Time Out — Restaurant in Ames

Making plans with a friend I mentioned that I wished Ames had something similar to UpDown (on Locust in the DM East Village). As it turns out, Time Out was that and more. Tucked away in a clean modern building is a full bar, great common area with tall tables and booths and a dedicated karaoke corner. So, arcade games? Everywhere. Classics circle the bar section. Mid 80's Nintendo staples: Excitebike, SMB, R-Type, Donkey Kong. Assorted classics like TMNT, X-Men and Tron round out the front room. That's enough to make the place a must visit, but there is the entire back room. In the back half of the building, with it's own thumping 80's and 90's soundtrack, is the main course of arcade offerings. NFL Blitz 99, Hydro Thunder, Elevator Action, The Simpsons, SFII, MKII, Off Road Challenge, Crystal Castles, Rush 2049, skeeball, basketball and several sections of pinball games offer something for everyone. There are dedicated dens for air hockey and N64. They even sell classic games and consoles. I've seen pieces of this formula before, but all parts are so well executed here. The games run on quarters, and the prices are cheap. Multiple Iowa brews are on tap. Karaoke has 31,000 songs. It's even family friendly until 7PM. The fact that the staff was friendly and attentive was icing on the wonderfully nostalgic cake. What was intended to be the first stop on a night out in downtown ended up being the only stop and a must stop...

1 star for food because I didnt eat anything so I don't know what they have or if its any good. 1 star for service because we didn't ask for, or receive any service while there. This is a good place to go if you don't want to be surrounded by screaming kids but instead possibly be surrounded by drunk adults, luckily when i went it wasn't drunk o' clock yet. They have a decent selection of the good old games, in my opinion they need a lot more ticket-winning games. Their old school selection of stuff to buy (old nintendo64, cds, cassettes, small toys or keepsakes) was sort of impressive. Its a fun place if you wanna burn some $$ and laugh at the same time. Maybe I'll try the food and drink next time, play a few games. All I really did was walk around and look, get a feel for the place. The last time I was there I was drunk...maybe 6 years ago so I'm glad they are still open....

Time Out has a good selection of machines for a Barcade. Staying between 25 and 50 cents, it has thing like Gauntlet, Bad Dudes, Area 51, and other classics. It also has a number of pinball machines, all of which seem to work rather well, including Addams Family, Game of Thrones, and Indiana Jones. Where Time Out has the most room for improvement is at the bar. They have a variety of hard liquor, nothing too outstanding, but covering the essentials. For beer, they have a lot of domestics, such as Bud Light, and others, but for craft, they have 2. For being in a state where craft breweries are incredibly popular and in a town of 3 craft breweries, I was disappointed. Perhaps their Des Moines competition set the bar too high. I also feel too many games were 50 cents instead of 25. Overall good place, and I would go if others wanted to go, but wouldn't pick this...