Can Can Wonderland - St. Paul — Restaurant in Saint Paul

This place is doing fine without me. And I ain't coming back. I'm not a regular visitor anyway, they don't need me.

I visited a few years ago and thought it was a nifty, unique place. I could see why some would visit it more often than I do.

Fast forward a few years. I'm with my friend and his son. They've never been there, and the son got a recommendation to check it out. So we agreed to do so. Vintage pinball machines... sounds like fun for all involved.

I knew there was a brewery upstairs from the Wonderland. On a Friday night, this makes parking around the area a bit of a fiasco. Not the end of the world, but if I were to ever return, I'd know to just park two blocks away and walk to the building rather than navigate the terrible on-site parking.

We got to the entry of the Wonderland and found out there was a $13 cover charge. I later learn that this allows us to play all those vintage video games and pinball machines at no charge. We weren't planning to spend $13 each on gaming, so it would have cost us a collective $39 to walk in the door. Of course I never considered the place would charge a cover in 2024, so I never consulted the website before I arrived.

The website suggests the rate is $11 or $14, depending upon the night. And it includes live entertainment, if it's being offered. I guess it is on many nights, but I thought I was going to a glorified bar, not a cabaret. My bad.

I know the place ain't cheap, although what's cheap and expensive is relative. But it ain't a place to drop in at any more. They have enough people willing to pay a cover nightly for the privilege of accessing their food, beverage and mini-golf, as well as an automatic 20% service fee in lieu of tipping, whether the service is worth it or not.

Plenty of people are willing to play by those rules, so charge it, I guess. They clearly don't need me, and if enough people have money to burn for entertainment, I guess they should take it, happily.

P.T. Barnum...

We drove thru the winter blizzard on 12/23 for our friend's 40th birthday get together at Can Can Wonderland. It was my first time, but thankfully we had my sister there to show us the way inside. There are signs but you do have to go through a little maze to get there - down a long hallway, down the stairs, and then the entrance. We arrived around 8pm and it wasn't too busy with the weather and holiday weekend. The entrance fee was $12/pp which included all of the arcade games (free). We ordered a few meals to munch on before getting our drink on. My friends liked their Joe vs. Volcano burger, and I enjoyed the cheesecurds with cajun ranch dressing. Their full bar was decorated with all Christmas-y stuff and was fun to look at. I ordered myself a Mrs. Pacman from their specialty cocktail menu, meanwhile the husband tried out the craft beer wall. He was given a card for his tab to swipe with at the craft beer station, then check out with once you're done. Afterwards, our large group was able to roam around played all of the antique arcade games as well as some newer ones. There was actually so much to look at and do, that we never made it to play mini golf. My favorite moments of the night was the car-oake (karaoking in the car) before we discovered the actual karaoke stage behind the bar. And once we did...it was all over. We stayed until closing time singing our heart outs with the amazing Silly Miss Tilly, the bartenders, and what was left of the crowd. If you're ever there, be sure to ask Silly Miss Tilly to sing - she has an amazing voice and was on point with Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life". It was also fun watching the bartenders get everyone on their feet with Backstreet Boys' "Everybody". Our group had soooooooo much fun there, all thanks to positive vibes of the wonderful staff and people. We were so sad when they had to close lol...but we plan to come back...

This is a veritable Wonderland, indeed!!! I live five hours north of the Twin Cities, and this destination has been on bucket list for a couple years. My impressions from the travel brochure / Facebook posts / Google reviews, set my expectations pretty high ("pretty, pretty high" in a Larry David voice), yet I was still blown away by experiencing it in the flesh. Only $10 will get you a basic wristband for unlimited game play (mini-golf is extra, and since I only had a couple hours to to spend with a very weak, convalescent boyfriend --- and no, he didn't have covid! --- I kept the focus to the arcade portion). CanCan has versions of PacMan I'd never seen before, or even heard of... and I thought I was a connoisseur! This insanely well curated collection of unique, vintage games from all eras of history (e.g., penny arcade/ boardwalk period, 60s/70s pinball collection, 80s standard cabinet classics, more advanced and physically-immersive examples like ride-upon games reminiscent of 90s/2000s Chuck E. Cheese's). I'm an aficionado of all things vintage / antique, so I was amazed by some of gems from the 1940s/50s/60s. Plus, the arcade circles around the artist-created mini-golf, so you can still see the work of talented locals without taking the time to commit to 18 miniature holes. If you start your journey off to the right, by the bar/food section, you will get a chronologically grouped tour of the games. I was so excited that I initially ran around willy nilly like an over delighted child of 37, and doing so, I almost missed out the back section under blacklight. Also, the food is great!! It has the homemade flare of a diner where the restaurant waitress calls you "hon," and wears the uniform of a bygone era. There was nothing to dislike, only pure joy at CanCan Wonderland!! Thank you to the genius who concocted this and the staff and artists who...