Barcade

BarcadeBarcade
BarcadeBarcade
Bar, Eatery

163 Newark Ave
Jersey City, New Jersey, 07302-2813
United States

(201) 332-4555 | map
barcadejerseycity.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.32
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
36
pDev:
7.41%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4 by SkiBum22 from New York

Apr 16, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Oct 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.59 by SebastianMandeville from New Jersey

Feb 10, 2017
 
Rated: 4.22 by WheelsPSU from New Jersey

Jun 25, 2016
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Reviewed by tasterschoice62 from Rhode Island

4.61/5  rDev +6.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4 | selection: 5
This is a very cool place. Was there about two weeks ago. Place is roomy and there are plenty of game sto play. I mean it's fun to be able to move around meet new and interesting people and drink great beers. The list - all on tap- is a very interesting one. Had DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus for the first time and dug it. Did not try any food so can't vouch for that. If youre looking for a great tap list, interacting with people and the ability to move around and stay interested this is a great joint!
Jan 18, 2016
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Reviewed by ommegangpbr from New York

3.98/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
I live nearby and enjoy going here whenever it's appropriate. Would I travel from Manhattan to go here?
Maybe!
I've been to the Barcade on St Marks and the one in Chelsea. While I prefer the video games in the St Marks location, I prefer visiting the Jersey city location more than the other two.
The space is big. Saturday nights and popular drinkin nights it's still sardine can room as far as customers go but usually it's pretty open.
Service runs from solid to excellent. Perhaps could be a touch friendlier at times but I'll take competent over smiley and useless anyday.
Beer! Good beer, all on tap. No bottles, no cans. All American brewed. Something like 20 different beers at any time covering a variety of styles.
The food, in my experience, is tasty, but not good value for money. If you are hungry and want your appetite sated you are going to spend a bit of money. I've always experienced good quality but have almost always felt a bit cheated. An example: the nachos were well prepared, but there wasn't much to eat. I was pretty disappointed with the$14 meat and cheese platter.
The video games are fun! Though I'm concerned that they recently converted their machines to take Barcade tokens as opposed to quarters. I forsee a price hike on the cost of said tokens.
All in all, I like drinking here. The beer is good. The music is good (to me, anyway. No jukebox; management controlled). The space can accommodate a large group of people for gatherings. I'll go here again!
Dec 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Lare453 from Florida

Sep 08, 2015
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Rated by DrStiffington from New Jersey

4.07/5  rDev -5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
Didn't have any food there but I dug the beer and playing old school arcade games.
May 10, 2015
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Rated by MKuryllo from Nevada

3.69/5  rDev -14.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4
No TVs. But tons of Arcade games. Interesting place.
Apr 09, 2015
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Reviewed by almostjay from Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -13.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
This was my neighborhood spot for awhile. It was always "so close" to being great. Always a good selection, and a pretty good event schedule, but the service was always mediocre and the food is only OK, holding it back a bit. Still, if this was my only option I wouldn't be unhappy.
Jan 14, 2015
 
Rated: 4.33 by Zekenyce from New Jersey

Jan 14, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by jgpineda from New Jersey

Dec 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Matagal from Brazil

Nov 19, 2014
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Rated by Cfeezy from New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +10%
Love this place! Has everything you'd want and need! Bring quarters or use the change machine :)
Nov 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Toasty from New Jersey

Oct 23, 2014
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Rated by njdirtygardener from New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%
Love this place. Only dont love it when its packed and hard to get to the bar.
Oct 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Roze from New York

Sep 26, 2014
 
 
Rated: 4 by Phigg1102 from New York

Jun 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by JimmyAloysius from Pennsylvania

Jun 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by samarthmehta87 from Minnesota

Mar 28, 2014
Photo of szmyt
Reviewed by szmyt from New Jersey

4.69/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4 | food: 5
A wide variety of great beers, excellent tap rotation, with the added benefit of classic video games at 25 cents a game. Their food is unique and delicious to include an amazing Cuban sand which, grilled cheese, Nutella bacon, and a Mac and cheese sandwhich. If you can catch an event night here I highly recommend. Absolutely love it here.
Mar 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by EnthusedAboutBeer from New Jersey

Feb 03, 2014
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Reviewed by tcwaugh from New Jersey

4.1/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3
Very Hipster but not too loud. My girlfriend and I are always taken care of here and the bartenders are great to talk to about beer. Very knowledgeable and really appreciate that we care about beer and are not there to just get drunk.

Good time and some cool older games if you are into that type of thing!
Nov 19, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by erha2 from New York

Nov 16, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by Paul68 from New Jersey

Oct 12, 2013
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Reviewed by metter98 from New York

4.01/5  rDev -7.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3.25
Vibe: This place is a no-frills establishment that somewhat resembles a warehouse. It's a little brighter compared to the its sister bar in Brooklyn having some tables and windows up front although the back is rather dark and has two tables surrounded by two walls of 1980s arcade games. The chairs at tables remind you of the type of seating you used to have in elementary school and the bar stools contain a variety of old-school type seating, none of which is alike.

Quality: Beers were served at the proper temperature using a combination of pint glasses and chalices.

Service: The place wasn't that crowded so service at the bar was rather quick. If you ordered food from the kitchen, you had to pick up your plates from the window.

Selection: This bar has a pretty good selection of beers, with one being available on cask. I was impressed to find a gose beer available from a local New Jersey brewery.

Food: There's nothing overly special about the food, but it is nice to have sandwiches and other munchies such as beef jerkey, beer nuts and pretzels available. I tried the El Cubano sandwich and it wasn't that bad.

Value: While beer prices are rather reasonable compared to other bars in the neighborhood, the real value is the lunch special, which gets you a $6 beer, a sandwich and chips for $10. The lunch special is even offered on weekends.
Aug 20, 2013
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Reviewed by dbrauneis from North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
I love the vibe of this place, how could craft beer and 1980s video games not be a great combination... There is a fun, casual atmosphere and there is a huge nostalgia factor.

The beers were fresh and well poured in proper glassware.

The bartenders seemed knowledgeable about the beers and friendly enough - beers were served relatively quickly once ordered and I didn't have to wait to long for a beer even though the place was relatively busy.

Barcade has a pretty good selection with a little over 20 beers on tap and one cask - they represented a range of different styles and all were craft beers, several of them being regional.

The food menu is not extensive and I have not tried any of the offerings - they look like a little different twist than the traditional bar food/pub fare. One of these times I am going to get food but I never seem to be hungry when I get to Barcade.

The prices are on par with the other bars in the area, so nothing unexpected there.
Sep 02, 2012
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Reviewed by ummswimmin from New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
I took my day off of work to finally visit this bastion of craft beer and classic gaming. The idea of drinking excellent beer and playing the games of my youth was a guarantee for a good time. Please don't suggest Dave and Busters as an alternative. They serve BMC at DnB, and there are too many kids around during the day.

At this location there were 23 beer taps, one cider tap, and a cask hand pull. There was an excellent selection. I could have ordered anything and been happy/hoppy. I was glad to say that there wasn't any BMC's in sight. The liquor selection was pretty simple, but you really aren't on this website for hard alcohol. I like that they had hard alcohol by Rogue (nice touch).

The menu was pretty limited. Each option is pretty original. I went with a bratwurst sandwich with pretzels. But, dessert was toast with nutella and crumbled bacon. It was amazing.

They have about 30 arcade cabinets. There were all of the old favorites from the 80's to the early 90's. Every game was only one quarter. There were shelfs next to the cabinets for your beer.

I recommend visiting. I had a really good time there today.
May 26, 2012
Photo of claspada
Reviewed by claspada from New Jersey

4.3/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Warehouse type atmosphere, arcade games along the edges, bar, a couple tables, could maybe use a few more. Bar area could also be a little larger. I like how there's no TVs to encourage communication between patrons.

Taps are of course great selection if you have any knowledge of this small chain. Between 20-30 beers that are constantly rotating and turning over which is great because you always know everything is fresh. They had some Ballast Point, Founders, Lost Abbey, Jolly Pumpkin, Dogfish Head just to name a few, also usually have some quality locals from Kane, Climax or River Horse just to name a few.

Service is good on the weekdays, poor on the weekends like most bars. Certain servers are also "more personable" as well.

Great weekday happy hour deals ($1 OFF beer and well drinks and $7 Fisherman’s Brew & Four Roses shot). Also they often (bi-weekly usually) have tap takeovers where they feature a large selection of a certain brewery's offerings where the actual head brewers/owners show up to chat about their products.
Mar 19, 2012
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Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

4.08/5  rDev -5.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
I liked ths place, though it did not have that same feel as the Brooklyn location. Very buzy on a Thursday 10 pm though not bad at the video machines. Very good selection, tons of Victory tonight. Twenty odd taps. Not so much in the bottles. Friendlier than in Manhattan. Service good despite being s buzy. Loud though not impossible music, one had to shout to be heard. $1 snacks a plus. Parking required a bit of a search among one way streets, but it was there. Best bar selection wise in Jersey City.
Dec 05, 2011
Photo of renegadeburger
Reviewed by renegadeburger from New Jersey

4.66/5  rDev +7.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5
wow a barcade in jersey city who knew? this place is awesome i have been to their brooklyn location many times but now they have one out in jersey city?

quality of this place is great once again it appears they put the focus on draft beer which is always better in my opinion as long as its fresh and every time i am at barcade it seems super fresh they must clean their tap lines often because they don't ever have a problem with the funky tap lines i have noticed this at other places sometimes

i don't give a lower score for service but the night i was in there it was so crowded it seemed that they needed more bartenders but they were knowledgeable about the beer so that is good

really the best slection of good beer i have seen in new jersey as of now i mean there are other places that have bigger selections like 40 or more taps and bottles but bigger is not always better what this place has is limited taps but a big focus on the regional or local brews to that area and always nice high quality selections

now of course we need to comment on the arcade games as well i mean how cool is it that you can drink good beer and play some vintage arcade games? i thought this was only going to be limited to brooklyn now i can do this right here in jersey city i mean how cool is that?

so psyched this place has come out to jersey city this is going to be a real game changer i hope the other area bars see how successful they are and then everyone starts pouring good beer
Jul 04, 2011
Photo of StonyB
Reviewed by StonyB from New Jersey

4.55/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
What a great, great concept for a bar. Twenty-five taps of quality American craft beer, coupled with twenty-five cent vintage 1980's video games. Simple, yet awesome.

For those not already in the know, the original Barcade opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn back in 2004. It was such a success that the owners decided to expand to two other locations, Philadelphia and Jersey City. The Philly location is tentatively scheduled to open sometime during this summer (2011), while the JC Barcade opened for business in April.

Since ownership had no reason to screw up a good thing, there are many more similarities between the Brooklyn and Jersey City locations than there are differences. Twenty-five draft lines and one cask engine, check. American craft beer only, check. Pints or ten-ounce glasses for $6, depending upon the beer, with $1 off during Happy Hour, check. About thirty old-school video games for a quarter, yep. A nice mix of diverse rock and roll playing not too loudly in the background, you bet. Friendly and well-informed servers who are happy to let you sample a beer before you buy it, absolutely.

However, there certainly are some differences, though mostly subtle, that distinguish the two establishments. For example, the atmosphere of this bar is considerably brighter than it's older brother. This is mainly because the walls here are white, not dark, and because there are several large windows in the front that allow light to stream in. It makes for a warmer vibe, though the drawback is that the light can shine on a few of the video games during a particularly sunny day.

Another difference is the selection of beers and games. Since New Jersey and New York have some discrepancies in the breweries that are available in these respective states, Barcade JC is going to have some beers that aren't at Barcade Billyburg. And of course, vice versa. Also, while some of the video games overlap (Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Tapper, Galaga, Ms. Pacman and Punch Out, for example) there are easily over a dozen games in Jersey City that are different. Some highlights include Star Wars, Spy Hunter, Defender, Tempest and Mappy.

Probably the most obvious difference between the two locations is that the new kid on the block serves food. Yes, Barcade Brooklyn has beef jerky, chips and nuts, but Barcade Jersey City also features appetizers and sandwiches. These dishes are both tasty (the Smoked Trout And Beer Cheese On Toast is a must try) and interesting (Death By PB&J is a peanut butter with habanero jelly sandwich. Oh my.) Almost every food item is under $10. They also just started a weekday lunch special; $10 will get you any beer, any sandwich and a bag o' chips. Who needs three martinis when you can have a DFH My Antonia for lunch?

In summary, the new Barcade in Jersey City has plenty of the same great aspects of the Brooklyn incarnation, but also offers a few twists that make this bar a destination in its own right. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Highly recommended.

**Stony's Biscuit** - When I reviewed Barcade Brooklyn back in 2006, I noted in my Biscuit that some BA's might shy away from going simply because of the location. Since then of course, Williamsburg has continued to develop as a top-notch destination for craft beer fans. Well, Jersey City is just starting to get their craft beer swerve on. Besides Barcade JC, which is only a block and a half from the the Grove Street PATH train station, you can also visit Zeppelin Hall (a large biergarten), Skinner's Loft and Light Horse Tavern (two quality restaurants with a decent beer selection), and Star Bar (a nice locals place with a few good taps and a very good variety of bottles). All are within easy walking distance of Barcade. The point is that Jersey City is changing, for the better. Make a visit and see for yourself...
Jun 27, 2011
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Reviewed by bonbini26 from New Jersey

3.93/5  rDev -9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
It has arrived! Living only 2 blocks away from this fine establishment the anticipation level for it to open was obviously high for me.

Atmosphere - 25 cent video games, 25 American craft beers on tap...all the atmosphere you need. But really, a pretty mixed crowd like any bar in downtown JC. Good vibe, good times.

Quality - With only tap beer available, the beers are always fresh constantly turning over

Service - I went for the opening, so it was obviously crowded. I went early and was chatting with the bartender, was happy to give out a sample taste and later in the night when he forgot my order he bought back a round, good stuff!

Selection - All American craft beers, all styles represented and a cask to boot! A lot regional beers too!

Food - Small bites and sandwiches. i only had the death flavored beef jerky...HOLY SHIT...this stuff is hot

Overall I may never leave this place. With happy hour 12-8pm Monday-Friday. Most beers are $6 for a 10oz or pint depending on the ABV.
Apr 26, 2011
Barcade in Jersey City, NJ
Place rating: 4.32 out of 5 with 36 ratings