Went last Friday with family and had a great time! The food was awesome and the games made it even better. We will be back!

Stopped in for a quick bite while in town for my daughter's swim meet at The Univ of SC. Cool little video game and bar spot but holy s-balls the food!!! Bahn-Mi wrap was delicious and fresh with a great toasted wrap but my son got the double smash burger with big-ass bacon chunks and holy moly it was amaze balls! Best burger I have had in a hot minute, hands down! read more

Transmission Arcade - Double smash burger is - Arcades Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

This is a GREAT place. Now, I admit, I am a bit spoiled because here in Salem, OR there is a wonderful arcade style bar here that I LOVE (Coin Jam). Both places have a lot in common, the food was great, it was a great atmosphere and was generally a lot of fun. That strange riff on a Paper Plane they make with malort was surprisingly good and the burger. Oh wow, the burger was amazing! Overall this is a FANTASTIC place to go! Highly recommended!!! read more

Friendly, attentive staff. Amazing food. Good vibes. Fun arcade. Bar staff make magic. Very clean!

The Transmission Arcade is a truly unique bar/restaurant. I live in Chicago, and wish there was a place like this where people of all races and ethnicities enjoy each other's company in a positive environment. I was particularly impressed that the bar had Malort, a Chicago special "treat" that until recently couldn't be found outside of the Windy City. After I got back to Chicago, I read this in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/dining/malort.html?searchResultPosition=1 heralding the proliferation of Malort outside of Chicago. In any case, I'll be back. Great wait staff and bar tenders! read more

Holy F*** y'all, the Chorizo Burgizo is AMAAAAZEBALLS!!! I also recommend the current IPA, "Other Half Broccoli", arguably one of my new favies!!! Pinball, burgers, and beer. read more

Delicious food, fabulous drinks, fun games, and a comfortable atmosphere. Who could ask for anything more? read more

Transmission Arcade - Vegan breakfast burrito - Arcades Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

The food and drinks were excellent and came out promptly. The fries were hot and seasoned well. Plenty of bacon and the gravy was good. The punch was well balanced. The game selection is alright. I'd say it's at least half pinball machines. We went after 8, so we were in the older crowd. There were a few noisy individuals, but everyone else was nice. (The drink full when I got it, just forgot to take a picture before trying) read more

Transmission Arcade - Falcon Punch - Arcades Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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This is my favorite spot to go to when on Main St. The service is top tear, atmosphere is great, and they have a full bar with Amazing Bartenders with very reasonably priced drinks and a Beer list to die for. Now let's talk about what's rolling out of there kitchen... Nothing but amazing food!!!!!! Best smoked wings in town( Smokey Loggins)!!! But it's more then just wings back there, I had a cheesesteak French toast last Sunday it was Off the chain!! Then have a full dinner menu with Vegan options as well. Last but not least are the games, they have a wide variety of games Ski-ball, Street fighter, Killer Queen just to name a few, they also have a random gaming system setup that you can play for free if ya want. Every time I come here it's a 10 out of 10 read more

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Best late night go to spot in Columbia. They have some of the best cheeseburgers around the downtown area. The staff is always nice.

BEST burger I've had in Columbia! This is such a fun place with old school arcade games. Will definitely be back!!

The bartender was very attentive. The food was delicious. I got the jackfruit banh mi wrap and wow, i can't wait to try more options. It was a casual and fun. read more

Fun environment and good food!! All ages. Very diverse and friendly. Stays open late.

Went on a Friday night. Drinks were fantastic and the smoked wings and fries are some of the best I've ever had. read more

Transmission Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Wings were good, drinks were yummy, and the games were so nostalgic. For a smaller space, it surprisingly has a lot of seating!

The smoked wings are so good! I had blue cheese as my dipping sauce. It was the perfect combo!

The food is overly smoked and greasy which made it underwhelming. There was a sense of superiority with the bar staff which is common with bar staff in this town. The one thing that topped it all off was to see one of the kitchen staff taking shots at the bar and stagger back to the kitchen. read more

Kind of a non-hipster, but very cool place. This is a 21 and older crowd from 7PM and later (and they DO card.) Everything we ordered was delicious: smoked wings with the white BBQ sauce was prolly top 3 all-time best wings, smashed burger, fried okra, and chicken skins were all very tasty. A good selection of cocktails and craft beer. We didn't play any of the arcade games this time, but will be back. No table service. You find a seat and order at the bar. You pay and get a numbered placard for your table and they will deliver your food. Note, I am not sure they have air conditioning or if it was broken that day. They had several ceiling fans on, but it was still HOT in there. read more

Celebrated by 70th birthday here. Which should tell you that this place is welcoming all ages, nationalities, races, ways of life etc. Very funky atmosphere with lots of pinball and older video games. The play area and eating areas are barely separated so it gets loud. The food was great! Not an extensive menu but they dry rub and smoke their chicken wings and serve them with a variety of sauces. My group also loved the smash burger and the various gravy covered fries. And the super efficient, hard working server. read more

Best burger downtown. Friendly quick service: smoked wings were great. Good beer selection.

This is the perfect place for a date night or night out with friends. Dinner, drinks, and games! We ordered their chicken tenders (marinated & breaded in house), fries, and fried Buffalo cauliflower. Would highly recommend all of them. The tenders were nice and juicy and the Buffalo cauliflower almost had a little smoky flavor to them that was great. They got that good good ranch for dipping, too. They used to give tokens during happy hour from 4-7, and we didn't get any. So not really sure what their happy hour is anymore. But they always have a good selection of craft beers on tap and a good variety of cans. Don't expect anything too fancy for cocktails; but that seems unnecessary here anyways. Lastly, we love having dinner and then playing some games! The wall art adds to the cool atmosphere, games are cheap (bring cash for tokens, but they also have an atm), and staff will help if machines are acting up. A decent amount of pinball machines (8-10ish?) skeeball, Ms. Pac-Man, a few old school shooter games, centipede, and usually they rotate in a few new ones every once in a while which keeps each visit fresh. Overall just a fun place to be. read more

Transmission Arcade - In house breaded chicken tenders, fries, and Buffalo cauliflower (as you can see, good portions!) - Arcades Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

The food was surprisingly good considering it's a bar/arcade. The handcrafted drinks were very delicious, they had a lot of craft beers as well. This is a quirky place that brings you back some years with the arcade games! We will definitely return. read more

Food and service very good. Bartender suggested a drink that was amazing. Atmosphere was fun, plenty of games to play and you get free tokens when you order your food read more

What a hidden gem! We ventured off the Farmers Market and stumbled upon this. The food is very unique pub style with a huge variety of craft beers on tap. Food was absolutely amazing. Freshly cooked food. There is a small arcade inside. read more

This place was so cute. I came here with my friends and had a blast. They have a great selection of beer (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and games from this time period and from way back when! read more

Nice atmosphere, hospitable employees and wide selection of nostalgic arcade cabinets. Patrons can be a bit rowdy during weekends but good fun all in all. read more

Small bar, even smaller arcade. All in all maybe ten games if that, two or three of which were almost some kind of off brand game of which I've never heard. I was hoping for an actual barcade, and I got neither a bar, nor an arcade but some weak conglomeration of the two. Save yourself the trip, you'd off just about anywhere else. read more

Awesome!!!! Place people and food!!!! I definitely recommend anyone that has kiddos to go there!!!!

If you haven't been here go fun arcade and their burger is the best in town plus gravy and fries are a big plus

First timers for adults and teens and had a great time! Arrived around 4:30pm and found easy street parking and not too crowded, nice lighting and clean space. Many vintage pinball machines, Atari consoles with centipede and pac man! It's an '80s kid's dream with other newer multiplayer games we enjoyed. Every age in our group found a favorite but what made it even better was the friendly service and food! My older teenager declared his chicken tenders "the best I've ever had" -- since that's a primary source of most of his meals, that's saying something!! We had house made tortilla chips with fresh guacamole and delish smoked salsa. And then we carried home smoked chicken wings and salads for other family -- all outstanding, fresh, unique! They also have a full bar with blends of microbrews and universal faves. Family friendly early and we can't wait to visit again! read more

The food here is soooo good. I had a single patty cheese burger with Mac and cheese. I wasn't expecting it to be so good. The bun was lite with crispy edges. I've been thinking about it since I left read more

Good food. Cool video games. Nice vibe. Service was quick and attentive. We will be back.

A few friends and I came to Transmission Arcade after having dinner one evening. I was a little skeptical because a friend of mine referenced it as a 'dive bar'. I was pleasantly impressed upon arriving that it was far from it in my opinion anyway. We sat at the bar and ordered a beer and food (wings and fries). While we waited we found ourselves in a few conversations with fellow patrons, everyone was so nice and seemed to frequent the establishment often. I personally love a frequenter crowd! Our food came about 20 mins after ordering. The wings were ok, certainly nothing to brag about, and the fries were pretty good. We had a couple of mixed drinks while walking around checking the place out. It was a pretty cool place! My husband enjoyed reminiscing over the old school games. We stayed for a while sparking up great conversations and playing a few games as well as Jenga at one of the community tables. I will definitely be going back and look forward to trying more of their food seeing as a lot of the patrons gave me menu suggestions on what to try next time! read more

Transmission is awesome. Games are fun. The staff is delightful. Please do yourself a favor and check it out.