we have. If you are thinking about checking this place out, stop thinking and just go. This is the end of the basic review. Now I must go specifically into each and every facet of this business and the people who make it great: Ownership - I have never officially met the owners, but I see one of them there a lot (Sam). He seems like a really nice, hard-working guy and the staff has nothing but nice things to say about him. I have no complaints about this establishment, so the ownership must be doing a fantastic job! Management - Les is the best, he is respected by his staff and seems like he really loves his job. He is constantly thinking of ways to elevate the menu and the experience of patrons like myself and his drink recommendations are always top-notch. Sophie is also very sweet and was always a pleasure to chat with at the bar. She is everyone's best friend and she lights up the room when she arrives. Events - Katie is amazing, not only does she have brilliant event ideas, but she implements them at an extremely high level and quality. There are weekly themed events in their event space and we have seen everything from kid's birthday parties to black-tie galas at this place which shows a ton of range and outreach for this venue. We look forward to her events each month and she has really elevated the guest experience at this location with all of her hard work and insight! I can't wait for the next Trivia night and the Respawn Halloween Event! Staff - Could I say anything bad about the staff here? Absolutely not! We have met so many awesome people here, and if this place had NOTHING else, we would still always come back for the wonderful people working here. The hosts are always super friendly and welcoming (special shout-out to Rudy who is one of the friendliest people I have ever met). The cooks in the back make delicious food (special shout-out to Anna and Xavier who make some of the best pizza I have ever eaten!). And finally, the bar staff.. Lydia, Heather, Ren, Sirius, and Mal (sorry, the only ones who I know their names, and hope I spell correctly) have taken such good care of us and we always ALWAYS look forward to seeing their smiling faces behind the bar. They are great conversationalists and make even better cocktails. Not only that, but they are very inventive on their own and contribute custom drinks to the menu that are always top-notch. Out of everything at Ignite, the fantastic people working here will always be the number one reason to return! This ends my love letter to the wonderful world of Ignite Gaming Lounge Skokie. read more

Me and my wife went on a trip from Chicago to Milwaukee and stopped my this gaming Lounge for a drink and it did not disappoint! It wasn't your typically gaming lounge, they had a very nice bar, with game themed drinks, and a ton a gaming computers for ever game imaginable! read more

Great atmosphere and the arcade there is awesome and great prices for an hour to play Xbox/pc games and you can bring your friends over and play some console games. Well also having some amazing food the Italian beef sliders are incredible. Plus great alcoholic beverages. I recommend nuke cola or the mana potion cocktails also incredible fries greatly season Plus the Service is incredible. read more

Clean and neat place, with friendly workers Hubby's happy to celebrate his birthday here and will definitely comeback. read more

Ignite Arcade - Lounge - Bars Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Pure perfection. I'm bringing a couple of my friends for this amazing place. They'll love the pizza, drinks

The lovely lychee cocktail is not only visually stimulating but a taste buds paradise ! I love the layers of flavors and the way it tastes different from sip to inhale to exhale . The drink is truly put together with perfect understanding of flavor and ingredient balance . The young lady lydia who suggested this amazing concoction was actually the creator of this and im convinced she is an alchemist rather than a mixologist lol from the way that the ice changes colors to the way it changes me was pure sorcery and I love a good love spell! After my amazing bar tour which made me feel as if I was at a pub on a road in hyrule we ordered wings and pizza and one of each style of fries. That lydia will make you purchase air with how well she walks you through a menu we literally ordered one of everything and shared . Complete menu knowledge on top of warm and welcoming attitude and enchanting beauty even behind a mask makes lydia the queen of beverage and hospitality !!! Our party after being filled to the brim with whimsical cocktails and delicious finger food we got an entire sofa and big screen with all the Mario access needed . Socially distanced is an understatement lydia literally plugged us into the damn matrix it was like we was the only ones in the world and lydia was the result of a complex algorithm... maybe thats why the check added up. Our party literally with no exaggeration bought everything on the menu job well done . She has locked in my business and I will be back its my second home read more

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