Cobra Arcade Bar

We are visiting from out of town. We travel for work. This bar was something we tried after work. The vibe was great. Nostalgic tracks with old school gaming. Decently priced shots. You do need cash for tokens to play. 5 dollars gets you twenty tokens. Some games are 2 tokens, two of the pinball machines are 2 tokens (Simpsons and the one next to the right) the rest are 4 tokens. We enjoyed our time there.

Cool place on a weekday night! music is more hip hop if that’s your vibe, happy hour with free tokens til 7, first time here and would definitely come back! Bartender is super friendly!

10/10 recommend if you’re traveling from out of town or looking for a place to dance late night in downtown Phoenix! Drinks are great, vibes are great! I always have fun at Cobra with my friends and Maya is an amazing bartender! She’s always so friendly and fast!

Maya was extremely awesome! She made the low vibe we had into a great vibe!we came with the idea of only having one shot but because of her we decided to stay longer! She knows how to make you feel welcome and know how to set the vibe, atmosphere, the drinks and most importantly her personality! Definitely coming back! The drinks she made were on point! Not only that she has a beautiful character and personality that makes the vibe better! Beautiful in and out!

Had fun and the staff was nice. Parking down here is kind of a nightmare but I don't fault Cobra Arcade for that. My only complaint is that a lot of machines ate the tokens and literally none of the guns worked on shooting games. I'd come back though. P.S. I liked the infrared heaters.

Cool spot but I noticed some behavior that I didn’t like.My friend who is black was waiting at the bar to order when we noticed the bartender bypass her and went to the Mexican and white patrons. When she finished with them she walked to the other side of the bar leaving my friend standing there. That Effed our night up.

The night I was there it was packed, bathroom is gross, but staff is definitely working hard and quickly to serve everyone. I had no issues getting drinks and finding a spot to chill. I'd recommend it, if you're lookin for a loud, busy environment.

I WAS INVITED HERE BY COWORKERS FOR "FIRST FRIDAYS"*** HAD A BLAST*** REMINDED ME BACK IN THE DAY ADVENTURE WIT ROLLS OF QUARTERS (THEN) TOKENS NOW AND TRYING TO GET THE HIGH SCORE*** MY LEFT FINGER STILL HURTS FROM MS. PAC MAN AND GALAXY*** THE DRINKS WERE ON POINT AND THE DJ WAS PLAYING THE JAMS***EVEN MET A NEW FRIEND*** CANT WAIT TO COME BACK AND HAVE FUN*** RECOMMEND TO FAM AND FRIENDS***

why is hi score happy hour gone smh.... got it 2 weeks ago.... fly high Anyways Cobra is still fun, plenty of diverse games to play (I still miss Terminator but love DDR and ninja turtles) and the workers were nice and gave us extra tokens when we ran out. good music after 9pm depending on who is DJ-ing (DJ Javin you have my full support)

Came here 3 years ago and had a blast playing arcades and having drinks. Now it's just a night club for a crowd giving $1 tips at the bar. Sad to see what's happened to this place. Was looking forward to coming here and bring some friends i was traveling with just be absolutely disappointed. Another great place gone down the drain. And the bouncers outside need to chill this isn't a Vegas nightclub, poor souls get some power and trip on it. RIP Cobra Arcade, even one of the bartenders told me what I experienced 3 years ago is gone and better to leave and find somewhere else to hang because this won't be the fun I remembered.

Cobra is a fun Time drinks and rétro games, music and Meetings News peuple. The Service was good but betterave with different people.

Cool little video game arcade and pinball spot that serves alcohol, why not? Place isn't luxurious or nothing fancy but this place reminds me of Melrose in California with their cool graffiti art design but this place doesn't really have much room or seated areas. Parking is horrible here so check out this place on the weekdays or non peak hours.

Things have changed. The music is no longer geared towards Gen X. The queue is 100 ppl deep. The beers are more expensive.

My wife and I came to this place today. The draft beer options were limited to around 6, which was satisfactory but not exceptional. We enjoyed the variety of arcade games available, although most required a token to play. It was convenient that they offered both a token machine and an ATM on site.

An absolute neat bar to go to. We stumbled upon it while walking around downtown and I'm glad we did. The staff wasn't pushy and we were able to enjoy games (which they have some fun ones that operate well). The music and overall vibes were good. If you're looking for a unique place to have a few drinks and play some games rather than a regular bar than I recommend taking a visit to here!

They decided to stop serving me drinks after like my six jack and Coke. But right after I stopped being served, the bouncer came and told me I had to leave because I was cut off??? It was just so crazy. It was like the stupidest thing I've ever seen. I just wanted to dance with the new people I met. That's it. Like I didn't need another jack and Coke but the fact that they kicked me out was like literally crazy. I don't act up, I'm 30 years old. This isn't even my scene, I go to restaurants to drink, I was just invited to cobra by some friends and I definitely did not want to be there anyways. But making me leave and not letting me dance, like what kind of dictator runs this place. The girls in the bathroom acting up like crazy twerking on the paper towel dispenser and making it impossible to wash your hands shoulda been kicked out, why kick out someone who's chillin doing nothing? I'm a physically disabled 30 year old trust me I'm not doing anything to get kicked out of a clubby arcade except being chill and being able to handle my liquor....oh and the bartenders and bouncer were very nice, very sweet people. I hope they don't think I was upset for being cut off.

Don't get shot. Place opened originally with the gamer in mind and was gamer friendly. Now it's just a spectacle, an Antro.

Didn't spend a lot of this in this bar because it was pretty dead on a week day. I think it gets packed on the weekends. Looks pretty fun though.

Great happy hour with good music and free tokens for old school games. Good beers on tap and friendly staff

Really fun to get in a bit of nostalgia with the classic arcade games. This was a great early evening spot to hit while we were out and about and wanted to kill some time before dinner.

Cool spot to come early and start a night out. Hang out, play retro video games, party shot specials. We got there early enough on a a Friday before the crowd came in so it was spacious, cool and chill. First time I've been there. I usually pass by at some point in the night and the crowd is crazy, line wraps around the building, so never stopped by. I'd come back.

The place was great, and my friend and I showed up around. 8;30-9pm and stayed until 12 Am on a Thursday night. We spent a good amount of money at the bar and tipped well, as well as purchased several dollars in arcade coins in our time there. All was well in the early hours of being there and at around 12 AM my friend and I were about to leave and 3 bouncers surrounded us saying we were "wobbly" while walking to the restroom and were asked to leave. I can contest that we were not "wobbly" at all and never in 20 years of going to bars and spaces have I ever been asked to leave. It felt to me that we did not meet the demographic of what was wanted at the space and then therefore asked to leave. I felt disgraced. I guess if you are not fitting a certain type of look, you're not wanted at a Phx arcade bar.. I hope the bartenders enjoyed the good cash tip we left. I won't be coming back to spend my money, thanks ..

Was wanting to try Cobra in Phoenix since we love the Cobra in Tucson. Was having fun then when needing to pay our tab turns out my card declined due to a $52 pre-authorization charge that took all my money that I had in my card that I opened with. Since it declined I gave them another card to pay with but told them that the $50 pre-authorization was the reason why my card declined, they insured me that it was just pending and it will go back to my card in a few days. We were only visiting in Phoenix and staying over night so it was really annoying to be $52 short for our trip. It's not a lot but never have I heard of a place needing to pull $52 from my card to pre-authorize my $17 drinks. Games were fun but it was a small space compared to Tucson and drinks were expensive. Never coming back. I'll stick to Tucson Cobra arcade.

This establishment was absolutely amazing! It featured a wide variety of games from my childhood that brought back such nostalgic memories. A few games did end up eating my tokens, but overall, $5 gave me a generous amount of tokens to enjoy. I spent around 1.5 hours playing with the $5 worth of tokens, making sure to try out all the games I had been interested in.

First of all the security guards are complete A-Holes. Second of all I understand that that's there job to be securing the door and bar however, accusing me to be intoxicated while having a physical disability is no excuse. This is the THIRD time. NOT ONE OR TWO but the THIRD TIME I have been discriminated by my physical appearance. THERE SHOULD BE NO WAY A SECURITY GUARD TELL ME " I'm going to have you to leave and get escorted out because you look too intoxicated" Keep in mind i'm barely approaching the first hour inside the establishment. Moreover, asking me to leave multiple times and telling the security guard that I AM DISABLED AND INTEND TO TRIP WHEN THERE IS SO MANY PEOPLE. I cannot express how humiliating and disrespected I felt. I never had a problem here what so ever. I have even done a guest dj set from time to time and been perfectly fine. BUT LAST NIGHT ON OCTOBER 27th 2024 at 11:25 pm It was not fine. I WILL NEVER STEP FOOT INTO THIS ESTABLISHMENT THAT HIRES SECURITY That discriminates against the disabled people. BTW. THE SECURITY GUARD has longish blonde hair and usually wears a cobra arcade bar bomber jacket. If you or know someone with a physically disability I would be careful about entering here.

Discovered a fantastic spot in the downtown area and I just had to award it with 5 Stars! The staff is wonderful and they have a fantastic collection of classic games. Make sure to visit this place when you're in town!

Fraudulent representation of state law by bouncer. Bouncer is ignorant of state liquor laws and claims a child cannot enter with the child's parent briefly to pick up the other parent. Recommend they learn to read and that those running a bar understand state law and not attempt to give erroneous legal advice. I do not know if they present this ignorant opinion because they are intentional liars or they just have no knowledge of the terms under which their liquor license is granted. In the future perhaps they should retrain employees to just state the bar doesn't want kids, rather than pulling legal advice out of their ass. https://azliquor.gov/faq.cfm#kidsbar

They threw me out for no reason other than a song request. This place isn't all that, security are try hards. The vibe is off, try to play Kendrick Lamar in there and they sent me out. They gave no explanation, rude, drinks are watered down. The music is all over the place. I travel a lot this was a very unpleasant experience.... cool arcade but there's plenty of barcades that are better than this one...

We had a few hours to kill before our flight back to Atlanta and we stumbled upon Cobra Arcade Bar so we had to give it a whirl. Nice little joint with a prime selection of 80's and 90's arcade cabinets. It was nice to play some of the classics again and unlike many arcades, they were mostly still all a quarter (token) each and not $1 or more. Drinks were good, music and theme were fun, and the games all worked. Check it out if you are in the area and love gaming! I wish we had something like this in our home town.

At my age trying to step outside the box and try new places can be difficult so we headed into Phoenix for the evening our first stop was this place. I like the concept if I was 21 again lol it's super small inside the pictures make the place look big it's not a bad place by any means the age bracket you ask? 21-30. Now the beer was cold and I was shocked by my screwdriver when I tasted it and the orange juice was really good so the bartender definitely knew what she was doing and the staff was ok they kind of kept to themselves. So if you're between the ages of 21-30 or just some old guy going through a mid life crisis and like younger women then this is the place just for you.

Every time I go here the music is popping and the drinks are flowing. My birthday was no exception. Though the drinks are about $10 a pop, I enjoyed my birthday. They have a Mexican Candy shot which was pretty good and a purple concoction (sorry forgot the name). Everyone was friendly and the staff was speedy. DJ took requests and played it for free and almost instantly. Next door they have a place called Hi Fi that is low key but equally as as fun. Great people & drinks! If you get hungry there is a food truck right in front that is excellent! 10/10. Even the security is chill. Just FYI YES, they are gay friendly. Highly recommend both places!

A lively bar boasting a wide selection of nostalgic games. Improvements could be made by ensuring the cleanliness of drink tables to avoid stickiness. Overall, it's a delightful place with friendly and attentive staff. Remember to have cash on hand since the token machine only accepts 1, 5, 10, or 20 dollar bills.

The security and management are nasty and rude they don't speak, smile or say hello. Additionally, they do not have the aptitude to distinguish a fraudulent ID from a real one and are extremely unapologetic. A party of at LEAST fifteen could have been inside buying up the bar but instead we were waiting an hour for the police to force these people to give back a legitimate identification card. Poor business ethic and the bathrooms are FILTHY.

Came here for a friend's birthday. Line was long, drinks were expensive, and the music was wack. The arcade games were fun though!

Drinks were innovative, place is overall really cool. Only downside is it gets super busy pretty early and at that point is a little hard to get drinks and the security takes away the star stools (seems kind of weird they even have them since they were taking them away about an hour and a half into being open. But overall worth a trip

Cool place. Love that they have the Michael Jackson moonwalker game. Reminds me of childhood. Is that problematic now? ‍

Have spent lots of time here but one Security guard has it out for me. I was kicked out last weekend because of the way I looked at him. This man is always on ego trip. I didn't put any hands on him and he threw me to the ground twice outside embarrassed me in front of the whole bar beacuse he didn't like the way I looked at him. Said I would never do that in the street and tried to provoke me to fight/argue with me when all I wanted to do was order a drink.

The 50 year old security guard with that gray and black beard that works here is a real f*cking jerk. This last Sunday he decided to start trouble with the shoppers going into Antique Sugar because I called him out for once again, blocking the entrance to the parking at 3pm in the afternoon because every single Sunday, the folks at Cobra block off half of an already incredibly limited parking area that is meant for both them AND the vintage shop. What I especially love is how rude their staff is about it because screw everyone that isn't drinking their watered down cocktails and playing their sticky, overpriced arcade games RIGHT?! It's my understanding that sometimes they have a food truck in the evening hours after the vintage store closes but that doesn't mean that they get to dominate the parking lot that's meant to be shared or block off the only handicapped parking space which is completely illegal per Sec. 36-149 of the Restricted parking areas for the physically disabled; identification; sanctions.

This place sucks. We were a group of four and ordered 4 double shots of tequila. The bartender says they don't do double shots. So we said fine we will just do 4. Then we go play games and come back for round 2 and asked for four shots again. The same bartender said we already sold you four shots we can't give you any more. It's a BAR. What am I supposed to drink then, your shitty overpriced cocktails? Lol never coming back ever again.

This security would rather you put your drink behind your back out of view then move a table less than 4 inches so it's within your view. Puts you at risk for being drugged, so have fun with that. Will never be back.

Enjoyed hanging at this bar. Not much of a drinker but there was plenty to do and the music was good too!

Always a fun time at Cobra! Line went by quickly and drink service was quick as well! Love that the bartenders and security are nice!

In all honesty, I didn't think playing arcade games was my idea of a great night out, but I really enjoy being here. Even if (like me) you're not a big gamer, there's a lot of cool things to try. I already knew I loved Dance Dance Revolution, but I enjoyed branching out to pinball - competing with friends on side by side machines is a blast. You don't have to be skilled to have fun. Come on a night where you get free arcade tokens with a drink purchase! It's a good deal. You also get some tokens with your Yelp check-in. They have an interesting cocktail menu with drinks themed after classic game characters.  "Inky's Drinky" is the same light blue as the titular Pac-Man ghost and tastes like a maraschino cherry. I wouldn't come here just for drinks, but it is a fun night out. The location is convenient, near the light rail and a bunch of other cool places to eat and drink. They have a good playlist, yet they're definitely not a club, no matter how loud it gets on the weekend. Probably not the best date spot if you're seeking intimate conversation, but I'd recommend it to anyone.

The games and music here are great! It can get kind of crowded late at night, so come earlier in the evening to get better street parking. Bring cash so you can buy tokens to play the games. Would come here again for sure!

Go to this bar on the week days because during the weekend you're stuck in a line for over an hour. There's always fights here, bathrooms are not nice or clean. You wait several minutes for a drink from the bar

Joey and Bryce, the security guards are amazing. Great customer service and very friendly. I'll be back again because of Th end M

I really enjoyed playing here but my only issue is that I wish I could return coins that I haven't used. Its get real lively here and competitive. Such a vibe!!

Very fun bar in downtown. It gets quite busy on the weekends and can sometimes have a very long line. The music can be very hit or miss. Security and staff often seem overwhelmed and not always the nicest. The smaller bar to the left of cobra is usually much less buys and can get in very quick. Still a good dance floor and DJ on that side.

Chillest place in Phoenix! Awesome staff and awesome drinks! I love comin here and dancing the night away with my home girls! Cobra forever!$$$$

1. There's always some sort of truck or food stand outside. 2. Play games. Spend $20 on coins and go crazy. You'll have a more memorable experience. 3. Don't be scared to dance. You'll never see these people again anyways. I have come here on many occasions. I especially loved coming here after the lakers v phx game. Vibes were immaculate.

Ony 1 star because I can't give 0. DO NOT come here. Literally got put out for checking my blood sugar in the bathroom. Said I was doing cocaine in the bathroom. Talked to the manager and he did not care. Said there is no way to test to see if I was doing drugs in the bathroom. Do not go here. Literally was the most ignorant situation. Will be contacting a lawyer.

I absolutely love this bar!! I have came here twice with friends and they always play great music, seating Ans a dance floor and they have arcade machines all around and to top it off they have a food truck outside you can order from and bring the food in! The guys that check id at the front are awesome and I always forget the Friday night door guy with long dark dreads he's quick with removing disrespectful people out the establishment when needed! They make some good drinks and I always have fun! Every time we do here it take along wait to get a drink from the bar, I just have a guy get the bartenders attention for me. But other than that I love this establishment and I host girls nights out here all the time!

Super fun bar awesome prices and a really fun crowd with it being an arcade/dance bar. The owner also owns an amazingly fun anime bar Next door that is also a great vibe!!! They promote visiting both bars but watch out for the bouncers!!! They are all mostly chill and allow you to float between bars for the most part but when they decide that's enough, that's enough. Without warning they shut it down and will kick you out for going back to the bar you were originally admitted into. (Watch out for the extra small dumbledore lookin guy he will kick you out in a second) other than that great bars!

good times. it gets packed but security does a great job handling it I would definitely recommend this be your first spot before a baseball game it's will be packed when you get out

I go to barcades if they have them in the city I'm visiting for work, so I've been to plenty, and Cobra Arcade Bar was the liveliness out of all of them. I love the open air set-up, with the food trucks out front (with good options!). They also have cool street art for walls inside, and of course, Arcades that line the walls. They make it more of a party atmosphere here, with a DJ, and a crowd that comes dressed to have fun. There's a lot of drinking and hanging out here, not just arcade games. It's a young spot (but no kids) with good music, good games and drinks. This is a barcade that is more party-leaning and good times are to be had.

They are so rude. I left abused targeted and abused. They refused to give a name because they knew they were in the wrong. He used every chance to offend me. I left to make a phone call and they tested me like a criminal.

We had the best time here! We were visiting PHX and just happened to walk by. I've been to several arcade bars where I live, and Cobra is the best one. Really good variety of games and a good mix of old school/newer arcade games (we played Super Mario Bros, pinball, Tapper, Out Run, etc) so that everyone can find something they like. I liked that the games were separated into mostly one room, so that people who didn't want to play could hang out, dance, or drink in the other rooms or patio. There are little drink shelves between almost all games. The security/bartenders are friendly and welcoming, and the crowd had a good vibe overall. I had a great time here and probably drank too much!