Joysticks Arcade & Eatery — Restaurant in McMinnville

Covid-19 has left me with few options to explore around town for a meal out back then. Living only 4 blocks from the 3rd Street area, the arcade pub & grub called "The Joy Stick" has been a winner amongst my choices on 3rd Street!! Enter thru the front or rear door.

My first visit left me pleasantly surprised, with a mix of 60's pinball style machines, all the way to the arcade games of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, including fun opportunities for the younger kiddies too.

You will also find great food and brews, and a small assortment of hard alcohol and mixed drinks too!!

My fellow people of these eras, it is a throw back in time for gamers, that will make your heart smile for a while!

Plenty of sit down table space is available for groups up to approximately 20 people.

The crew there is polite, and work to get your orders out to you as quick as possible. As usual with most other dine-ins, busy times will require a longer wait. Don't fret though, as there are plenty of opportunities to entertain yourself while waiting!! Games galore, plus kids shows, movies and sports play on 4 wall mounted televisions.

There is also a small amount of casino slots in an "Adults Only" room in the back! I have witnessed a few large payouts too in the past years!!

There is on street parking in front and a larger parking lot behind the building.

STOP ON IN....THEN COME...

I took my son and 3 friends there for an afternoon of fun. The experience was nice. There are a significant amount of older arcade games mixed in with a few newer style games and lots of pinball. You will go through cash fairly quickly if you are playing the newer games which are a buck each. The old games are a quarter each but at least a few were not working. You can buy bottomless soda for 3.00 each but at the time we visited, the Sprite had been used up and the Employee mentioned he would need to replace it but was not able to, being the only person there, and kind of busy. The layout is a little cramped and the main thoroughfare is a straight funnel from the front to the back which can best be described as narrow. The lack of tables makes it difficult to find a place to camp if the kids are playing. Anyone coming here SHOULD have cash in hand, as the ATM in the lotto room will charge you a convenience fee of $5.00 to take out cash. Pros: Good retro arcade style games Lots of great pinball Great decor with attention to detail for games Friendly staff Cons: Layout feels a little cramped Lack of tables or seating locations 4 adults Excessive ATM fees to withdraw cash

I LOVE arcades and wanted to go 4 stars but I think that there are a few things for a better experience that should be...

The food was horrible, corndogs still doughy, French fries barely cooked and served cold. Sliders were suppose to be with cheese and bacon, got 2 sliders, meat that was barely done, cheese that was completely melted off the meat and the bacon was actually sliced ham. And as with the other food was not served hot. Asked for a few napkins and was handed the entire plastic napkin holder, Never did see anyone wash their hands the entire time we were there. Frankly for the almost $60. 00 we paid for this we could have taken our grand son to a nice sit down lunch. The games here are all old school so unless your older than 25 you probably have never seen many of these games. All in all we still tried to make it fun for our grandson. Needless to say we won't be visiting here...