Headquarters Beercade — Restaurant in Chicago

My party decided to spend new years at HQ. They had a really enticing ticket deal that included free appetizers and we additionally spent $200 for a table with bottle service. I was stunned by the TERRIBLE service we received there; we all decided to leave at 11pm and find somewhere else to celebrate the countdown. We were seated at a high top in the basement amongst no one else with bottle service. The hostess asked if we wanted chairs; YES WE PAID FOR 4, then they only pulled up 3. We asked about our bottle immediately upon sitting and was told someone would be sent over. No one ever came to serve us for the next hour. I went and spoke with the hostess/manager 3 times, I was nervous we would be forgotten about wherewe were seated. AFTER THE MANAGER FINISHED SHOTS with his team, he followed me downstairs to ask where we were sitting and what bottle we wanted. After about 10 minutes, I see a waitress bring our bottle of vodka TO ANOTHER TABLE of other patrons that had purchased drinks and were standing at a table nearby. I was furious at this point. I needed to walk up to the waitress, politely ask the table if they ordered this, and then pack the items back onto the waitresses tray and lead her to the correct table. The mixers she brought were laughable too; a large coke and a TEENY Orange juice to go with a bottle of vodka. The night was such a joke at this point. I also asked the waitress where the free appetizers were and she told me "well, they stopped serving at 10pm, they sent it in an email if you looked closely " i went back to my emails and tickets and found no such wording. This night felt like a huge scam; we will be requesting out $200+ back.

I had been to HQ 3 years ago and loved it, which is why we planned to come again. After last night, we will never be...

Love the atmosphere there, so many video games that anyone around the ages 30-48 would remember fondly. (Read edit review below)Given food a one star bc I am vegan and there were barely anything I could eat except for a basket of fries (and the fries were okay, at best) and taken a cocktail with it. Very disappointed with the place. It's 2023, have SOMETHING vegan/plant based there. Fun place to play games at and have a drink, don't come here if you're plant based or vegan and you're hungry. There's a Penelope's Taqueria around the corner to get your vegan food at (which is where I went after visiting HQ Beercade) and won't be disappointed there. Arcade games-6/5, drinks-4/5, vegan food-negative4/5. Really hope this place does better in the future.

*Editing this review since the owner of this establishment re-invited me back to try the food because apparently there were vegan food I could of tried but a miscommunication with the staff, resulting in misinformation to the patron (me). Came back there again with my partner and this time around it was so much fun! And we got to try the vegan cheese pizza and it was soooooo good! Will get that again! And tried the truffle fries without the mayo (partner wanted that) and he liked it. Wish someone told me that kitchen closed at 11 so I would of tried the bao buns but sadly I did not sigh but this experience was way better than it was before and can't wait to come back to get those bao buns dang it! The customer service was spectacular and the vibes this time around was awesome! They blew me away of how professional, cool, and quick with their serving of the drinks we were ordering. Loved it! I hope the vegan options will grow as time goes because I definitely see myself as a regular patron...

A place for adults to get drinks and food and play video games is not completely unique. Places like Dave & Busters have sprung up in a lot of places, but not many of these places is like Headquarters Beercade. First, it’s distinctly adult. No one under 21 is allowed. Make no mistake, is a bar. If want a place to play video game without kids running around this way better than Dave and Busters or any of its clones. Second, most of the games are free. With only a few exceptions, you can play as much as you want for free. Third, for any one who grew up paying video games from the 1980s thorough the late 1990s this place will bring back a lot of nostalgic fun and good memories. On a recent visit, I played Pole Position, Area 51 and NFL Blitz, just to name a few. They also have a lot of pinball machines. They also have some newer, exclusive games, such as Mortal Combat 11. My waiter was even passionate about gaming. Fourth, their food and drinks are great. On a recent trip, I ordered hurricane fries and chicken tacos. The hurricane fries where unique and yummy. All I can say that is they tasted like sushi, but worked. The chicken in the chicken tacos were deep fried and also delicious. I also enjoyed their drinks. I ordered the Mr. Potato Head, a whisky drink topped with potato chips and the Go ask the Wizard, a sweet gin drink.

Over all, the drinks and food were great, but playing the free old school games was...