Only reason it's not five stars is that there is nothing else worth going to nearby. The last man standing in Uptown, fun times every time we go just a bummer that it has no supporting places around. Games are awesome and vibes are good, venue is really awesome in the summer when the outdoor upstairs is open! read more

I loveee this place! Barcade with good drinks, food options, and a patio, what more could you need?! I've been here a couple of times - it's always crowded! But from my experience, crowded in a good way, not in a "who just touched me" kind of way. In summers they've also got their patio and rooftop open which adds so much space! They've also got another bar on the roof. You can buy coins from the bar with your drinks which is nice. Then you can play classic games like Skee ball, Pac Man, Frogger, racing games, and they even have a console set up. If you don't want to pay for games you've also got the option for huge Connect-Four, Jenga, Cornhole, and Shuffleboard! Great spot for a group of friends or even a date! First date approved too ;) read more

Up-Down - Love a neon moment - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

I love up-down. I really really love up-down. My organization hosted a watch party here and also did a beer release and everyone here was so nice and supportive. They worked super hard behind the bar to make everything easy for us and not only that, but I love the environment here. There's SO many games to play and even just watching people is entertaining. Outside of work, I enjoy bringing friends with to watch the games or even just grab a drink. Definitely a fun spot. read more

I like pinball. I like beer. Put together, it's a natural fit. So the place has everything for the gamers spanning the decades. Like others have said, there is the outdoor patios, roof top bar, crazy tap selection, etc. etc. Their slices of pizza? Rock solid. Depending on when you go (like everything in life), it can be a complete shit-show, or it can be quite pleasant. There have been times I've gone where I can actually hear Black Diamond or Number of the Beast when I play the KISS or Iron Maiden machines. That is something I enjoy. But it's fun when it's busy too as I like to people watch and there are always those playing games going "what am I supposed to do" while laughing. It's a fun place. The place is a franchise (locations in Des Moines, KC, elsewhere) and they do a really good job of keeping their machines running and fresh as it feels like they rotate stuff between the locations. Plus, ALL games are a single token. None of this 50 cents crap like Can Can Wonderland where the machines originally used to be a quarter and the game maintenance sucks (Blow me and your limp flippers CCW). It's in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood so if you drive and park, your timing is also key. Otherwise the area is an easy Lyft or bike ride to if you choose. Plus on Thursday's it's 10 for 1 on tokens (again here is where I type with one hand and flip CCW's pinball endeavor off with the other). read more

What's not to like, retro video games, at least 10 awesome pinball machines, and 4 lanes of skeeball. Huge bar and a food menu to boot. They also have 2 for 1 tokens on Saturday before 9pm...Score!! I really loved the energy of this place. Parking is street, but I managed a space a 3 minute walk away on 8:30p on a Saturday. read more

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I've been here plenty of times pre-covid, day and night, I've recently went once since covid - daytime and I will give a breakdown of all 3 experiences. Pre-covid daytime (any day): Very chill vibe, my favorite time to go because it's hardly anyone there so you can pretty much play any game without having to wait. Also no lines for pizza or the bar. Pre-covid nighttime (weekends): Very packed, hard to play almost any of the games because of the crowding, in the warmer seasons they do have outdoor games and seating areas where you can chill. Its not a super big place so it can get very loud. During covid (weekend - daytime): Still very chill, hardly anyone inside so same as pre-covid. The bar was not completely stocked.. They have a "full bar" but they drinks they put together on their drink menu (cocktail wise) a few were crossed out, so I assumed they didn't have those but the few that weren't crossed out would be avail, but they also were not. Not sure/it's not clear what the safety precautions were because signs were posted that you have to wear a mask and be seated to play games, in which there were was a seat placed at each game. For drinks they had one smaller printed sign that said please sit while drinking, in an area of tables, but almost everyone was walking around with their drinks, playing games and drinking, which means not wearing a mask. They did have cleaning stations where you could clean the games before/after playing. Also a lot less games due to spacing, but they for sure kept all the best ones. Overall I've been going here for years, it's a fun place to hangout. read more

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The upstairs area smelled strongly of vomit until the doors were opened. The whole place was so crowded you could barely move, let alone get a game. Did not try the food but the drinks were fine and not as horribly priced as I expected for the area. read more

Food: A huge selection of beers (and ciders for those who don't like beer). They also have a small kitchen that serves up greasy, delicious pizza. Their mac and cheese pizza is my favorite. Venue: Large bar with tons of old arcade games and pinball machines. You buy good tokens Chuck E Cheese style and they have a great birthday deal! They also have an outdoor patio with a giant Jenga and Connect 4. It gets crowded on the weekend, as any popular bar does, but it's usually not unmanageable. read more

Up-Down - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Loved the beer list, loved the game selection, and the pizza they serve is so much like old-school arcade pizza, it's crazy. We came here to drink and play some pinball so Up-Down was right up our alley. We came in an ordered a few brews (sidenote: holy beer selection, Batman! It took me like 5 mins to find something I wanted but that's not a bad thing). We bought $20 worth of tokens and started playing. Only gripe I had really was that the pinball machines were not lit up correctly, most importantly Addams Family pinball, which I guess sort of fits their aesthetic but I need to see what I'm doing! Pinball Wizard I ain't. The pizza was excellent albeit a bit expensive. We had a slice of the pepperoni and waited for them to make the veggie slice fresh, but it was worth it. All it was missing was some hot sauce! Staff was friendly and attentive (pizza dude was surly but maybe he had a bad day). read more

I can't comment on their wide variety of arcade games because every time I come here it's packed, so I've never gotten a chance to play! But I can say it's a fun vibe with cool people and a great beer selection! read more

This has been a bar we frequent at least every month or so for the last year. The game variety is awesome with a lot of vintage or more rare finds. The classics fr available including ski ball (although a lot of these machines are usually broken), pinball, basketball, racing games, and more! Their tap list is impressive with some house made cocktails that are quite good as well. Their fanny pack deal is awesome on Sunday's ($25 for a fanny pack with tokens and 6 tall boys for your group). The view from the upper deck is beautiful and allows for a nice variation of scenery if you want to spend half your night outdoors. My only real complaint about this place is the staff are often unfriendly. I get it as a bartender that high pace places often don't leave much room for customer service but even on slow days a lot of the staff look grouchy and don't put in much effort to smile, greet you, etc. This continues to security who are often out vaping in the back but also quick to yell if you are standing somewhere you shouldn't or blocking a walkway. Good security is so needed so I don't want to ever complain, but as someone who comes often and observes, the staff as a whole just seems strange. However, the games and the vibes make it worth the trip regardless - just don't be expecting a warm welcome! read more

When here to start out the night for a bachelor party really enjoyed it. Pizza was great too. And staff was very very friendly. read more

Up-Down - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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We had a stupid amount of fun here, just my hubby and I. It's a "make your own fun" kind of place. We were like kids in an arcade again, except we aren't kids, and we were tipsy. It was great. We were there on a Sunday night due to the reviews mentioning how busy it can get. It was pretty lively on Sunday but not overwhelmingly so. I highly recommend it if you can pull it off. Plus their "Six Pack And A Pound" deal is $10 cheaper on Sundays. (6 domestic tall boys, 80 game tokens, and a fanny pack). We paid $25 for all of that and those 80 tokens lasted the two of us for hours! Yes, a couple of the games were broken or not working quite right. But it was only a few of them. They are old as dirt and there's "big drunk children" button-mashing them and 'tilting' them every night. What do you expect? Our favorite games are pinball (hubby loved the Star Wars), skee-ball, Arkanoid, giant connect four, ninja turtles, simpsons, and multi-player pac man. Great service from the bar tenders. No complaints. I have friends and family that are begging to be brought along the next time. read more

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It's ok!! For a beercade, fantastic games, excellent selection of beer/alcohol. Love the outside spaces. Bartenders are super friendly. The only "bad" thing that I noted was the pizza. It's just ok. As a person from Chicagoland, I wasn't super impressed - but it's definitely worth the price. The plain flavors are better than the speciality. read more

Got drunk and played donkey kang. 11/10 Blah blah blah My girlfriend liked it too Good beer selection Could use deer hunter, resident evil, or any any game where I get to use a shotgun peripheral read more

Up-Down - Me after playing 112 games of Sankey Kring - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

First time visiting this bar after hearing great things about it. I am a big gamer so going to a bar that is full of games was perfect. Went here with two other people on a Saturday night. The bar itself was absolutely packed with people. Despite it being a big crowd, we were able to play most games we wanted to with minimal wait times. A few machines were broken, but staff seemed to tag this pretty quickly if they were out of order. They had a good mix of retro games and group games for people to play. The machines are definitely very used and it doesn't seem they get much maintenance to their buttons/joysticks which can make gameplay frustrating. You have to purchase coins to play games, but most games are just one or two coins so you actually get a good amount of gameplay in. Drinks were fairly priced; typical to any other bar. There really wasn't seating anywhere so be prepared to be on your feet the whole time. For accessibility, it would be very difficult for someone in a wheelchair to navigate through this bar just due to the amount of people alone. It was a good experience, but I might not make it my first choice just because of how popular it is. Parking was a little tough to find in the area; we ended up parking a couple of blocks away. read more

Such a fun place to hang with friends! Love the atmosphere, with games and a bar and it's just overall a fun experience! SKEEBALL is so fun! Love the vintage games, and PINBALL! Had a great time here this last weekend with a group of friends, and will be back in the future for more fun I'm sure! read more

Cool 80s ambience, tons of retro video games. Free super smash brothers 1 gaming. Microbrews. Super sized Jenga. Next door to Wrecktangle pizza. Great service. read more

Great experience that appearance was very pleasant.but depending on the bartender they priced you differently that I wasn't fun.

Drinks + Videogames + Rooftop engineered to blow my hair just the right way so I look like a model = Happy Cadia. Up-Down is a great bar. You can easily kill 4+ hours here either sitting around and relaxing or trying out the different games they have to offer. The downstairs has most of the arcade games and is where a lot of the people who come on their own or in small groups hang out. There's a beautiful patio and large board games. All you have to do is grab some tokens and you can bop around to whichever games you want with minimal wait time unless it's a weekend. (I think the best time to go is during the week) Most bars are pretty dead Sunday-Thursday but the arcade games allow for it to be the perfect amount of busy all the time. Upstairs is my favorite part of the bar. The rooftop is GORGEOUS and is the perfect place if you're looking for a cute date spot or want to come with a larger group. They have a couple games upstairs as well (the most popular seems to be giant Jenga). Honestly Up-Down isn't just for the nerds (shoutout) like I thought it would be. It's a great place for everyone with good food, lots of beer choices, and lots of new people to meet. Come down and try it out. My only tips: leave your purse (it gets obnoxious) and make sure you have pockets. They have SOME places to set things down but not always and you don't want to carry things around when you're bouncing around so often. read more

Always have a great time here!! Some games break, but most were fixed this time around. We were here last in December. Staff was good and they have great pizza by the slice or whole pies! read more

Such a fun barcade decently close to Downtown MPLS! I had a slice of cheese pizza and a Blueberry Apple Cider, which were both so good. The games are mostly priced at $0.25 per game, which is such a fair price to play. $5 kept me going for hours! Definitely busy but turnover on games was quick and I was never waiting long. Definitely try it out!! read more

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I have to give this bar a five solely because of its size and amenities. This place has everything you could want in an arcade bar. Rooftop bar, gaming consoles, plenty of high quality arcade games, outside seating, ski ball, and they even sell pizza inside. (The pizzas good too) Up-Down is big enough that you could bring a group of friends and find a spot to sit and hangout. Lots of people are smoking in the patio, but there are big tables outside and consoles both downstairs and on the roof. The drinks were decently priced, but I've yet see a good drink special when I've been there. I didn't think much of what I was drinking because I was too distracted by the games! This is definitely a place to bring any friends that are into gaming and the location is perfect for bar hopping around Lyn Lake area. Highly recommend for a date or as a meet up spot for a night out. read more

Vintage video Valhalla! Balrog, Qbert, Mario, Mr. Donkey Kong, Sonic, Megaman... all my old friends are here and waiting for me almost any day of the week! Just waiting to give me that special little warm feeling that ONLY an overheated 1983 gaming console can give you! BAM! PEW PEW! ZIP BANG KAPOW! Everyone's a winner when you're at Up-Down... unless you go on a Saturday night in the heat of summer. Then it's just pure crowd... and I'm not waiting in line for Ms. Pacman... first, she's married and I don't play that... second... I don't like people touching me while I fondle a joystick. I'm just weird that way. Aim for Sunday-Thursday and you've got all the game you need. read more

Stopped by late Sat afternoon. Pros: Giant beer list Lots of games - retro video and new pins Cheap - games are a token only and tokens sat until 9? Are half price Pizza - pizza window doles out hot greasy slices for $4 Giant coolers of self serve water Service at bar quite good esp considering how busy they were Cons Not sure if they have anything but beer, no wine for sure Busy - so many people but good for them Game condition poor - not sure who owns and services the games but a disproportionate number were not working, ate tokens or partially working. Didn't bother saying anything as they were busy and it's so cheap to play Games are close together and it can get a bit clustery and drunk ppl seem to forget which tokens are there but everyone is friendly. This is a young crowd - there was a doorman checking IDs but the vast majority of the crowd is early 20s. Fun place, cheap, beer nerds will be happy, pizza works (also great service) read more

This is a pretty cool place! There's a nice spacious bar with multiple arcade games and a video console you can play for free. I came here on a Saturday night, took a 2 shots and had a beer, played some games, and Mario Kart on the large screen gaming console. It wasn't too crowded and everyone there was friendly. I played the queen bee game in the back corner (first time playing) and there were guys who were friendly enough to teach me how to play. Like all other barcades, there are multiple cup holders around the gaming stations where you can put down your drink. There's street parking outside which wasn't hard for us to find and the vibes at the bar are super chill. Overall, great place to hang out and get a drink with friends. read more

Love the vibe. We went during the 2 for 1 tokens, and it was a great deal. Bartenders were all super friendly

I wanted to go to a bar that had a good amount of dark beers to choose from plus a decent arcade. Up-Down was great! Most games only needed one token to play so I got to play almost every game for $20. ALSO - I've never had a Mac and cheese pizza before and I wish I got two slices instead of one! read more

Up-Down - Mac and cheese pizza! - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

The pizza was good and they have a nice variety of games that are kept up pretty nicely, and the atmosphere is cool with some classic 90s and late 80s movies playing. The individual slices of pizza are huge and a nice deal. I've only had the mac and cheese pizza and it was pretty good, I'd recommend it. They have a nice variety of drinks and the game tokens are cheap. The lone issue with my visit was all the cigarette smoke. Both the front and back of the place were wide open to the patios where people were smoking so heavily that it was getting everywhere. I wanted to give the place a 3 over the smoke because it was so bad, but the food, games, and staff were pretty great, so it's worth a visit. read more

Up-Down - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

I came here with my cousin and it was a nice time! It is really all about who you go with and if the arcades are working ! I thought that a good amount of arcade games were not working which was unfortunate. They have a bar with an assortment of drinks and I ordered the Princess Peach drink which was good! I didn't get a chance to try the pizza but they seemed to have good flavors. read more

Me and my wife Went Friday July 5th after eating at the Japanese Bistro across the street. Security told us we couldn't have food inside, that's fine. We didn't think much of it, we had fun played games and had fun for a short while. Come to find out they ate OUR FOOD!! Over half out of our food was eaten!!! Completely disgusted and couldn't believe it!!! read more

Super fun bar. The tokens were cheap which was awesome and the service was speedy which is always appreciated. They had a lot of basic arcade games. The reason for 4 stars was there was not a lot of variety between games. read more

So Up-Down is the new place to go in the Lynlake neighborhood. Since it is walkable for me, Adam H. and I have gone several times in the past few weeks. I'm always up for games! Tokens are normally 25 cents and each game takes 1 token. They have skeeball, several pinball machines, free play Mario Kart, and dozens of arcade games. There is also giant Connect 4 and Jenga on the patio. I've found that people are generally good about taking turns on games and being courteous during busy times. Up-Down has deals every day of the week, but great deals (in my opinion) on Thursdays and Sundays. Thursdays are 10 cent token nights and Sundays have the 6 pack and a pound deal for $25. For drinks, there is a full bar plus 60 taps. In terms of food, they have $5 humongous pizza slices. There are 2 things that are keeping me from giving Up-Down 5 stars, even though I'm a big fan: 1) It is just too crowded (especially on weekends). 2) There is smoking on the patio, and the doors open into the bar/arcade, so it can be quite smoky when you are playing games near the doors. read more

Up-Down - Patio with giant Jenga and connect 4 - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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always a great vibe and the best place to hit up with friends. the games are cheap, drinks are affordable, and the pizza there is delicious and fresh. on busy busy days service can be slow at the bar, but if you're okay with waiting awhile it should be fine read more

Growing up in the 80s, this is exactly what I assumed I'd be doing with my free time when I grew up. This is a bar that is filled with vintage 80s arcade games, plus a few other not-decade-specific games. There are dozens of games, and every machine I played was as well-maintained as you can possibly expect. Really no different from what it was like to play those games in the 80s. It really took me back to my days as a kid, where as soon as I got my weekly five dollar allowance, I'd head to the arcade and spend an afternoon skulking around coin-op consoles titled "TRON" and "DIG DUG" and "CENTIPEDE" until my five bucks was depleted. It's just like that, except now there's an actual bar. The bar seems to be well stocked - I don't drink so I don't have particularly useful opinions on that. But you can definitely come in and expect a real bar. There is also a pizza window. I got a slice of meat pizza which was wholly average. I noticed there weren't any vector graphic games. So no "Tempest", "Asteroids", "Gravitar", "Major Havoc", etc. I wonder if those are just harder to maintain. It definitely seems like it's important that they only have games that are in perfect working order. Considering that, the selection is very impressive. I was here on a Thursday night, and it was crowded and full of fun energy. If you want to go to a bustling bar where there are great games to play, and some mediocre pizza, this place will do the trick very nicely. Thirty-five-years-ago-Bob would approve. read more

This was probably my favorite bar ever . We had the Yoshi shots and let me tell you ! These babies taste amazing and they get you f*cked up LOL ! They also had a pizza shop INSIDE the bar !! The pizza was Delightful and i swear it was not the alcohol talking . The game were super fun and almost all the games were running and working smoothly ! Would definitely come back to this bar if I'm ever back in Minneapolis! read more

Up-Down - Yoshi snack shot ! So freaking delicious - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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A boatload of fun and food that is pretty decent. All the retro arcade games from my childhood and everything is just a quarter per play.

This place was really cool! Tons of games for 25 cents a game, and great beer. Their pizza was also really good which surprised me. I'll definitely be back here when I'm in town! read more

Up-Down - Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

This place is fun and brings back so many memories of afternoons spent at the mall in the arcade popping quarters into Frogger, Galaga, Pac Man and Dig Dug. I didn't master them then and I still can't- but they are still fun and amusing with their archaic technology. What's most amazing about this new Minneapolis "barcade" (bar+arcade) is that all these video games and pinball machines STILL only cost a quarter (bought as tokens at the bar) even though 25 cents in 1980 would be 80 cents today. A buddy and I arrive on a Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 (they open at 3), grabbed a drink and a beer (over 60 craft beers on tap!), $10 worth of tokens and spent nearly two hours battling each other on a wide assortment of games including skee ball (I won). Early in the day like this it wasn't a problem at all getting access to games but I think things could be different in the evenings. They sell pizza by the slice too but we did not try it. A fun spot to spend some time. read more

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I love this Up-Down, the arcade games, pizza and ambiance is amazing. The staff is always friendly and willing to help.