Barcade

100floods

California

4.54/5  rDev +4.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

First time drinking outside of california, at a bar that is, also my first real east coast drinking experience.

My friend, who's from San Fran and moved to brooklyn, takes me here first thing. This place is RAD. I walk in and they're blasting Iron Maiden (the music selection kept on getting better, Pentagram, King Diamond, Niel Young, good mix). The space looks like it once might have been a old fire station or something, maybe even a auto repair shop or something. The walls are lined with old arcade games from the 80s. All the classics are there, Mr/Ms Pacman, etc. I never got around to playing the games, but I wish I had.

The beer was great. I finally had HopDevil which was amazing. My friend kept on handing me beers I've never had, which was pretty much everything. The selection was great! I wish I could remember what I had, but i had alot. The bartender was really nice too. Kinda like Stu from the Tornonado SF, but with less attitude and more hair.

Overall, great fucking place. Great vibes. If I ever go back to brooklyn, this is where I will go to drink, and hopefully get some arcade time in too.

09-28-2009 22:11:28 | More by 100floods

timtim

District of Columbia

4.44/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

stopped by for happy hour warm up before serious drinking at spuyten duvel. two bars within walking distance of each other that should knock the socks off of most beer geeks. at least east coast beer geeks. i can't think of anywhere else in the country that has two beer bars of this caliber so close to one another. well, if you need quiet, clean and unhipster, don't go. enough has already been said really i guess. cool video games from the 80s, some locally made snacks, fantastic, well thought out + a cask beer selection with some hard to finds, great staff, and great events. fun. affordable. laid back. i love this joint and think it's a must go for all hipster beer geeks.

06-12-2009 14:07:32 | More by timtim

JohnQVegas

Tennessee

4.08/5  rDev -5.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Went for a Southampton/Sly Fox event tonight. Was there early, fairly quiet and plenty of room. My first impression is that this bar is very... Williamsburg, I guess. Lots of open concrete space, nice bar area, a (very) few tables that are more like mini bars to sit at, lots of video games. Definitely not a place optimized for quiet, intimate conversations, which is fine. Crowd was lots of beer geeks, and lots of hipsters besides. Eh.

Quality was ok. Neither of the beers I had were as good as when I'd had them previously at other locales, but I'm not quite sure that's Barcade's fault. Beer was served fairly cold, took me a long time to warm up my RIS to proper temps. Decent glassware. Good fills.

Service was good as well. Cheery, attentive as a bartender can be I suppose, though the bar was a bit crowded.

Selection, of course, was great, but understand I'm grading it in terms of an event. Southampton RIS on tap is an epic score. Lots of nice Southampton, and I know they've also had crazy stuff at previous events - Surly, Kuhnhenn, etc.

05-15-2009 01:03:22 | More by JohnQVegas

DousedInStout

Washington

4.5/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

An amazing bar and experience. Big, open ceilings with vintage arcade games lining every wall - and still for 25 cents a play! The bar itself is long, and their tap list was phenomenal: unique and rare offerings from southampton, brooklyn, sly fox, ithaca, dfh, captain lawrence, climax, victory, rogue and many more...and a cask from troegs, which was phenomenal. The beer prices were surprisingly low - 5 bucks for most pints, 6 bucks for imperials. A place I would definitely visit again - perhaps on a weeknight to enjoy the scene more.

02-14-2009 21:26:31 | More by DousedInStout

sholland119

Pennsylvania

4.16/5  rDev -3.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

A cool place that lived up to its billing.

Vibe is good, dark and a bit less fancy than expected with a concrete floor. Lots of bar stools, some tables and tons of '80's video games for a quarter. I guess I never played Asteroids drunk when I was younger because I know I did not suck so much then. Lots of fun though.

No bottled beer but plenty of drafts. We came in one day after a Midwest promo night so I doubt the selection of Schlafly and Dark Horse, among others, is normal. But awesome for us since we have never seen them on tap before. No bottles, or food.

Service was very friendly and attentive.

HV

02-04-2009 19:22:37 | More by sholland119

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

4.43/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

I really enjoyed this Brooklyn bar. The alcove at the entrance is covered on one wall by a mosaic of thousands of bottlecaps. Inside its a pretty large, carpeted room with high cielings. Plenty of old school arcade games line two walls. I played a bunch of them with pints of beer on the wooden shelves built in between each arcade console. Punchout went well with a pint of Hop Devil.

The beer list is expansive and decent, with an emphasis on east coast ales. Of the 20 or so taps, Victory, Dogfish, Captain Lawrence, Chelsea and Middle Ages were represented. Breweries from the rest of the country were represented but no European beers and no bottled beer was available (I think). Services was great, the two guys were friendly and efficient in dealing with the large crowd.

The arcade high score chalk board was impressive, those guys must be professionals.

This was a great time with a cool crowd, good music and enough room to spread out.

12-01-2008 05:42:35 | More by CAMRAhardliner

rtepiak

Poland

3.21/5  rDev -25.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

this place has a nice sized warehouse space with about 25 arcade games lining the walls. about 24 taps. all the beers are five or 6 bucks for a pint or a 10oz depending usually on alcohol contain. wonderful place to go and chat and drink for cheap. they have no bad beers really. no pabst and such. they also have no bottles. only been here once but i figure its a really wonderful place if the turn over is good on the taps. selection was widely ranged in styles and seemed somewhat seasonal. they also had a cask. chips and jerky for food. great brooklyn poor boy nerd spot.

went back here about a year later and most of the lines were rather dirty. i was a bit disappointed.

went back again and had two beers that were mis-marked as the wrong beers from the brewery. one being a fisherman's imperial pumpkin stout at 11%abv. priced to fit too. it was the plan. SAMPLE EVERYTHING BEFORE HAVING IT.

11-25-2008 03:14:04 | More by rtepiak

bonbini26

New Jersey

4.64/5  rDev +7.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

STopped in on a Friday night

Crowd is mostly 20-30 trendster/hipsers from Brooklyn, dont forget your tight jeans. Actually walked right by the place, its set back a little with a lot of graffiti out front on it, looks almost like a warehouse. They have a few benches out front for smoking, i can't remember if you were allowed to drink out there. Pretty large in side, about 20 seats at the bar, a bunch of tables/booths too. And oh yea theres about 25 old school arcade games (frogger, tetris, donkey kong, astriod, the budweiser bartending game, etc) all only costing 25 cents (dont worry about having to bring a pocket full of quarters, they have a change machine there), and complete with a drink holder on the side of them. Freakin awesome.

Pretty diverse tap list, 2 casks, no bottles (except for hard liquor, dogfish liquor btw if thats your fancy) Weyerbacher had just had an event there so there was about 6 offerings from them along with, chelesa, climax, brooklyn, southern tier, sixpoint, fishermans, victory and more. Their website is pretty up to date with the current offerings. Like to see a bar stock alot of good local stuff

As for as food there is just, peanuts, chips, and beef jerky. Barteners were quick, friendly, and knowlegable,

Overall a kickass place to hang out, play some old school video games, and kick back some good beer, easy to reach via the G or L subway too

11-16-2008 05:20:56 | More by bonbini26

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

4.36/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

August 2008:

In Brooklyn's artsy neighborhood of Williamsburg it seems that every place you see is some combination of nifty and chic. Barcade is certainly both.

The name really does say it all; it is a large room - spacious but bare - where on one wall sits a bar and surrounding it is essentially an arcade. It is a simple concept, ingenious really.

First the beer: 25 or so taps, including a cask, that make up a selection about as good as you're likely to find at any of NYC's great beer stops. Styles varied greatly although all taps were American (what else do you really need, anyhow?) a strong concentration of which were east coast micros. No bottle list may be a minus to some, but take my word, you will have no problem 'settling' on something off tap. Also, five or six dollars a pint made this the most reasonable of all NYC beer stops.

Now the games: Every and any retro 80's vintage arcade game you ever enjoyed playing. Everything from 'Ms. Pac-Man' to 'Super Punch Out' to 'Tetris' to name only the most popular. You may even find games you forgot existed. A simple word of advice: the games get more difficult the more you drink - try to enjoy them before you really start enjoying the draught.

The Wednesday evening of our visit could hardly be considered busy and I was able to get great service from the bartender. He was very personable with an easy going attitude and excellent knowledge of the beer he served. It was apparent from our conversations that he, like me, really enjoyed the beer his bar offered and knew more than a thing or two about it. He even provided, at his insistence not mine, a few free samples.

The space inside is more than large enough to capacitate big groups and an outside patio in the front provides more room there, for when weather permits it. If you are out there, or even before entering, be sure to look closely at their bottle cap wall, it is quite cool.

This seems to be a popular spot, how could it not be? It is a combination of two awesome things and located in an awesome part of town. All the beers I wanted to drink and all the video games I wanted to play in one bar ... Only in New York!

08-20-2008 22:55:33 | More by biegaman

ballewblake

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Easily one of the best values and selections I found in my NYC beer tour. This was a hot spot for sampling as many of the quality New England brews I could get my hands on over a few nights. The peeps here have a great formula down for a great theme bar, and easily top notch goes out to that. Tons of vintage 80's arcades which they seem to be attentive on keeping the condition up on. The crowd was predominately female on the nights I went (a great thing in my book) and I don't remember seeing any bad brews taking up handle lines. They did have a full bar for those with companions not interested in fine beer. Music seemed to accompany the proper vibe and feel of the place. Love this place.

06-28-2008 02:38:29 | More by ballewblake