Atlas Arcade

Simple, low key, and cool place to hang out with friends. They have different old school arcade cabinets (need quarters, but they have a change machine) as well as consoles to rent. The bartender was really nice when I was there and definitely look forward to going back! The only draw backs I can see is the sort of limited drink choices and no food.

I absolutely love this place. It’s the perfect H St. dive bar with freaking arcade games!
Obviously the draw here is the arcade games. The stand up arcades are lining the walls. They have TMNT, Rampage, X-​Men, Donkey Kong, pinball, Buck Hunter, etc. There are several other old school arcades as well I’m just forgetting right now.
They also have several consoles at the bar (and emulators I believe) for you to pick up the controller and go to town on! They have NES, Super Nintendo, and Sega available for play at the bar. Such a cool idea. The only down side is that the bar is small and once people get on the game they don’t move. The same people were on the console the whole time we were there. Maybe a 30 minute time limit when people are clearly waiting?
The beer prices are solid as well. They have a decent selection for not too expensive. I got out of there for only $ 22. Check this place out and be sure to bring your dollars!

Not a bad spot to kill some time! We were here midday on a Saturday. This is a typical bar scene for the most part, small, dark and dingy. There is an upstairs, but it was off limits until after 7 p.m. However, they have a bunch of old school arcade games to keep everyone entertained.
By no means am I a gamer, but I had a good time playing arcade games on a cold, rainy Saturday. We grabbed a few brews, played a few games, and even watched Preakness on the giant screen you can see from anywhere in the bar!
The bar has a change machine that will change your bills to coin so, it seemed like most games were between .25 and .50 cents. There were a few games that allowed multiple players, which was much appreciated by our group of 3.

I had a total blast here! I was in the area for a going away party, and decided to try my luck at Toki Underground, which is just next door. Since there was a wait, we hopped over to Atlas for a drink and some games.
The bartender was playing some of my favorite 90s hits, I got the play the TMNT game I was never allowed to play as a child, and they actually have a great beer selection. The bartender was super friendly and funny on top of his great taste in music, and the whole atmosphere was relaxed and fun. We went on a Tuesday night so it wasn’t super crowded but there were enough people there to make it fun.
I sometimes forget that spots like this exist in DC, and just loved that I was able to let loose and travel back in time. I’d totally go back even when not waiting for Toki!

This place is pretty cool, and has a small albeit solid beer selection and shot specials. When I went it was not crowded so we had our pick of arcade games, some had coins stuck in the slots or ate my change :(. Good place to come while waiting to get into Toki-​Underground.

Phenomenal concept and executed well! Great dive-​like place! Could use a better bar selection but hey, They have enough games to keep you busy! Old 1s too! Street Fighter, PacMan, Tetris and a claw!!!

N64, NES, & Sega at the bar. $ 1/​an hour. Do I really even need to say more?
Decided to go here while waiting for our tables at Toki Underground, and while our original destination was the pug, my friend had done a little research prior to coming and suggested this place instead. Awesome audible, as this barcade completely served its purpose for why we were there. While we met some people there that claimed to be regulars, I couldn’t see myself venturing out to this place for anything other than a space filler while you wait for your table elsewhere.
Divey atmosphere, awesome drinks, and an amazing playlist. They have a projector screen that they played the dunk contest on as well, so that was an added bonus. Will most definitely be frequenting this place any time I go to Toki. Cheers!

I love a good olé arcade where I can challenge my guy friends to a few rounds of Street Fighter II as Blanca. Atlas Arcade is a small, divey barcade located on H Street. Like its neighbors, it retains much of H Street’s character. Atlas offers an hour rental of NES/​Genesis/​or N64 for $ 1, billable to bar tab. Multiple change machines are available as well. Bathrooms could use a bit more attention here, as they were pretty dirty when I visited on a Friday night.

This place is totally rad (said like Donatello from Ninja Turtles). The bar is a great place to play some 4 player action on an old game system. The bartender knows more about video games than I know about life.
We drove down to DC from Boston to hang out and we ended up at this place. Will return.
P. S. lets get a power glove or light gun up in this place!

more like a 3.5÷5 stars.
1 dollar an hour to play n64. get the fuck out. the pro is… well, n64. enough said. the cons are that its difficult to get some game time, since people will be hogging the table at the bar. i saw people playing super smash bros and mario kart. mother fucking mario kart.
same of the games are broken, but there are plenty of retro games to go around.
cheap beer too. the only thing is that they don’t allow you upstairs with drinks.

came here to kill some time
played the TNMT game, the machine at a quarter so i wasnt thrilled by that. they games are really old, the kind i played as a kid at chuck e cheese. i can play these for free through an emulator if i want
i got an apple beer which was four bucks and it was good
parking is tough in this area, we ended up parking 4 blocks way
overall, it was ok place to wait at while your table at toki is being occupied.

Came here late at night around 10 pm to get a drink and play some arcades. It looked fun online so I was like why not. After arriving, the place was empty with two parties that were just sitting around. The bartender was no where in sight. It was quite dark in there even with all the antique arcade machines. There were not a great selection of games available and a few were out of order. It just did not have a very fun vibe. We decided to leave and go grab pizza instead! :P

I was wondering if the staff at Atlas Arcade would ever start getting creeped out by a mid-​30s guy wearing and old New York Knicks shirt playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for 4 straight hours. They didn’t. Instead, the really cool bartender invited me over to the bar to play Super Mario World on the old SNES. It was as if someone from the heavens tapped me on my shoulders and handed me the keys to eternal life. I was off the hook that day and was supposed to do yardwork and shit like that — boring. Instead I took a detour down H street and ran into Barcade where I thought I’d kill about an hour before doing meaningful stuff — never did I imagine I would spend a whopping 8 hours there. It took me back to the glorious early 90s — a time when I think videogames were the best.
This is a small bar and the arcade games are limited and annoyingly some of them are broken so find one that works first and just play that. It would tickle me to death if they could fix these machines but I understand that these were acquired at very low prices and their warranties are probably 20-​years expired. So they are not very easily serviceable. Still though, I would love to see stuff like Bill Lambear’s Combat Basketball, Tron, Golden Axe, Streetfighter I (the one where you could only pick Ryu or Ken), Pittfighter, Final Fight, Ghosts and Goblins, and some of the Pinball machines like Demolition Man! Even so, this is a very fun place to mix booze and videogames. The interiors are dull and depressing — would love it if they were a little updated to look like what arcades used to look like.
I still kind of miss the Fruit Bat…

You can play old school video games you grew up with on arcade or at the bar. Contra folks. CONTRA!!! In 8-​bit.
And friendly bartenders too. A no-​brainer spot to hang with friends or take a date.

This is one of my favorite date spots! Although small and a dive bar, it has some great games and is a great test to see if your date is a fun person or note :)
I love playing arcade games and which this was closer to my home and not on H street! I love playing the old style arcade games and then playing super mario on their old school nintendo.
A fun place to go!

Perfect hole in the wall for a fun time. Tons of games, beer, and snacks. This place is not upscale by any means so don’t come here if your a clean freak or germaphobe!!! Cash only but they do have a atm.

It’s DC’s barcade, the patrons are typically gamers and the games on site are pretty awesome. They hold special events and allow people to bring equipment in to setup games for themselves. The staff is all awesome, they typically have a very solid draft list and despite closing a little earlier than most bars are definitely worth checking out if you are on H Street and want to play some arcade or console games. The venue also has solid internet connectivity for streaming if you are looking to hold a tournament.

A wonderful find in the DC area, and in the H St corridor no less!
A small lower half with classic video games: sonic 2 for Sega (on an actual sega), classic Mario on Nintendo, and Street fighter! There’s tons more in here including… wait for it… a BAR!
More importantly, a bar that serves awesome drinks (alcoholic and non), Poptarts, and Rice Krispy Treats!
I almost died in here! It’s amazing!
I’m definitely coming back!

What a great place, full of arcade games that brought back amazing memories of my childhood. I played Golden Axe and X-​Men nonstop. Best part is the games are still mostly a quarter or two, though beware, some of the machines will eat your quarters. So nothing really has changed from 1991 and now!
Great selection of beers, and at a decent price point. While it’s a tiny space, and you will be crowded, it’s a fun spot to stop and savor your childhood (while drinking a beer).

This is one of the greatest places ever.
From the moment I walked in and saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game cabinet with the ridiculously 80’s-looking April on it, I knew I was in for a good time.
My excitement only grew as I stepped inside and saw several more classics: Golden Axe, Mortal Kombat II, The Simpsons, Revolution X, and many more.
In addition to the stellar lineup of arcade games, they also have a ton of console games available to play for FREE! At the bar, a Nintendo, Genesis and Super Nintendo are all set up. At the time they were set up with Punch Out, Sonic 2 and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, respectively. They even had a large selection of more cartridges too though to switch out and enjoy even more (ClayFighter anyone?).
Not only do they have an amazing collection of great old school games and consoles, but the location of this place could not be more perfect. It’s right next door to the also great ramen joint, Toki Underground, which typically has wait times of about two hours for dinner. After putting my name down and hearing the wait time, I left pretty broken up, until I spotted this glorious arcade right next door. It was the best and quickest wait I’ve ever experienced, and I actually wished we had more time to spend here when we were called for our table.
Oh yeah, and I don’t drink, but most people would be even more psyched to know that this is also a bar, so you can get a nice buzz while enjoying all of the classics.
Unfortunately this place is one of the last of a dying breed. I wish every ramen joint and hip restaurant with a silly long wait had such an awesome place next door.