Pixel Palace Arcade & Bar — Attraction in Round Rock

No festivities at pixel Palace. Not recommended to celebrate an occasion. Great concept, good games, good food, but the management is terrible. Do not plan to have a large gathering there. Even though the tables are set up for eight people. I planned my husband's 60th birthday here after paintballing down the road. I tried to prepare in advance but they would not let me reserve tables for 30 people. There's no phone number to call and ask questions or discuss a large group. I emailed and got one response asking how many I replied with 30 people and never got a return email. I even stopped into the place before the event and was still told they do nothing for groups of 30. Myself being a prior business owner it made no sense to me. The invite of the 30 people were 30 people that have never been there before who would be all posting pictures about the party which is free advertising for Pixel Palace. I would have been willing to pay a reservation to deposit if needed to get some reserved tables for a large party. So I just notified them to expect a large group at 3:00 on that particular Saturday. I didn't expect them to remember because it wasn't a reservation. However, if they made note that a party of 30 was coming in, our service would have been better if they would have prepared and staffed knowing that a large group was arriving. But no. Most of our party guests were local musicians. Who perform at restaurants and bars all the time. Lots of the bars serve food. A lot of these other establishments allow you to bring a cake when it's someones birthday, especially if they don't sell cakes. At Pixel Palace when the 30 of us gathered to sing my husband Happy Birthday, immediately after, we were told the cake is not allowed. That has never ever happened in our lifetime. If they were easy to communicate with before the event, I would have known that in advance. We all thought that was ridiculous because we all celebrate each other's birthdays at restaurants and bars while our friends are performing and bring cakes all the time. The reason we were given by Pixel Palace management, was that they would be worried someone would be getting sick from the cake and then blame Pixel Palace. Most of us enjoying this 80's themed arcade probably had kids in the early 2000s and brought them to Chuck-E-Cheese. Chuck E Cheese let us bring a cake with our child's name on it, didn't they? Chucky wasn't scared someone would get sick from bringing in their own cake and then blame the mouse. Come on! No festivities at Pixel Palace. Not recommended to go to celebrate...

I've been to a lot of bars in my time—more than I can count, honestly—and while I could probably call myself a bit of a seasoned regular (maybe even an unofficial expert), very few places have ever made the kind of lasting impression that this one has. From the moment you walk in, the vibe is welcoming, the atmosphere is on point, and you immediately get the sense that you're in for something special.

Let’s talk about the drinks first—because wow. These are hands down some of the best cocktails I’ve ever had anywhere. You can taste the quality in every sip, and it’s clear that the bartenders know exactly what they’re doing. The attention to detail, the balance of flavors, and the creativity behind the menu put this place a step above the rest.

Speaking of bartenders, the team here deserves serious credit. Mikayla, Tommy, and Chris are absolute pros—friendly, fast, and incredibly knowledgeable. They don’t just serve drinks; they create an experience. Whether you’re ordering your go-to or trying something new, they make sure it’s crafted perfectly and served with a great attitude.

The service doesn’t stop at the bar either. Mo-Mo and Martin, two of the servers, were attentive and upbeat the entire time, making sure we had everything we needed without hovering or rushing us. Their energy really added to the positive vibe of the night.

Management also deserves a shoutout. Saul and Zane clearly run a tight ship and have built a team that genuinely enjoys what they do. You can feel it in how smooth everything runs and how happy the staff seems to be. That kind of leadership trickles down into every part of the guest experience.

And finally, the food—top notch. Not just “bar food good,” but genuinely great. The kind of food that makes you slow down, take a bite, and look around the table to see if everyone else is as impressed as you are. Every dish was flavorful, fresh, and clearly made with care.

All in all, this place is something special. It’s rare to find a bar that gets everything right: drinks, food, service, atmosphere, and staff. I’ll definitely be back—and if you haven’t been yet, you’re...

Fantastic food, fantastic staff, fantastic atmosphere. I wish I could get a 4.8 instead of a 5, though, as many of the cabinets desperately require tune-ups. I noticed the following:

The TMNT cabinet has issues with Leonardo's stick and buttons. The Gauntlet cabinet has issues with the Elf's attack button. Several cabinets have busted coin slots that needs to be fixed, particularly MK2 since it prevents competitive play. There are a number of cabinets that also seem to have issues with the CRT screens. The foot pedal on Time Crisis also wiggled the entire machine when pressed.

I would say most of the cabinets need new buttons and sticks. The originals can still be kept in the back or in a box at the owner's house, but the floor models need to be running with new buttons. This will prevent the games from not working as intended while also not sacrificing the original hardware to the Altar of Button Mashing. As for the CRTs having issues, most of them probably just need new capacitors.

The Simpsons Arcade cabinet particularly needs some attention as there are tons of graphical blemishes all over the game, visible even in the title. This is likely a problem with the board itself and can probably be fixed with an alcohol wipe down.

I really enjoyed the TV corner with the NES as well, but I would recommend swapping it out with a Super Nintendo if possible. It might even be worthwhile to grab a RetroN 5 so you can run games from NES, SNES, SMS, Genesis, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Game Gear, and Gameboy Advance from an SD card.

The chicken sandwich was fantastic. I genuinely haven't had a solid chicken sandwich from a non-chain establishment in a long time, and this one hit the spot. We also had chicken wings, which were just as good. The rules confused us a bit at first, but you can bring your drink to the cabinets- just don't put it on the cabinet. In the same breath, they could use a few more of the narrow table/cupholders between the machines.

We'll be heading back on Tuesday for...