Fantastic addition to CR! Amazing all around - thoughtful food from the open kitchen, great house brews and guest taps, and uber kid friendly with the '80s arcade and pinball. The black IPA they brew is amazing, as is the vegan sausage pizza (they make a conventional version too that also looks great)! read more

The Quarter Barrel - Open kitchen and '80s arcade - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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I've tried Quarter Barrel out a number of times: for arcade games with friends, for dinner, and for a drink at the bar. Every single time I go to there, it's good--not great. The bad: food is overpriced and portions are very small! Bartenders are either totally overbearing (borderline inappropriate at times), or too-cool-for-school and somewhat inattentive. There's been no in-between when I've gone here. Same goes for the crowd there: either the place is totally packed, or it's dead. The good: the atmosphere is great, arcade games are a fun addition to a night out with friends, cocktails are generously poured and tasty, their tap beer selection is solid. The staff, while imperfect, seems knowledgeable and happy be working there. I definitely recommend this place if you're bar-hopping in Downtown CR with friends. I don't recommend going here for a meal though: you can just get tastier and more fairly-priced food someplace else Downtown. read more

TLDR: Barcade in Cedar Rapids with a few good games. I have high expectations when it comes to barcades, and this didn't do the trick for me. We played two games of NFL Blitz, and it set us back $8. That seems like a steep price to pay when games are free at other spots, but they successfully got my money. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. read more

I was excited to find poutine in cedar rapids. A bit disappointed that the fries were cold and soggy to start and if you know poutine it's a race against the clock before the whole thing is cold mush. Starting out with cold soggy fries means the whole thing was a cold gelatin blob before we had very many bites. I wish I had taken a picture of my friends "fried pickles". In quotes because they were tiny fried gherkins!! Not big crisp dill pickle chips as you'd expect. Just odd and disappointing. Atmosphere was very fun and beer selection is good. They just need to get it together in the kitchen. read more

I ordered 5 pizzas and they were mostly crust the toppings didn't even go out to the edges. There was about 3" of crust on the edges maybe more in some places and the toppings were so scrimpy and thin it was all crust on the thinnest crust pizza I have ever ate. The cheap frozen crust pizza crust is thicker. Nobody wanted to eat it. I threw away 4 of them. Definitely cost way more than it's worth. So the owner sent me a message wanting to know when I was in so he could pick apart my negative review and be defensive like he had others rather than focusing on the quality of the product and the customers satisfaction. AND THE PIZZAS WERE BURNT I TOOK A COUPLE PICS. I guess this is how his 3 best chefs cook. The owner was very pretentious and rude. Stay away from this establishment. This is the message he sent me: Christopher E: Business Owner Admittedly, I am bewildered by your review, but even more so by the antagonistic tone of your response. Do you think that I would be out of line to publicly defend the business that my wife and I have invested every last dime of ours into, spend every waking hour working on, and are, actually, very proud of? Yes, I am inclined to disagree with your review. We had our 3 best chefs working in the kitchen over lunch on Friday. And if this is the order that I believe it is, our kitchen manager personally boxed up your pizza for you. He is a stickler for quality, and if the pizzas were anything less than his demanding expectations, they would have been remade. Perhaps this is a matter of misaligned expectations. Perhaps you were unfamiliar with the style of pizza that we make. Perhaps it is a matter of our pizza not being intended for take-out. All that I can be confident in is that the pizzas were made with care in a deliberate manner by some of the most experienced pizza chefs in eastern Iowa. Do we get no points for service? I understand that our bartender carried the pizzas to you car. Do we get any mitigation for the Restaurant.com certificate that saved you $30? Do we get any leeway for your order being a take-out order? How about some appreciation for even letting you use the Restaurant.com certificate. The terms and conditions stipulate that it is valid for dine-in only. Or for accommodating you with 18" versions of our specialty pizzas--an option that is not on our printed menu because those pies were not designed to be scaled up. A 1-star review hurts my business. I put my everything into this business, so of course I'm going to get irritated when I think a reviewer is misguided or erroneous. I don't expect everybody to love our pizza. But to lambaste our food in terms of quality when it is really a matter of your personal preference is something I take great umbrage with. read more

The Quarter Barrel - Nasty burnt pizza - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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This joint has major potential for being a rad spot in CR! I stopped in the night before their grand opening and glad I did. 90's Alternative music instantly hit my ears and I went into full ADHD mode when I eyed the crazy amount of games they had. It was impossible to NOT be in a good mood at this point. I enjoyed one of their in-house brewed beers and salivated over the pizzas I saw pumping out. The energy was sublime and numerous laughs and smiles could be seen and heard. Anxious to return to actually try the food and more! read more

The Quarter Barrel - It's on like Donkey Kong! - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

So allow me to start out by saying I had some very high hopes for this place. First strike: the problem here is that they have a fundamental lack of understanding of how to make that quintessential beercade environment. Like others have reported, there are LOADS of kids -- in a restaurant that has a very prominent bar, and when I visited did not have a working kitchen. Second strike: they have (or had) no tap beer, and if I'm going to drink from a bottle it'd better be really cool or in my own home these were rare craft beers they were slinging. So in light of this, I asked if the had a wine list. Bartender gestures to some open wine bottles behind him and says "we've got red or white" YIKES. I honestly wish I'd walked out then. Third strike: the machines. Half of them were out of commission in one way or another. I get it, game consoles like this and pinball machines are expensive. But they'd been open for about a week or two when I went. How could they have let them lapse into disrepair already? Additionally, the other beercades I've been to don't make you pay individually with quarters: they run on a tab basis. That means that you open a tab and then you can play games. If you don't meet the minimum tab requirement, you have to pay for your games. But that would require the design to be a bit more ordered. I really hope that they're able to shape up a bit as they adjust to being open. I know starting a business is hard, I will definitely give this place another try, but I was seriously disappointed. read more

I will definitely go back. They have vegan options and will work with you to make what you want. We had a delicious vegan pizza with balsamic glaze. They also have black bean burgers and jackfruit bbq sandwich with vegan slaw. Weekly specials looked tempting. Will be back. read more

My boyfriend and I stopped in at the QB for the first time and we really enjoyed ourselves. They have a great beer selection and the food is on point - the tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons was awesome! My boyfriend had one of their pizzas and said it was great, too. We also had a blast playing the video games! They're classic arcade games that have that quintessential vintage feel, making them all the more fun. It's a brand new bar, so they're still working out some of the kinks. But that's to be expected and won't deter us from coming back. All in all, we had a great time and will definitely be revisiting for more fun and outstanding house-made brews! read more

So tonight I ventured out to downtown Cedar Rapids to check out something I had been looking forward to since I first heard about them. The Quarter Barrel. A Barcade. Or in layman terms, a bar and an arcade all in one. First appearances I wasn't overly impressed but I figured that they were new and just recently opened. So no worries. I was happy to see the abundant amount of arcade games. Took me back to my childhood in a sense. So I bellied up to the bar and got a beer. It was pretty good. No complaints there. I grabbed my change and got myself some quarters and moved over to the arcade section. Needless to say, at this point I was pretty excited. I played a few games and got more disappointed. The lights on the headers of all the games weren't on. The sound wasn't really turned up that much and many of the joysticks and buttons didn't have that original feel and felt mixed and matched. The pinball machines were probably the thing that disappointed me the most. Mainly because the flippers and bumpers played like a 20+ year old pinball machine. This wouldn't be bad if it was back in the corner of a bowling alley, but the video games and pinball machines are the reason that the x-gen would be going there. I personally expected more from the video games. Now I hope that they repair all of the games and get them on point. I'd love for this place to do well. I didn't try the food but a turn off for me was being able to see the kitchen area and a guy back there sitting on a cooler playing with his phone. Not too professional if you ask me. I mean it was late and he wasn't getting any orders but that's not the point. Like I said, I'd like for this place to succeed but with the short attention span of this town and the x-gen who likes things spot on the first time to keep coming back, the Quarter Barrel needs to get things moving in the right direction fast or it may just be another one of those in and out bars. I give it an A for concept and a D for execution so far. I really had higher hopes and still do. If you want that old skool feel, stop in. I'd like to try the food so I'll probably go back at least one more time. Maybe the food will change my mind. read more

Been wanting to stop in for quite some time now and finally had the opportunity over lunch today. I have to admit that my primary motivation was to relive my younger years and play some of the vintage video games, Galaga, Asteroids, Donkey Kong and of course Pac Man. I didn't set any high scores, but it was enjoyable playing these games again! Ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza which was reasonably tasty. Didn't have any of the beers they have on tap which are plentiful, maybe next time. I would highly recommend this place if you want to play the games and not be overly critical of the food, the more upscale eateries are a couple blocks down the road. read more

Y'all like old school arcade games and pinball? What about craft beer? How about pizza that tastes pretty good? Get yo self to Quarter Barrel. Don't forget to bring your round metal money. Huzzah! read more

We went on a Saturday night which is probably the worst time to go. There was an overwhelming amount of noise and lots of kids. I suggest they install noise reducing tiles on the walls and ceilings. It was hard to hear my companions over the noise. Pretty much a chucky cheese environment. If you don't want to compete with kids for the arcade games, go later in the evening. The kids were pretty much gone by 8:30. We had thee pizzas, all were good. However our stuffed pepper appetizer was so full of green chilies that was all we could taste. Also, it was not served with enough bread to make a reasonable bite for the amount of stuffed chilies that was served. Probably a good place to take kids, but adults should wait for a later time in the evening. read more

We brought our son here for his birthday dinner. We had been here before and enjoyed the curly fries and were excited to have him try them. We must of got the bottom of the barrel because they were like crumbs. The last time we were here we thought the pizzas tasted burnt but thought we would give it a try. Of coarse my sons came out burnt and mine as well. I am. It sure if the oven needs cleaned but they were awful. They were out of the beer my husband wanted to try and the waitress was not attentive we even had to wait for water and never offered us silverware had to ask for. We won't be back. read more

I've been here a few times, and have always had a great experience. My husband tends to abandon me to play the nostalgic games, which is okay with me because I'll be at the bar sampling the house brews and appetizers. The beer they brew is great, and the food is wonderfully thoughtful. As a pure-bread Iowan who was raised on meat and potatoes, I know the owners are vegetarians and have influenced quite a bit of the menu. Let me tell you, they've done a wonderful job of making sure both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike are fully satisfied and leave happy! The bartenders are knowledgeable and you can tell everybody who works there has a passion for what they do! read more

Pizza was very good ! Service was terrible. Ordered an appetizer that we never got, we weren't charged for it, I don't know if he just completely forgot or what. Had to consistently flag down our server as he was busy chatting at the bar. After finally getting a box for the leftovers, he left our check with out a thanks for stopping in or any kind of a thank you...... Disappointing. read more

Quarter Barrel is great and its one cool new thing in Cedar Rapids. However in Larger Cities that have places like this there are never a bunch of children running around a BAR. This is really discouraging and it also makes me question the logic of parents who bring their small kids in, This is not an appropriate place to bring CHILDREN. It is a drinking establishment. Just because there are video games there doesn't mean bring in your kids. Take them somewhere appropriate such as playstation or mcdonalds or happy joe's. However the pizza is fantastic and the beer and drink selection is great. A Lot of good house made brews, and local cider too. read more

Love this place!!! The food is great, the staff is like totally friendly, and the games are RAD! read more

I first came here about a couple months ago and the service was great. The staff, food, and arcade games were amazing. About a week ago I tried going here again with my friend. When we walked in we were rudely approached by a worker who informed us that the kitchen was closed and we needed to order at the bar. She then walked away without letting my friend or I respond/have time to respond. Although it was my fault I didn't realize the kitchen closed before the actual restaurant closed, the women just seemed irritated that she had to explain that to me. My friend and I promptly left. About a week later we decided to try to come here again because of the amazing first experience we had. Again we had to order at the bar, but I made sure this time the kitchen wasn't closed. The bartender seemed to at first ignore my friend and I, but then eventually asked what we wanted to order. We placed our order then sat down at a table. Our pizza was then brought to us except our order had been messed up and we had been brought two pizzas instead of one. My friend went to the bar to resolve the issue and explain to the bartender that we didn't order two pizzas. He didn't even wait for her to finish explaining before he rudely turned away and said that he'd take it off of our check. After that, we realized that the pizza that we had originally ordered didn't have the right toppings but we didn't bother explaining that to the bartender again because of the hassle. The only thing that made this trip worth it was the arcade games. read more

First stop in the Quarter Barrel tonight and will definitely be back again. When I came I was hesitant to order food, because the place was packed, but I am sure glad I did! My Pesto Alfredo pizza came out fast and was delicious. I loved the fresh ingredients and that the pizza wasn't drowning in grease and cheese. The in-house brewed porter was delicious and a great pair After the food, I hit up the arcade games and was happy that my $.25 got me 3 lives. Not much can go wrong with good beer, pizza and tunes. Can't wait to bring more of my friends here. read more

The Quarter Barrel - Pesto Alfredo Pizza with a delicious porter - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Service awesome beer awesome service, had the guys come over and talk to us about their Brewing process and where we were from. Food was great no complaints at all. A little loud but the food and beer made up for that. Several old pinball machines other arcade type games.. Opps. Just found a few fine hairs in the breakfast pizza. read more

The Quarter Barrel - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Honestly cedar rapids does not have many truly vegetarian friendly restaurants. I cannot think of one other restaurant that will serve you tempeh. This place will not disappoint you with whatever you try. The buffalo pizza sub with tempeh is the best thing I've eaten in this town and I've lived here for 7 years. Don't be afraid to order a plain cheese pizza for your kids :-) the restaurant is very accommodating! read more

I have visited several time over the last several months since opening. But only when I make it up to Iowa from TX. Each time I have enjoyed the food and beer. My favorite was the St Patty day ale cheese soup. They have daily specials and everything is made fresh. Two weeks ago they had a pork loin sandwich, that reminded me of a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich with a Midwestern take on it. My Coworker is a vegetarian and absolutely loved his vegetarian pizza and was impressed with such a large selection. Food is good, fun for the family, and good beer. I enjoy visiting. The owners are friendly and make an effort to welcome you. read more

Blah! I've lived east/west coast, Midwest and south. I know something about pizza in the U.S., including artisan, chain, & every "style" of pizza there is, so I feel confident when I say, the pizza here won't bring me back. I'd rather go to Zoey's or Tomaso's (and I'm not from Cedar Rapids, so it's not related to loyalty). The pile of romaine lettuce is lost on me, it primarily detracts from the pizza. The frickles "fried pickles" were good and customer service was good. Arcades where you dump coins into a machine have lost their entertainment value with the invention of home entertainment systems. I hope they can make it work because Cedar Rapids could always use more variety, but if I'm going downtown the Lost Cuban gets my business. Update: thank you Christopher E. for your response to my review!!! Once again, customer service is definitely a huge plus at your business. You're points are well made and definitely your menu should be given more than one try prior to discounting. You're devotion to your business and your customers is clear, I appreciate your time in addressing my review! read more

Pizzas - yummy! Local brews! Cocktails and more! An 80s video gamers Heaven with all the blasts from the pasts! Stop in and enjoy!!! Fun fun fun!!! read more

Went here one weekend and had a great time! Good pizza, beer, vibe and the owner was very nice and accommodating. Will def go back!! Oh and there's games!! read more

Disclaimer: I didn't go to Quarter Barrel for food and didn't eat while I was there. I went there with family to play arcade games, and we had a blast! This place has probably 30-40 classic arcade games (that still take quarters) and has a great atmosphere for playing while enjoying a drink or two. Donkey Kong Jr., Mortal Combat, Ms. Pacman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Galaga, Terminator 2 Pinball, and soo many more! There was only 1 game out of service while we were there, and I was assured by regulars that games are rarely out of order and are repaired quickly. Also- they had a great beer selection and sodas (with free refills) were only $2, which pleasantly surprised me. read more

We were soo excited to take our son who is a total gamer here for late lunch today! We went in, waited forever bc the sign said wait to be seated- finally we just walked around & let him start playing games & he loved the games! However, there were maybe people sitting at 4 other tables- so not busy at all, NOBODY EVER AFTER 20 minutes came to our table where I was sitting & asked if we wanted drinks or menus! Finally, out of thirst I went to the bar & had to rudely wait for the male employee with a bun talking to a female employee sitting at the bar writing a recipe for blueberry pie- I finally just said- can I please get drinks? He said what do you want? I said 2 root beers & a Diet Coke or Pepsi whatever you serve? He got them charged me, never said thank you. (We went late bc we worked out as a family from 12-1:30) so we had planned to eat lunch, my son & spouse came back for more quarters for games, still no waiter- I said that's it, I went back to the rude barista & asked for 3 Menus & a straw bc my son is 9- he hands me 1 menu. Another 20 minutes still no waiter & we needed refills on our drinks! So the menu is very very non traditional- things adults would try or be into but not even stuff that I see the target audience of gamers into- (besides the pizza) - so I had to walk back to the open kitchen & talked to a very very nice cook asked about the pizza & he gave me a sample of the marinara sauce! It was really good & my spouse & I would for sure have liked to try a pizza! However the apps- not one single kid/teen friendly or even mildly picky adult- & the burgers were interesting but again- I don't mt know what audience they are after bc there was NOT ONE SINGLE CLOSE TO NORMAL BURGER! As an adult I would have tried the crab cake but that's it. However, SINCE NO SERVER EVER CAME, in the ENTIRE HOUR & 20 MINUTES WE WERE THERE, NO REFILLS OFFERED (we even would have payed it's the premise), HOW RUDE THE NON BUSY BARISTA WAS & STINGY GIVING ME 1 menu & NO STRAW (which we read in the menu how straws are wAste & have to be asked for- we are huge into recycling but a 9 year old with a cup that large needs a straw) - WE WILL NEVER BE GOING BACK! We have heard that the night time games like Trivia night are what keep this place packed at night- I'm soo committed to breathing life back into downtown CR- it's really unfortunate that rude employees who don't serve customers lost out on a meal & it wasn't only us, 2 other families came in & had the same experience- IF THEY DON'T WANT PARENTS BRINGING IN 8-14 YEAR OLD KIDS & WANT TO SERVE THEM MEALS THEY SHOULD JUST PUT A SIGN UP IN THE DOOR! read more

The Quarter Barrel - Pizza Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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We went with a group, so there were a lot of pizzas to try. All were very good, the different veggie styles were the favorite of the group. The craft beers that I tasted, were original and good. It can get pretty loud with all of the games going at once. But over all a very good place to take families, and friends for pizza and beer. read more

It's hard to comment on beers because everyone has such different tastes, but I enjoyed it. I was able to find a beer a really enjoyed. We were dining as a family, with kids. It was awesome cause the kids played the vintage arcade games and we enjoyed the adult conversation. The pizza was good, very seasonal and changing often. This is a + and - with new options but bummer if you have a favorite. read more

I don't know why people are being so hard on this place. For being 20-30ish years old, these original cabinets are running pretty dang good. I enjoyed all 3 beers I tried, 1 of which was an amber which I am passionately against. I can't speak for the pizza but what I can say is that I live 5 hours away and would gladly drive here again. The nostalgia is real. read more

We had been looking forward to trying this place for a week. Very disappointed. Our server was very nice, but not attentive in the slightest. Our food was not good, to put it nicely. Gave two stars because the pizza was decent. The appetizers (we tried the truffle fries, cheese bread, and "frickles") were relatively atrocious. The atmosphere is loud and the place does not feel well-organized. I will have no desire to return here. read more

If you're going there for the beer, pinball and video games you'll have a great time. But I can't say much for the food. I had the fennel and sausage pizza and I was not impressed. It was 90% crust with a tiny amount of toppings in the middle of a small pizza for $13. Beer and atmosphere good....Food not so good. IMHO read more

Highly recommend! Pizza is great, specialty pizzas are where it's at! Cracker crust, toppings are great, wide selection of craft beers! It's a great venue, arcade games are great, cost just a quarter for most of them! It's an older selection, totally pulled on some old memories for me of growing up! read more

We went to go get a quick drink at The Quarter Barrel, but weren't even welcomed in. They had an event at 7, (we got there at 5:30) and they were going to be kicking everyone out at 6. So the host said that if we weren't done with our drinks, we would be "kicked out immediately". Didn't appreciate being threatened before we were in the door. This is not the first time we received terrible service. Do yourself a favor, skip this place. read more

Awesome flatbread pizza! Best in town. Very good cheese bread! Also fantastic service! I very happy we came

Great concept. Cool, minimalist interior, tons of 80s video games, good beer and pizza are all things that I am a fan of. I am not a fan of a 5 minute wait, unacknowledged, in front of the "please wait to be seated" sign. Our party of 3 was seated at a 2 top. After patiently waiting, then flagging down a server (I saw 2 of them for 20+ tables) we were able to order. The food was okay (ordered apps, not pizza) but I'll withhold opinions on the food until I've tried their main offering. If they can't get their staffing/service issues sorted out this joint can at best be described as a nostalgic arcade with some food. I reallyreallyreally hope this place makes it. This is my 3rd trip here with a similar experience, I am hoping that they figure it out. read more

I really want to like this place, barcades are a super cool concept. Honestly I think it would work better if it was adults only and the food were more traditional bar fare. Personally I don't like gourmet style food portions I ordered the falafel slider and expected it would be multiple sliders like other places serve but it was just one and although it was good I was still hungry. It is a plus that they have vegan and vegetarian options though. The atmosphere could use some work as well, it was far too minimal and didn't give me that nostalgic feeling of a classic arcade and a barcade is basically trading on nostalgia, so why not play up that angle a bit more? The game selection could use some work too, they have some good 80's offerings but why not dip into the 90's a bit more, bring in games like Street Fighter 2, T2 arcade game or even Time Crisis. read more

Enjoyed their service on a Monday. They were actually closed to the public and we're catering a corporate event. The pizza varieties were fun but nothing stood out. Dough was a little thin considering how many to toppings they were trying to use. The only thing I'd change ingredient wise would be to use grilled eggplant in lue of the fried option. What ever dressing they had on the arugula....I'd ask them to pour it on everything! read more

We had gone for dinner with a couple families. My son enjoyed the games so we had his birthday with family there. Very busy but the pizza was yummy. Love the variety of pizza toppings. My whole family loved it too. read more