Perfection. Great time. Would give 6 stars if I could. Skee ball is the best. Nice outside patio.

I was downtown and finished my meeting early. I had friends to meet on First Fridays and had about an hour to kill. The Up-Down is a place I had been to many times. It has a good beer selection with some brews you cannot get from other places. For example, they haven a Stiegel Radler on tap, the perfect summer drink (beer and grapefruit juice). It was happy hour, but during that time, they often give you free credits, but while the bouncer gave some to the people in front of me, I didn't get any. Nonetheless, I've been there enough that I always had a few dollars in credits in my car, so no big deal. And I'm good at these old games so 2 dollars worth of credits kept me there for the hour I had to kill. Up-Down has a rotating lineup of games and pinball machines, each costing a credit or a quarter to play. The time I was there, I got the high score on Joust, Bobble Bubble and Tron. I was there from 4 to 5 and the crowd was there, but light compared to later in the evening when it gets busy. If you like the nostalgia of old school games, or are looking to hang out whether you are with friends or even by yourself. I recommend the up-down. Even though I didn't get my happy hour credits.... read more

You know that feeling of wonder you had when you were like 10 years old and you wandered into a massive arcade of games you could only dream of owning yourself? This place captures the adult version of that. "Arcades with beer and drinks" is a thing everyone seems to be doing lately but, here, they do it RIGHT. They don't phone anything in, there is so much attention to detail: - Beer: they have tons of it, and it's almost all craft and almost half of it is local or from surrounding areas. - Games: Arcade, console, analog, electronic, you name it, there is something for everyone. - Service: incredible. I was button mashing my way through X-MEN and someone left the bar, came up to me, and asked me if I wanted another beer! The hardest thing about drinkin' and gamin' is where to put your beer. Luckily you don't have to resort to the dubious Southern classic: "here, hold muh beer, watchiss!". There are ergonomic beer stands bolted onto just about every game area, it's awesome. Even in the humid summer the AC in here is pumping and it's always cozy. Even if you don't care at all about games, it's probably still worth checking this place out for their excellent upstairs deck. read more

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Don't waste your time. Our overpriced $12 beer was awful, the pizza sucked and the bouncers were rude.

Absolutely LOVE Up-Down. We stop in every time we're in KC. The atmosphere is super fun and the games don't break the bank. They always have amazing drink/token/food specials! Their Mac & Cheese pizza?... Just do it. We had a bit of an issue with another patron repeatedly inappropriately touching/rubbing up against us the last time we went, and the staff took care of it right away. It's always uncomfortable to have to tell someone that you're being bothered by a creep, but they were so nice about it. It's terrible that something like this is even a thing but, unfortunately, it is. A+ for making your female patrons feel comfortable and heard! read more

As always, Up-Down KC is was packed! The venue is filled with arcade games, even the ones from back in the day. The staff is always very nice even though it's busy as all get out. Good luck in finding a game to play, especially on the weekend or First Friday. There's no cover, however, there are bouncers at the door to check IDs and to make sure everything runs smoothly. I didn't have anything to eat but the food is good (I've eaten here before). The drinks are not for wimps. read more

Top of the line beer selection, games for days, nostalgia factor 10/10, rooftop patio, and in a perfect location. Drop the mic, Up-Down KC, drop the mic. I'm someone who always wants to do something, especially when I'm at a bar, whether it's watch a game, play some darts, shuffleboard, even play Big Buck Hunter with friends. Over the years I've noticed that many of the actual steel-tip dartboards have gone away, Buck Hunter is tucked in the back and there isn't all that much to do at a lot of bars. Contrast that to home where I have a front porch, the Royals on the radio and games galore, it makes me not always want to jump in the car and head out. Up-Down is a game changer in that regard (see what I did there..) It's jam-packed with all the games you remember from your childhood and many that you don't. My personal favorite was an underrated Super NES gem, Sunset Riders. Perfect arcade game because it's easy to, ya know, not die every ten seconds and feed the token machine that ate so much of my 10 year old allowance. You can also revive some old feuds with a game of Mario Kart. It doesn't cost any tokens, but it's so blurry it cost me my vision for about an hour. The beer selection. Oh my. I've been a fan of Deschutes and decided to try their Fresh Squeezed IPA on tap and it was literally the best beer I've tasted in 2015. The outdoor patio(s) are perfection. You can play a gigantic game of Connect 4 or life-size Jenga while drinking a great beer with friends. I just love the view of KC from the patio. It reminds me of all the marvelous things happening in our great city. read more

Up-Down - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

Fun place to hang with friends but the bar was not it. Asked for some simple cocktails, and were denied saying "We're not that kind of bar." It states on their website they have a full bar. What kind of bar are you then?? Even Main Event makes cocktails. Games : 10/10 Pizza: 8/10 Bar: 2/10 read more

Really fun place to hang out and play classic arcade games with yummy beer. I've visited on a Sunday afternoon, but this place was still packed with people having a good time. You can order drinks and buy tokens at the bar or through the waiter/waitress and also get pizza/street tacos at the back as well. This is a great place for groups and the atmosphere is fun, charged and obviously noisy and rambunctious. Not a place to talk and chat; this place is to have fun playing nostalgic arcade games and drink all the beer. read more

Up-Down - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

Up-Down is probably my favorite bar to go to! If you don't like clubs but also don't want to just sit and talk than this is the best place. Whether you want to play arcade games inside, yard games on the patio, or sit on the roof top listening to music- you can do it all!! They almost always have good deals going on for food, alcohol, or coins. If you don't know where you want to go tonight, just go here! Don't question it, just do it! read more

Very cool and unique place, great deals and I had a great time at this place, local beers available and rooftop has a amazing view read more

Up-Down - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

I'm so glad the GF mentioned this place. It's got a great atmosphere and tons of old school games! It reminded me of spending hours in an arcade as a kid, so I spent hours in this one. The staff is very nice, but I didn't eat or drink any. I just played. The games are all in great shape, which surprised me. You can usually find one with a bad joystick or button. The pinballs were all in great working condition also, which made them even more fun. The current two faves for me are Walking Dead and Ghostbusters. Skee ball and a photo booth round out the selection. Go play!! read more

Up-Down - Sweeet! - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

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the games were a fun entertainment to meet up with friends and have a couple drinks, and I was impressed with the selection on tap. the organization of the bar and games was super cool and there was lots of seating. the bartenders were nice as well. overall a pretty chill spot! read more

Come here on a Thursday night, they run a special on tokens. you can play a long time for a few bucks. It's typically packed and there are several old school games to choose from. they even have N64 Mario Kart on the big screen. if you aren't a video gamer, try one of the many pinball machines or skee-ball. It's all good. read more

21 and older arcade (yesssss) fills up fast. Got carded going in but no cover charge. Full service bar but no food ( food truck hanging around out front). Indoor area gets crowded quick but the weather's been so nice I'm usually on the deck, I seem to gravitate to the upstairs deck which also has a bar and I tend to play a couple rounds of connect four or Jenga(both are oversized). In the 90's use to tag along with my brother to the arcade, the feel of this place is awesomely similar. I recognize all of em for the most part. Sometimes he'd let me play most of the time I was just his cheering side kick, loved every minute of it. I've already spent some killer weekend afternoons here. Staff is chill, no surprises there. Definitely a place I recommend to any product of the 80s or 90s but it would seem even the current generation is pretty into it. read more

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Up-Down is a fun place where you can get some food, have some beers, and play the video games of the past that you probably thought you were way better at than you actually are (ie, I got smoked at Mario Kart). The game selection is insane. There are all types of games including the old Donkey Kong, Mario, Pac Man, pin ball machines, all kinds for whatever floats your boat, even a raft game! The beer selection is hard to beat. I tend to think of myself as pretty knowledgeable on beers and they have some that I haven't even heard of before. The staff is super friendly and helpful. Great place for a chill time with friends, a raging competition, or date spot to find out how they would react when they lose against you ;). On nice days, the upstairs patio is a great spot for beautiful views of the city as well as has another bar and patio games. read more

They have Star Wars arcade, Simpsons, skee ball, Nintendo64, and pinball machines out the ying yang. Not to mention that they've got a boatload of good beers to choose from. Oh, and pizza. It's real easy to show up, drink too much, eat too much, and have the best time ever playing classic video games. I know that's what I did. read more

A friend and I went on Halloween and had an amazing time. I'm not much of a gamer, but seeing all these sweet, retro games was super fun. Plus on Saturdays before 9pm it's buy 1, get 1 on tokens. I was also fairly impressed with they beer selection. It's a nice blend of local and larger commercial brews. I will definitely be going back! Oh, and the costumes were AWESOME! My friend and I were Daphne and Velma, but we saw so many cool characters. Our personal favorites were Frank ( from Donny Darko), Doc Brown (Back to the Future), Dr. Grant (Jurassic Park), and Carmen San Diego! read more

Up-Down - Happy Halloween from Daphne and Velma to Up-Down KC! We had a blast. - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

We checked out this bar on our trip to KC this past weekend, looking for something fun and unique to do. We loved our evening there! My boyfriend is really into gaming, so he had lots of fun options and enjoyed exploring everything, and I enjoyed the pinball machines and had fun playing. The staff were all over the bar all night and were very attentive and helpful! We went on Friday night, and they had $2 (HUGE) pizza slices which were super delicious! It did get a little crowded around 9 or so, but we went early and got plenty of time to play before we got overwhelmed by the crowd. There's a location near home, so we'll definitely be checking it out! read more

Love Up-Down if you're into old school arcade games then this spot hits the spot! From cheap pizza slices to token game play and a huge selection of beer it is a great way to spend any night because we all know that as an adult sometimes are "weekends" fall durning the week and that's ok because they're open! I would just ask one thing add another galaga machine! Lol please! read more

We went to Up-Down twice this week on Thursday and Friday. Heard about this bar from Queer Eye and we thought it has a rooftop/patio but it was still close in mid March. Apparently they have 10c tokens every Thursday which is super cool! One of the girls/bartenders was really nice to give us tokens worth of $10 since I accidentally bought the tokens from the vending machine. The 10c tokens only sold at the bar, guys! I really appreciate that they honors the Thursday nights special. Since it was so hard to finish them, that's why we went back on Friday. It was so much fun because we gotta play more! Really loved this place for so many reasons, some of them are: 1) They so many cool arcade games such as Time Crisis, Mortal Combat and not to mention the Skee Ball! 2) The drinks are cheap!! 3) They have photobooth for $3 -- altough it went really fast and you can't retake the photos but it's all worth it! Curious to see what happens at this bar after midnight, may check it out tonight. Went there again Saturday and tried the pizza -- and it was pretty good for fast food! Definitely one of my favorite spots during my visit to KCMO! read more

We love up down- decent pizza, a huge selection of craft beers, and games. My favorite is the ski ball! When the weather is nice the patio is very fun with the outdoor games. read more

This bar had lots of classic games that rocked! I love old arcade games so I was super happy to see a few of my old favorites! The games ranged from $.25 to $1 so nice and affordable. One of the games I wanted to play was unfortunately out of order. But I had a great night out with my friends! read more

One of my favorite destinations in Kansas City! I travel often and look forward to any trips to KC so I can eat BBQ and visit Up-Down Arcade. The games are fresh, and on rotation. The people are lively and fun. And the drinks are flowing! read more

Great place to spend the night. Lots of fun game and good drinks. Also, the slices of pizza are very good.

One of my favorite bars in Kansas City! The beer selection and liquor choices are great. Not to mention the huge amount of games there. Without a doubt my favorite patio downtown. Cannot wait to go asap. read more

Up-Down - a blue drink with a slice of lemon on the rim - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

Pinball machines? Check Arcade games? Check Retro games? Crazy check, they have Spy Hunter with a wheel and pedals! They have Kung Fu, Metal Slug, Galaga, Tron, and all sorts of other old school games! Large selection of beer? Check This place is great! They have a giant version of Connect Four outside; they have a nice sized patio and an outdoor roof patio. They have all sorts of arcade games, pinball machines, and skeeball. They also have a good selection of beers as well. I went on a Saturday afternoon, and the place was already packed, so I'm guessing the place is rather busy throughout the weekend. Overall, a great place to hang out, have a beer, and play some pinball or video games! read more

I love this place, I'm not much into bars but this place is so damn perfect. I love the classic games, the beer options. And the pizza is the bomb. If I'm close and want pizza for dinner I will literally stop here and just order a half and half pizza and it's the best. read more

We love it!! We went on a Saturday at 4pm and it was packed and real hot inside but we had so much fun. I recommend looking at their daily deals. Saturday it's 2 for 1 coins. read more

So much fun here! Arcade games, outdoor Jenga and connect 4. Quick drinks too! We had a lot of fun just hanging by the bar and observing too! read more

Up-Down - Rows of old arcade games make this bar a blast! - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

Really cool and fun place!! They only accept cash, so bring cash or be ready to use their ATM. They have an outside sitting area you can play connect four and Jenga. They serve pizza for $2 every Friday! I really loved this place.. I finished all my 80 tokens. read more

Up-Down - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

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Great beer selection, and it's easy to add pizza to your tab. I've been here at least 4 times since moving to KC a couple months ago. Minus 2 stars for the uber-bro atmosphere (worst on weekends). Extreme to the point of bleggghhh. Hardly no women on staff and the TVs only show wrestling (why?). The Des Moines location has much better gamer-girl game, fellas! read more

My coworkers and I visited on a Saturday night and had a blast! The outdoor dining area was so lovely and comfortable. Our server Bridget truly made the night amazing. She was so friendly and charismatic and caring and fun and attentive! We were so happy to have her and if I'm ever in town again I hope I get her as my server again. Sweet, friendly, and lovely server. read more

If you are a child of the 80's to mid 90's this bar is for you. Packed wall to wall with cabinet video games, pinball machines and a countless number of beers on tap this place is great. Tucked away in the far corner is a small take away window where they serve pizza...you must try the Mac & Cheese pizza...so good! As a pro tip, you can ask for game tokens at the bar so long as they have opened a tap for you. I recommend starting with $5 worth of tokens. So, why is this not a 5 star rating? Very simple...once it becomes busy you can not move around to get to any other machines or find a table to eat or drink. read more

Up-Down - Mac & Cheese pizza with a can of 8 bit beer. - Arcades Near Me - Kansas City, Missouri

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Hella fun, cool environment:) and you gotta try the Mac and cheese pizza!!! It's amazing

This is an abomination!! I can't believe they did it, but they did. I'm totally trying to find the words in my heart because this is a truly love at first sight kind of thing. Let's start by saying this "BAR" is somewhat of a generation trap. Please, allow me to explain why. Back when we were younger, that's when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, we had these places by the malls called arcades. Best representation was portrayed in a film titled "Pixels". I for one was a Street Fighter guy. I came with $1,, that's two credits to find out how many kids I can go through before I get my ass kicked. Anyways, fast forward and Viola!! Arcades disappeared and Up Down was born. The broke kids who spent their lunch money on Arcades are now young professionals with a lot of expendable income. Pair that with a voracious appetite for craft beer and you have yourself an AWESOME clientele for life. I enjoyed my night here at Up Down. Me and my friend played X-men, reminds me of the Pizza Hut Days growing up. Then we did the pacman, then we played Contra, then I remembered how much the game sucked. Donkey Kong is always a plus, then there's the Ninja Turtles. Drinking beer and playing classic arcade games is not for the young anymore. Besides, those kids, don't know how to party like we do. read more

A couple of friends were in from out of town, and we decided to check out Up-Down. Overall, it was a really fun experience. We checked out some of the machines, and got some four player NBA Jam going. It brought me right back to the early 90s and playing it with my friends. The only bummer was the 1P position on the machine had a joystick that didn't want to go right, and the shoot button could get stuck. It didn't ruin our night, and we just rotated who played that position. That was the only machine I noticed a problem with all night, which is pretty cool for how many older arcade machines they have. We ended up leaving just after 10p on a Friday night due to how crowded it was. It got so tight in there, it was hard to move around at all. Even if you found an available machine, it was hard to squeeze in to be able to play due to all of the people in there. I ended up leaving with a few tokens, and plan on going back to spend them. This place is really great, and I look forward to my next outing there. Maybe just not on a Friday night... read more

Spent 2 nights here on a recent trip to KC. The bar is really cool and features lots of great arcade games from Contra to Street Fighter. I also dropped about $20 into the skee ball machine as I was living my childhood dreams. If you're a local or just visiting town please check out this spot it's great. Also, as I've mentioned in all my KC bar reviews: thank you all for the midwestern hospitality!!! read more

Favorite new bar in KC! Video games, pinball, drinks, and outdoor games. What could be better? I'm giving this place 4 stars. The only thing I took a star away for was because there wasn't any food (somewhere where I could hang out all day - if there was) or snacks. Also, their game selection is pretty good and their happy hour for tokens is an amazing deal. We want to go back at least once a week for a couple beers, patio games like Connect 4 and Giant Jenga. This place is going to blow up. UPDATE: They now have a pizza window. Adding another star because that was my only con. It's affordable and actually really tasty pizza. read more

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Good beer and awesome video games! How can you go wrong. I loved reliving my youth at the arcade. Rampage, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Simpsons, Pac man battle, skee ball, and oh so many more! I've been to other arcade bars before. It this is absolutely the best. The games all work and their beer selection can't be beat. They also have a slew of great specials all week long, so check to see what's going on. read more