The Original Pinballz Arcade — Local services in Austin

One of a few locations in the Austin area, Pinballz on Research Boulevard is a fun date night or hang out spot focused on vintage and modern gaming accessible to all. When you walk in you’re greeted by friendly workers who genuinely seem to care about the place and what they do. The arcade is clean and parking is pretty easy to find with a smallish lot out back. They do have signs warning about break ins but that’s a bit of an Austin thing more than it is this location. We opted to buy the $50 amount for our play card as we wanted to have a lot of options and not feel hindered by constantly checking our balance. They offer different denominations to be put on the card but from our experience the $50 mark is a great place to start for 2 people. The amounts on cards are also transferable from location to location in case you wanted to go to any of their other spots. Last thing to note about the set up before getting into the action is that they do offer food and beverage up at the front and this particular location is BYOB but there are rules surrounding it so if you’re looking to take advantage of that be aware of the policy.

When you’re ready to get into the action your options are pretty diverse. Upfront are some of the more modern arcade games like basketball hoops, Deal Or No Deal, etc; but the further back into the store you go it becomes a history trip. They have a number of retro, and we mean retro, games in the back. We’re talking 70s and 80s games that we haven’t seen since we were kids. Throw on top of that an extensive set of pinball machines, fighting classics, and shooters, and the whole arcade just has a set up you can get lost in for hours. Some games offer tickets, others not, so if you’re looking to rack up tickets to take to the counter by the end of everything like we were then make sure to strategize. One thing we also really liked were the prices of the games. We spent probably about 1.5-2 hours there and that $50 goes a looooooong way, definitely worth the value. We were told the Lake Creek location also has laser tag and axe throwing to do but if you’re looking for just a simple and fun arcade experience then this is the perfect...

They have a pretty big place! It reminds me of places I went as a kid, so that was nice.

That said, I was hoping for a larger selection of video games, personally. Many games also seem overpriced when considering what mobile apps or video game consoles cost these days and that you have to use tokens or a "token card." It was fun to try the Mario Kart game that only exists in the arcade, but yikes, $1 per track? $0.75 per level for a Japanese-only version of the Typing of the Dead? I know arcades have never been cheap, but I seemed to burn through tokens much faster here than elsewhere.

Also, the staff was pretty rude. I was here killing time on a hot day before I could finish checking into my hotel. One of the staff asked me to leave because I had a backpack with me. My bag was pretty small and had important belongings I had to keep nearby, but I said I'd be willing to put it behind the counter or in a locker. The only options I was given were to use an "at my own risk" locker without a lock (!), to return it to my car, or to leave. I explained I didn't have a car, and then felt looked down upon. (I took a Lyft. I don't live here!)

I think he understood the reaction on my face and I was allowed to remain, but I felt like I was being watched after that. I ended up depleting my tokens and leaving, though I had been planning to stay longer. Pinballz seemed like a great "100 degree day and stuck in Austin" activity, but having been there, it's not worth the cost of the ride to the location, at least from this tourist's perspective. (Maybe it'd be better if Austin wasn't so...

What happened to Pinballz?? My son had his 16th bday yesterday- on a school night so looking for an easy way to celebrate him- my adult son showed up and 9 year old daughter too- just us 4. I called in advance to see if I brought a few cupcakes if we could sing happy birthday at the tables. I was told yes- as long as I pay a $25 fee! No thanks! We came anyways cause he was excited and as soon as we walked in- empty arcade and 4 or more employees standing around- I was approached and reminded of our phone call and to " be sure your not bringing cake". I assured her but felt so unwelcome and awkward the whole time. Not one person was friendly. I asked about the restaurant (seeing an online menu here) and was told "it's too small for a restaurant". I assured her there used to be one and curious what happened and she claimed to know nothing about it. I ordered mediocre fried "snacks" from the food truck and after an hour left to have dinner elsewhere. I was -$50 and the only person to say happy birthday (he had a balloon) was a random drunk man who also told me my daughter was cute. Yuck.

Next time- welcome us! Happy birthday kid! Show us the food options. Make an exception for one candle and a birthday song. Notice im there alone. Think about how hard our day may have been leading up to this. Kids remember details of birthdays and Pinballz had an opportunity to make it even better!

Hopefully the few games, parking lot cake and tailgating party was...