Nickel City

we brought kids here playing games on my daughter’s birthday. what a mistake! the manager here Steve Krongard was a complete jerk. never been treated so rudely. our guests brought gifts and the manager rushed out like a mad dog and yelled at us to take all the gifts out. we did not even open any single food item or drink.
if you want a good time, go to chuck and cheese… forget this dump.

This place is great. Went to go in and check it out just to stay cool on Father’s Day. We ended up staying 2 hours. We didn’t realize there was an entrance fee but it is worth it because some games are free to play. I didn’t get a chance to play pin ball or other «big kid» stuff because of my 2 Littles. They got in free btw. I think it’s anyone under 3. We will definitely be taking the grandparents here when they come visit. This might sound dumb but I didn’t think you actually used nickels to play games. It was cool. You can bring your own or convert your cash. The nickel factor actually made this place more likeable for me because now a days it’s tokens or cards. My 2.5 year old even learned a new word, nickel, instead of quarter! We will be coming back!

I used to go to the original Nickle City in Mira Mesa when I was a teenager. This Nickle City is big in size. They offer a ok selection of snacks and pizza. The biggest problem that I see is the prices of the games. Putting in 8 – 10 coins (in some cases more) in a video games kinda defeats the purpose of calling this place Nickle City.

What a treat for the kids! This place is like Chuck E Cheeses, but the games are a nickel a piece. Just to be fair, not all games are a nickel. Some games require multiple nickels. In either case, the games come out cheaper than the other places. If you compare it to Dave and Buster, it is a great deal.
The draw back of this place is the food. There are options for food at the other places such as Dave and Buster. If you just want to play games, Nickel City is your place. The kids have a blast here, and it does not break the bank. Most of the games are the type that you win tickets and exchange them for prizes afterwards.
They have some old school games for free play and pinball machines. These pinball are about 30 cents per game. Most kids just play the ticket dispensing games. They have some high graphic games, but they cost about 50 cents per game. It is a fun place for all, but just eat before you come. It gets pretty crowded after 3pm.

If your under 8 years old, this place is pretty cool. They have a ton of games. Some of them are very inventive while others look like they built in someone’s garage. Also, while the tickets are appealing to the kids, trying to manage them is a nightmare. With all the technology out there, I would think there must be a better way. Though we didn’t have any food there, it looked less than appetizing. Certainly that could be improved. Also, it seemed a bit dark in there. This also could be improved. The staff was very nice and helpful which was refreshing. This place has potential to be really nice with some minor improvements. While it may not make a difference to the kids, the parents will really appreciate it. After all, their the ones who pay for all this nickels. As it stands now, this is a one and done place.

Its a nickel arcade, but you do have to put in 8 or 10 nickels on almost every game. it’s 2.50 just to enter and by looking around, there wasn’t much to do, There’s a hand full of arcade machines that has issues with their mechanics. Same with the section of free arcade games, they are free but half of them have broken joysticks and buttons… My opinion is that your better off taking your kids to some other arcade that, won’t have a handful of broken machines and won’t charge you 2.50 a head!
At least when you take your kids to Dave & Busters or Chuck E Cheese, it’s free to enter and they have better ticket machines. I have 2 kids and another one on the way, I came here with my two kids, my girlfriend and my friend. it costed $ 12.50 just for us to enter, I paid $ 15, so each of us would have a bag of nickels. I was better off going to chuck e cheese and paying $ 30 for 150 tokens.

Place looks really fun from the outside with flashy lights and a poppy sign. Looked like a smaller chuck e cheeses and has a lot of table and chairs to sit and eat. Very attractive entrance and the games looked pretty modern! Pretty good deal for nickels each game!
I like how you can get 100 tickets everytime you check in. They have games ranging from old to new. They have pretty fun ticket games and they also have a free arcade section. The staff is young and helpful.
Went in and started playing some games. Its kind of a hassle how some games you have to put 8 Nickels in to play. If you want to play the newer games, you have to put MORE nickels but the older and not as popular games you can put like 3 nickels. I guess overall, it is a lot cheaper than dave n busters and other places that make you use quarters.
I had a good time with some ticket dispensing malfunctions here and there but I guess thats expected at all arcades.

Went to birthday party today at Nickel City, my first time here and It was great! Similar to Chuck e cheese but more spread out and not as smelly! The party room is spacious and a nice private area compared to party areas at other arcade type places. Super clean and well laid out. I would totally recommend for a birthday. It doesn’t have the «security» stamping at the door but didn’t bother me since I stayed close to my son most the time. The staff was also very nice and attentive too. Overall good time for the kiddos.

Always a great time coming here! My daughter and nieces all love it here. The little tiny bowling space for the kids. Not really a nickel a game, but definitely worth it. The games are fun and not as crazy as chuck e cheese where a million kids trample over each other. The whole family can definitely enjoy coming here. I love the games and we won the duck on the monopoly coin drop game! Two thousand tickets! Super sweet. I come back here all the time.

Nickel City had a cool enough theme to it with variety of arcade games for whatever you’re looking for. You give the workers a bill ($ 5,$ 10, $ 20) and they give you a bag full of nickels. It’s almost deceiving as it makes it seem like you have an unlimited amount of tokens for play haha.
I did think that having to pay the $ 2 admission fee was kind of dumb, but it works out since they have a row of free-​to-​play old school arcade games in the back (pac man, marvel vs capcom 2, namcom classics and street fighter).
They also have some cool mini bowling lanes by the front as well! Hadn’t seen anything like that before.
Pinball, shooters, ticket games, basketball and prize games were all present as I’d said.
So playing the games was all fun until you’re in the middle of one and it costs 10 nickels to start back up before your time runs out. It was a bit of hassle trying to get them all in in time and keeping track of how much you had left.
Still, it didn’t retract too much from the experience overall, just something that went through my mind while I was playing.
I didn’t have any of the food there so I can’t comment on that.
I’d come about an hour before closing so there weren’t too many people there at the time.
Remember to check in for 100 free tickets when redeeming prizes! :)
Anyway, it was a cool enough place. Make sure to stop by the comic shop a couple doors down from here before or after you go… some really interesting and cool stuff in there haha

Definitely Worth the drive from esco. Got the $ 50 package. Highly recommend for some good 2hours+ of play and yummy pizza. Staff is very friendly, specially Danielle who was awesome and very welcoming. Best thing was that it wasn’t crowded like other Unilocalers have mentioned.

Kids had a blast here for 15.00 you can get them a 5 dollar bag of nickels a slice pizza a small soda a 100 token ticket and a round of bowling FUN

The pizza’s were of the frozen variety, you can have any them any way you want as long as it’s cheese or pepperoni. The arcade and games were okay, having to constantly feed in nickels is a hassle they really should change their name to quarter city.
Overall I was disappointed however the kids had a lot of fun and that’s what really matters.

First off I Unilocal everything prior to my visit
So I knew to «check in» to receive 100 tickets” even though it doesn’t matter since the prizes are unrealistic to obtain unless you are a regular and save the tickets each time.
Got the Family Pack for $ 50 comes with a cheese pizza, 4 drinks, 4 admission 2($ 7) bag of nickels and 2(tokens) for the bowling. Not bad. We also bought $ 20 worth of nickels which all that lasted a good amount between 3 adults and two kids.
Over all I believe this place is way better than Chuck E Cheese!
They also have two rooms for birthday events.
Pizza was bomb btw! Service was great too. Had to ask the girl (short long hair) for assistance for a game machine and she did it with out giving a face like the employees at CeC. The balls on the bowling alley also got jammed up so the guy (with man bun and perler keychain, yes I saw that :)) came and fixed it. He also restarted the whole game so we can play again. Thumbs up to him!
Over all great experience would come back again!
Free wifi
Food is reasonable priced!

We went to Nickel City today because our plans got rained out. This was an awesome time. Yes most games cost more than a nickel however with $ 20 in nickles a family of 3 was busy for 2 hours. Our 3 year old had a blast and so did my husband and I. Bonus she got some fun prizes to take home. This was an awesome place to celebrate our 13^th anniversary. We will be returning. The staff was super friendly and the facility well maintained.

The standard of staff is Little to worthless. I Had the displeasure of having multiple set backs with the staff. Many times while getting prizes in my visit heard a tall Male with red hair behind the counter stating that I was fat and gross looking. I was appalled and horrified by how rude and worthless the staff is. The only saving grace was a short Girl with Long colorful hair, She was extremely nice to me. Other than that the Place is worthless and Filled with rude staff.
The Price of Food is Immensely unfair, go to any other place for food because its cheaper and more tasty than the slab of horribleness that they give you. I would recommend DIRT before ever eating here again.
I talked to a staff member and was told by them that the machines are cleaned ever 5 hours (so 2 times a day pretty much.) I was horrified to find that it was true what he said and came to see that everything was covered in dirtiness. Surprised the place didn’t have bugs.
DO NOT GO HERE. GO ANYWHERE ELSE FOR FUN TIMES. JUST DON’T GO TO NICKEL CITY.

For the price, it’s definitely the best value. My kids (7 and 4) had a blast and the parents did, too. The employees were all very nice and very patient. It felt a lot more chill and less stressful than Chuck E Cheese.
But oh my gosh, I personally find it SO ANNOYING to pump 4 – 10 nickels in every time you play a game. It takes forever and I know that’s what makes this place special or whatever, but I’d rather play on a card or just 1 – 2 coins of whatever denomination.

This is a big upgrade from the Carmel Mountain place. After visiting the older one we never wanted to visit Nickel City. We just happened to visit this place for other reasons and totally loved this place. It is all upgraded, a lot more better than Chuck E Cheese. Large area and very very clean. Very well maintained and quick response to all issues. We also hosted our 5 yr old son’s birthday party here. Party halls are awesome and very well maintained. We had a larger party so that combined two rooms into one and two hosts. 100s of coins and bowling for kids. All in all it was a great experience for all the kids and parents. Party was a god success. Owner is very friendly too.

What a super fun way to spend an afternoon with the kids! We had such a blast playing all of the old fashioned arcade games (ski ball anyone?) and newer games like Deal or No Deal. The staff are super nice and the site was well maintained (all the games work). I honestly found it as exciting as going to a casino (but a lot cheaper :) Will definitely be returning!

I used to love this place when I was younger, back in the days when it was located in Carmel Mountain and Mira Mesa. So to my surprise when I heard they were moving to Miramar, I was super excited, little did I know how much it changed.
I decided to go here with the girlfriend one weekend. We walk in and it is too heavily crowded. There is an entrance fee which is only 2 – 3 bucks, not bad. We also got around 10 dollars worth of nickels for the each of us. We scoured around to look at all the games, and practically 2/​3rds of the place is ticket games! I guess they were going the Chuck E. Cheese route since it is more profitable with little kids. Being with the girlfriend, I am okay with that. I look at all the game and they cost 4 – 10 nickels a play, with occasional one nickel games where you’re lucky if coils fall off a ledge. The tickets given out are meager and the prize costs were pretty high.
I did end up playing a few of the arcade games with the girlfriend, and dumped a huge amount of our nickels on tickets and took some candy. The free games selection is limited like 5 – 6 machines half of which have broken joysticks or buttons.
This place gave us a very mediocre experience. With games already at 4+ nickels, they might as well make the games cost 1 to 2 quarters and waive the entrance fee. At least they can get some people who just want to see what games they have, and get the people who just want to spend their change on a quick game.

You do have to pay admission for around $ 2.50 to get in. Most of their games need around 5 – 10 nickels but it’s a fun thing to do for about an hour. I prefer the arcade games over the games where you win tickets. It would probably be cheaper to go and buy a stuffed animal ha.
They do have some free arcade games like street fighter.

The games are fun, up to date with new and old school games so that is 5 stars. Staff was rude to that fact that we were having a party, and could not have cupcakes. They saw we were a party and did not offer us a private room, and couldn’t handle our «tall» order for a party of 6.

Super fun for a low cost. They even have old school arcade games and pin ball machines, as well as the games that give you tickets for prizes. The four player air hockey table is awesome!

We have been coming here since it moved from CMR and love the expansion with numerous ticket games and Old School games for you 80’s lovers. Steve the owner is a kind and generous person. I will keep coming here because my 4 year old ALWAYS wants to come here and I enjoy it as I play like I am a kid again.

Broke my 4 yr old grandson’s heart! He wanted to play games and open his presents. the manager/​owner Steve K, said he can’t open the presents unless we buy the $ 250 party room. I told him we would be spending that much on food and games, couldn’t he just open gifts out in tables in front. He said no very harshly, and grandson’s other grandma said it’s all about the money right? And he said yes it is all about the money. He was extremely rude and disrespectful. We have been there several times and have recommended them in the past, but he was such an uncaring ass that we will never go there again-don’t want to give him a penny of business. Other customers there were shocked at how we were treated. We left and went to Mira Mesa Chuck E Cheese, and they were awsome, and made the night end up a success.

Decent selection of games and food. The one thing that really annoyed me is the fact that this place is called Nickel City and everything costs like 8 nickels. In addition to that, we have to pay an admission fee? It’s not like the 2.25 $ is a big deal, I just felt like the name is misleading.
Wouldn’t mind coming back though.

Honestly, this place is a fun place to take kids who are obsessed with winning yellow tickets to swap for prizes. Nickel City is a cheaper option than Dave & Busters and Belmont Park (man, their arcade area is a rip compared to this place). They have more game options than Chuck E Cheese as well.
There is a $ 2.25 admission fee but you can by pass that if you stay in their café/​sitting area. We opted to pay the $ 2.25 to keep an eye out for the kids.
We opted to buy the kids the $ 15 package deal which includes: admission, slice of pizza, small soda, $ 10 bag of nickels, 100 free tickets. This is actually a pretty good deal (savings wise if you do the calculations). And the pizza slices weren’t that bad either.
I agree with other Unilocalers that there are fewer games that cost just a nickel. Most are 4+ nickels per play so adults need to be mindful of kids who don’t know how to ration their bag of nickels. I was griping about this the entire night UNTIL my friend won 600+ tickets on a game (for his nephew) that required just ONE nickel so there ya go.
Yellow ticket tips: check in on Unilocal for 100 tickets, register for their loyalty plan for 100 tickets, and buy the $ 15 package deal to get another 100 tickets. We had 600 additional tickets just by doing this that one evening.
The staff here at NC were very patient and I was impressed how calm and collected they were with kids eager to play and earn prizes. Steven, the owner, was kind to those I saw him interact with. I don’t think it’s an easy business to run so props to him for keeping his cool in a hectic environment.
The kids are already wanting to come back and win the Millennium Falcon for only 70,000 tickets. Realistic but cute right.

The last time I went to Nickel City, it was when it was located in Carmel Mt. Maybe over 10 years ago? I don’t remember it.
Took my baby cousins here. Super small arcade place but hey, they all had fun.
You think Nickel City, 5 cent game right?! WRONG. There are games that cost 8 nickels! What a rip. I would rather take my cousins to boomers. Go on their free game days. Better value there.

Me and my brother used to come to a place similar to this called «wunderland». You’d pay like $ 2 to get in, there would be an area for free games, and other than that mainly just .05 and .10 games. Cool concept. I heard Nickel City was the same thing, so we decided to check it out.
My problem with this place is the fact that almost every game requires 6 – 10 nickels to play. There were about 7 free arcade games, including Streetfighter 2, but the controls were broken, so that didn’t work out. I went to play basketball, 10 nickels to play. Skee ball? Same thing.
Again, .50 is not the problem. It’s literally a pain in the butt to put 10 nickels in an arcade machine. Plus, we paid an admission fee, yet still pay the regular price that most of these machines would cost outside of Nickel city? A couple machines gave out no tickets, personally, it wasn’t worth complaining. I gave all my tickets to some kid cause I knew they would enjoy it more than I would.
We had just come from Dave and busters hoping this place was similar to the wunderland we remembered, but it was like Dave and busters, except annoying due to the amount of nickels you gotta put in a machine to get the thing to work! We shoulda stayed at DnB.
2 stars cause customer service was great, the people working there were very friendly, and I gotta give them props for it. I just think the concept of this place is a rip off. Just convert to quarters if everything costs .25 or more!

Check in for 100 free tickets!!!
This place is the place to go when you’re too old for chuck e cheese but you’re not to old to have some fun!
This place is big with lots of games and even bowling! My favorite game is the deal or no deal, basketball and the air hockey.
2.25 per person for entrance. And hence the name. Games are only a nickel usually (but some games are like 20 nickels which adds up)
You can get a discount bundle for nickels if you purchase a lot! There is a lot of parking so don’t be worried.
There is also lots of food here. Chicken tenders, fries, pretzels. You get it. Anything a child will dream of but I will eat it too. It is pretty expensive for the portions but what do you expect. It’s not a food place but it is good!

Nickels only?!! What?! No buying stupid tokens that you can only use at that certain place and wasting tokens because you have 2 tokens left, but the game requires 5 **cough cough** Boomers!
Make sure you empty your piggy banks and bring ONLY nickels, but in case you forget they have bags of nickels you can exchange your $ 20 bill for. The entrée fee for coming in is only $ 2.25.
Unfortunately most people who bring their own nickels, l sometimes overlook their nickels for quarters and JAM the coin slot, so a few machines were unusable. While we got the employees to help alleviate the problem, there’s only so much they can do because stupid people believe if they add more coins to the slot, the problem will magically fix itself! Like this one machine that had 9 nickels and a quarter (thanks guys for the free games though)!
Majority of the machines are pretty good, but there’s some that are outdated and a few of them that are broken down. However this is good place to drop the kiddos off for a couple of hours and blow $ 20! There’s food as well, but I would suggest eating somewhere else before coming here. The food didn’t look too appealing to me, but I’m sure it’s fine for a bunch of kids!

I’ve got a pocket full of nickels and I’m headed to the arcade.
If you’re looking to treat your kids (and yourself) this is great place where everyone wins!
From the Main Menu —
–Video games cost anywhere between 4 and 10 nickels per play, with most being around 4. They did have a separate area for vintage games which were all set on free play. Some of the vintage games actually have several games build into them (like Pac Man, Dig Dug, and Zaxxon) and all you have to do was choose a game from the menu.
— It was interesting that the video games section was not very popular with the kids at this arcade, everyone was trying to win tickets. Perhaps symbolic of the American culture of always trying to receive payment /​receive stuff in order to keep attention.
— What was particularly impressive were the private party rooms. These private rooms were a lot better than the «party rooms» at other various other fun centers. Something to research if you’re planning a kid’s birthday party.
Game Over —
— Some games take 10 nickels, which is a pain especially when the machine would steal a nickel here and there.
— Most of the ticket counting machines were offline and lines were too long.
— A few of the older teens were «taking down» the ticket redemption games. Literally wining a non-​stop roll of tickets. I’ll have to google to see if there are any known exploits.
Play again?
I would, you’ll definitely find me back in the vintage section.

My son had a blast here! It’s a little quieter than Chuck’s and newer so feels cleaner. The mini bowling ($ 5) looks like fun and we will try that next time. Nice staff showed me around when I asked about party package. I agree with the other reviewers that there are nicer prizes here. The fried food is pretty greasy, but that’s not a surprise, right? I find the parking aisle a little tight for some reason and be aware that (at least today) folks speed through the parking lot way fast.