Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade and Bar — Attraction in Portland

The best barcade I've ever been to.

My buddies and I had fun singing Space Oddity walking over here. We had some time to kill as our wives were shopping. We saw pictures of pinball and thought "Oh this could be fun."

We were severly mistaken... This was one of my favorite things to do in Portland.

While the place from the outside looks small, Ground Kontrol does a great job maximiizing their space. They have a ton of Pinballs, with a lot from different properties and the pinball machines were in great condition. It was a ton of jumping from Sam Raimi's Spiderman, to Indiana Jones, to then Terminator 2 Pinball Machines.

There were also a ton of other classic arcade games that felt like a great blast in the past, while I also was able to experience games I've never seen before, and had a ton of fun while doing it. I got to set the high score for Mrs Pacman while at it.

The drinks were great too, they had a decent selection of beers and fun video game inspired the cocktails. Really good value too, it was 7 dollars for a beer, 6 during happy hour.

By far the best part, the value of it all. This was one of the first times in my life where I couldn't get through all my credits within 90 minutes. The three of us kept playing games and tried to get through our Credits faster, but ended up having so much fun the the time flew by.

I can confidently say, the selection of video games, price for drinks and credits, that this is the best barcade I've ever been to. It may not be in the best area, but it was worth coming out and checking out if you are a fan of classic video games, beer, and having a great time with...

In the year it took them to finish the remodel, they were allegedly also repairing a particular machine as well.

I visited again now that the remodel is finished. The machine is in literally the same garbage condition as it was before. Multiple sensors sticking or just plain not working, terribly low volume setting such that it's inaudible even when there's only a handful of people in the venue.

I mentioned the sensor issues and made a friendly offer to the bartenders to fix it for them — at no cost to them! — and I was met with the classic Ground Kontrol "we don't care" attitude about it.

I was told not to expect anything to happen to the machine because "the machine has been like that for years" and it's really just not a priority for them.

Yo, if you're not gonna take care of your s*, get rid of it. The way you operate now is irresponsible. You waste your patrons' time and money when they attempt to play an inoperable arcade game that causes them to lose, not giving them any recompense for it.

Also, hire people who don't hate their job. I get why they would hate working there, but man, it makes for an even worse customer experience.

Go to Punch Bowl instead for a much cooler atmosphere and...

Ground Kontrol is an mostly a typical arcade experience that also happens to have alcohol. Good food, however 3/4 people in our group we’re dissatisfied with the drinks. The fountain drinks were tiny, expensive and full of ice, but we might have gotten over that if not for the syrup being missing to the point we made La Croix jokes (“this tastes like a 7up burped into a seltzer water” type). The alcoholic drinks were hit or miss (mostly miss).

We had a decent time playing the games, but as soon as something else opened on our itineraries we left. We all had a blast at Retro Game Bar. I didn’t expect to have such a nice time there, but it was great. We got to pick our game station, sit down while gaming, the food was good, and the drinks were AMAZING. It was a more relaxed and fun atmosphere, where you can game together easily. $6 for the night if you’re buying food and drinks, otherwise they have an hourly charge. It was a great way to end a visit with friends who moved out of town we hadn’t seen for awhile.

I eventually want to try QuarterWorld, because what’s the point of going back to an arcade that serves drinks if the drinks aren’t good unless you’re just going...