Emporium Oakland

Get a watermelon slushi and some tokens and have a good time on the ski ball and fooseball table! The one thing I detract from here is 1 they don’t have enough good games & 2 there’s a lot of broken arcade games and pinball machines which wouldn’t be a big deal but because there’s not much selection to begin with it makes the machines that are broken very noticeable.

the place has a really cool vibe, I love the decor and the employees were cool. As other reviewers said, a lot of the games weren’t functioning. The bartender was nice though and gave us extra tokens when we told him. With some better games I would give this place 5 stars!

This place is fantastic! The bartenders are friendly and fun and they make delicious drinks. As someone who enjoys a drink or two, but doesn't go out just to slam drinks, this offers a great environment with activities to do while you enjoy an adult beverage.

My new go-to spot to hang at until traffic dies down. The vegan food is to die for, especially the pollo nachos.

SUMMARY. I am not sure why this place doesn't have better reviews. My experience was great. I came on a Sunday in between beer league hockey games at the rink down the street. It was a very pleasant experience, and I have no complaints. RESERVATION. No reservation required, just come on down! AMBIENCE. Like a typical arcade bar: lively open atmosphere in a divey setting. We all sat on the patio and enjoyed several great beers and pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was awesome! SERVICE. Service was perfect: bartenders were nice, fast, and knowledgeable. VALUE. I cannot speak to the value, as I do not live in the area and therefore don't have a good grasp on value in the Bay Area. TAKEAWAYS. Great place, especially on a Sunday! Grab a drink on the patio if the weather's nice and catch up with friends or pick up tokens for some arcade madness! Happily, Clayton Cohn

This place is pretty amazing what used to be a here auditorium is now a arcade with amazing fun to be had. They have air hockey they have billiard they have many fun things to do they have multiple bars on multiple floors there is always a crowd here. They work on tokens that you've exchanged. You can't go wrong coming here with a large group

Love the atmosphere and our drinks were pretty good. Shown below is the peach margarita.

Way better prices than Plank. I always have a good time. Bartenders have always been awesome to me. Really cool spot but a little overwhelming when it gets busy so I like to go early and get out before 10pm or so. Sad to see some of these negative reviews, I've always had a great experience.

This business is no longer open and will be renovated with new ownership. The drinks were good and cheap and the food was ordered from a vegan taqueria next door (food is pricey). Karaoke night was on thursdays and the games were token equivalent to quarters. Ask for d (the bartender) will hook you up!

This place was a lot of fun and made for an inexpensive date night. We arrived on Friday night right about as they opened and found street parking nearby (only had to pay until 6pm). We were surprised to see most of the people made a beeline for the back where they had a Square kiosk set up on a table to take food orders, so we had to check it out. Food was incredible. We were surprised to find vegan tacos and burritos - they have their own spot "Venganza Foods" and my husband (who loves meat) even said the tacos were incredible. We tried carnitas and pollo. We played games for a couple hours and there were people coming to pick up food orders nonstop, and it's for good reason. I would come back here just for the food. Menu here: https://www.clover.com/online-ordering/venganza-foods-downtown-oakland Next we went to get drinks. It was happy hour so everything was pretty cheap at around $6. I had the best cider of my life "Alvarado Street Hotel Pasteque", as the bartender described, more of a cocktail than a cider. It had a great watermelon flavor, a hint of tartness from cherry, not too sweet, and almost no beer taste (I'm not a beer fan). They also have two boozy slushies. They weren't ready when we arrived but we tried "Yoshi's island" later in the evening. Strong and good flavor. The bartender was very nice and helpful with recommendations, even letting me sample the cider. Games were a lot of fun. Each game takes tokens (almost all 1 to 2 tokens per game). Tokens cost 25 cents each. They have a machine to exchange paper bills. Two of the games ate one of my tokens, but games were cheap so it wasn't a big deal. They didn't have all the games we saw advertised, but we had fun playing games like Pac-Man, Mario Bros, a sit down racing game and Indiana Jones pinball. As the night went on, music got louder and more people arrived, but it never got too crowded and we didn't have to wait more than a couple minutes for a game.

This is a great little place to come hang out and play games. I don't really like playing games but anything can be fun when your not sober lol. The emporium in sf is larger, but I haven't gone to that location yet. Prices for games are about less than $1 per game which is a great price. Drinks are super affordable, they have a few tables on the right hand side of the bar where you can sit and chill. There is also a long bar table on the left hand side in the back. There is a takeout window in the back next to the skee ball area where you can order mexican food, I had a bite of my friends burrito and it was very tasty. Fun place to start the night out and head somewhere else !

A cool barcade in downtown Oakland to play games and drink up! You have to be 21+ over to enter the establishment, and once you're in it's a cool vibe with retro video games, skeeball, air hockey and pinball among others. The secret sauce are the vegan tacos by Venganza Foods you can order in the back by the Mrs. Pac-Man on the day I was there. I had hungry fam in line at the Theatre next door, so finding the vegan tacos next door saved me! And they're good! If didn't partake in any drinks, but the bar started getting busier as it got later. Closest BART is the 19th street station. Check it out Yelpers!

For an arcade, the selection of games is mediocre at best. Half the games are pinball machines. Even though the machine says 1 quarter/token, it's actually 2 (according to the bartender). I miss the air hockey game - bring it back! The drinks are not bad. Music is better. Overall, fun place to start the evening.

Mortal Kombat is Broken TMNT game is broken, The California Speed game has one broken unit, Handful of pinball Machines are broken too. The coin machine was not working. Definitely needs some TLC otherwise it's a bar with broken games.

Emporium is a chill barcade with food, drinks, pinball, and a few arcade games, making for a fun afternoon. When we came, their quarter machines were having some issues, but they were able to fix quickly. There's a happy hour for beers and cocktails so easy to grab a drink. The games themselves were average. There's about 5 pinball machines, some of which are just quarter eaters. A shooter with only one working gun. Two racing games. Killer Bee. Foosball. And a lot of 80s-90s games. There's also skeeball that don't require quarters unless you want to keep score. Overall, come for the drinks and potentially food, and pass some time with some chill games.

Amazing service all around. Ambiance was amazing as well. I didn't get to try the food but they have a vegan food service!

Cool arcade bar in Oakland. Lots of classic arcade games and pinball machines. Chill atmosphere.

SUMMARY. I am not sure why this place doesn't have better reviews. My experience was great. I came on a Sunday in between beer league hockey games at the rink down the street. It was a very pleasant experience, and I have no complaints. RESERVATION. No reservation required, just come on down! AMBIENCE. Like a typical arcade bar: lively open atmosphere in a divey setting. We all sat on the patio and enjoyed several great beers and pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was awesome! SERVICE. Service was perfect: bartenders were nice, fast, and knowledgeable. VALUE. I cannot speak to the value, as I do not live in the area and therefore don't have a good grasp on value in the Bay Area. TAKEAWAYS. Great place, especially on a Sunday! Grab a drink on the patio if the weather's nice and catch up with friends or pick up tokens for some arcade madness! Happily, Clayton Cohn

What a disappointment! There wasn't a lot of people when we went on a Sunday night, and even if there were, it wouldn't excuse the service that we received. There were only a few people at the bar area (locals or friends of the bartender maybe?), and yet we were ignored the entire time we tried to receive a drink. After about fifteen minutes I asked him if we could order something as he chatted with someone sitting next to us, and he literally out right ignored all of us. What his problem was, I have no idea. We left shortly after. This is one of the worst customer service experiences that I have ever had in my life. Also, the space itself isn't even that nice. Everything is pretty run down and half the games didn't even appear to be working. I highly recommend finding somewhere else to go. They clearly don't care about their customers AT ALL. I definitely will not be back to this place and I highly advise anyone else thinking of going to steer WAY clear of it.

Small arcade with a bar in the middle. Super outdated games and half the machines didn't work/ate our coins. Two security guards suddenly attacked a guy so it was a pretty crazy night. They ended up kicking everyone out (I'm guessing for safety). Wasted money on tokens

I hit up Emporium last week on Wednesday about 6PM with a girl I like. It was a fun place. **.First off, to get inside you do need you're Vax and ID, so let's crush covid,, thanks people!** Next- we ordered two classic drinks from the bar and hit the games. It was happy hour...you get free coins with every drink! The music was all underground hip hop classics which I loved, and the amount of vintage pin-ball machines is epic! The place is a little under-whelming but remember the space ain't no massive place like SF or the other locations. It's unique and you have some really cool bars near by to break off to or the Egyptian cafe, where they treat you as pharaohs! - being an 80s vintage game and toy nerd, I liked this place but it needs a bit more nostalgic decor And air hockey for sure! Much love to the crew and it's worth it to stop by here and support. All games run on their coins, which are valued at 0.25 and also bring cash so you don't get those ATM fees...haha! Keep it 80s!

It gets 3 stars only because any place like this gets three stars for me, but that's generous. It's tiny compared to the San Francisco location, and that changes everything. It's far too crowded to play games with people bumping into you all the time, often with beer in hand. One of the token machines was broken both times I went there. Both of the token machines were broken one time I went there, which meant you had to get tokens at the bar, which was already too crowded. Video game selection is weak, and pinball selection is even weaker. The '80s were the golden age for video arcade games, which meant that the '90s were the golden age for pinball because they were now battling out it with video arcade games. You can learn all about this at the nearby Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda. Anyway, most of the pinball games here are from the '70s and '80s, which means they lack features and functionality like upper ramps and multi-ball. The location is great.

I came here on a Friday night around 9ish, and I was surprise that this place isn't too packed! I got this strawberry slushy drink and it taste great! It wasn't too sweet and I could taste a little bit of gin. I like how most of the arcade machines are 25-50 cents. The pinballs machine is updated and have the newest games such as Avengers and Spider-Man. And also the classic Indiana Jones. The price is really reasonable. I would recommend this place if you want to hang out with friends and play some fun games. I'm super excited to try out the San Francisco next time I'm in the city.

Emporium is my new favorite place in Oakland! Very lowkey gaming vibe. You can walk in here, buy some coins, and get nostalgic with all of these games. They had so many good ones like frogger, pinball and foosball. There's also a bar and enough seats up front to chill and chat. Friendly security guard, make sure you don't have food or even closed drinks in your bag. Learned that the hard way. My friends and I spent hours at the skeeball section in the back. I'll forever practice cracking 300 the next time I'm here. Feeding dollar bills into the token machine and hearing the coins ping and plink became very addicting after a while. So seriously, set a budget before you come in!

Oops, second run here has been disappointing. But I have not lost my faith, I really love the environment and the vibe... it's just the bar, this specific Friday night, has not been as attentive as the last visited, definitely forgivable on a busy night, not the case tonight. See you guys next week!

Friends and I ventured into Emporium on a late Saturday afternoon before dinner. The venue itself has a small collection of arcade classics, including pinball machines and Ms. Pac-Man, alongside arcade staples such as skee-ball and air hockey. All games take tokens, but each play costs at most $1's worth. A pocketful of change converted into tokens should provide a solid hour or two's worth of diversions. Additionally, I sampled a batch cocktail - the winter mule. This adjusts the standard Moscow mule, adding St. George's spiced pear liqueur (of which I particularly enjoy) and apple cider. The mule tastes less ginger beer heavy and instead tastes like a spiced pear pie in cocktail form. I've attempted to make this at home but never got the recipe down, so I ended up asking for the bar's ratios.

Came by to check out the place here in Oakland since I've been to the Emporium in SF many times. My experience here was a complete 180. I'm a live streamer who checks out local spots to show case for my audience. Thr camera is smallee than a gopro. I had no problems at Emporium SF. When I came to Oakland, I got dirty looks from the bartending staff even though the camera was facing me the entire time. I had to actually ask what was up to one of the bar backs because he kept giving me a side eye instead of asking me or approaching me if I needed help. Then he finally said that management might not like the camera (before asking the manager first), keep in mind that it was facing me the entire time. I understood and lowered the camera and out of view (on the stool next to me). I ordered my drink and sat outside to watch a street band playing and came back after sometime to order another drink and close my tab. The same bar back was hovering around giving me the same look and again I had to ask if there was an issue. Then he said oh yeah the manager doesn't care about it. ??? I felt like that's something that should've been addressed and answered when I first got there. I've been to plenty of establishments where staff checked first if there was a question about it. I would've been happy to talk to the manager to explain what I was doing if they had questions. After that. I sat around and waited for the bartender which was occupied on the other end. A couple came walking in and he helped them right away, completely ignoring that I was there first. I am not rating low because I could not live stream my complete experience there. I respect businesses and their policies about cameras and will exit the property if it's not allowed. I'm rating it this low because of how the staff handled it and how they made me uncomfortable being there. I always offer to help people understand what live streaming is and my entire time there, I kept the camera pointing ONLY at me to ensure everyone's comfortability. Reading the other reviews here it seems like a lot of people had issues with the staff as well. Sucks because this is CAN be an awesome place. ALSO Security asks for vaccination proof up front. Thr business info says that "Staff Wears Masks" absolutely none of the employees wear masks.

Emporium be jamming! They play some of the best tunes! I love the vibe here. Everyone is always in party mode during the weekend so it's so easy to have fun. Unless you're picky. The bartenders are really cool and make delicious cocktails. It can be hard to hear, but that's typical in most vibrant night establishments. Just yell like everyone else. Seating is very limited, but if you are there to dance and play games that doesn't matter. The games here are awesome too. Every game is old school, and you know you can't beat the classics! Pretty cheap normal prices .25 cents= 1 token. They also don't eat up your tokens like some arcade do. It's so nerve wracking to have to complain about game tokens in the night bar. They are also located on one of the four corners were a lot of we'll known bars and lounges are located, so you can ping pong around the area for more fun. They don't have food. However drinks and dancing are all pretty active in this area; and food is located in plenty of places across the street. My favorite time to go is on Saturday nights it's usually always free .

3.5 This place is way smaller than I expected. It's still cute tho. And it has a lot of potential. Drinking, eating and gaming is always a good combo. The food was good! The drinks was good! The games gave me hella memories of my childhood.

This arcade bar is something different for Oakland. Lots of old school arcade games, skeet ball, and even pinball machines. Get some tokens and get to playing. With that being said, space is limited and very tight. Theres a full bar with a HUGE menu. Lots of beer & ciders. No food tho, the SF location does but not here. They also have dj's playing music.

This is a fairly new spot in the heart of Downtown Oakland. It's a lively and vibrant place to hang out with friends and grab a drink. They atmosphere is popping, the music is on point and the walls are covered in art. There's a great selection of arcade games that you can enjoy and compete against your friends with. I like that they are bringing back an old school feel, but in a modern environment. They also have outdoor seating, which is a nice option when the place gets packed. The only downside is, Emporium can get so crowded that sometimes people accidently spill drinks on you, while you're playing your arcade games or in the middle of an intensive round of foosball.

This place is weak asf! Frfr! If you wanna talk about throwing money away come on down to Emporium Oakland. They have games that eat "tokens"(quarters), games with broken buttons/joysticks/pedals. Over half of the games don't work and then you look around and wonder why this place is empty... Space is very small, nice art work but extremely disappointed on how this scam of a place can still be operating when you advertise an "Arcade" bar. You won't know a game doesn't work until after you put your money in. Highlight! Free Skee-Ball (if you count 2 broken machines that free releases balls)

Enrique and Jack are the best! I ordered a vodka tonic and it tasted like vodka soda. My drink was remade only to still taste like a vodka soda. Most bartenders would get annoyed or would blow a customer off but Jack figured out that the tonic was out and he went through this giant ordeal of fixing it. Props for Emporium having professionals working. The arcade games were super fun too. Parking can be tricky but not horrible. There is plenty street parking and garages. Bathrooms were neat and clean. Will come back!

Came from out of town, was looking for a barcade and this hit the spot. I wish there was more games but a lot of their games are clean and well maintained and they also have a great selection of drinks and cocktails! Had a wonderful time.

This place is unfortunately much much worse than the San Francisco location. Wayy smaller, games are much less interesting, the queen bee game controls were sticky and not functional, wayy too crowded. I was hoping to hold my birthday event here but it's just not feasible or fun enough. I really was excited to see an Emporium in Oakland when I moved here. I guess they just don't have a consistent commitment to quality. They should move to a space 2-3x the size somewhere else in Oakland (Temescal?) and try again.

I've come here quite a few times. Unfortunately, the best way to describe the staff is "inconsistent". I've had a few really fun nights here, but at this point, I've also had several nights where the person at the front door was cartoonishly stand-offish and the bartenders have been bizarrely rude to customers. During my most recent visit, I felt like there was no excuse for the behavior I saw from the staff, it was just really unprofessional. I know it's not always easy for bartenders to interact with over-served customers. But that isn't the problem here like it is at many dive bars. I've worked at restaurants and behind bars before, I know what's reasonable and what isn't. And I can usually tell when bartenders are being unnecessarily passive-aggressive with customers just because they can. That's a problem that I've come to expect from the staff here about half of the time. As I said initially, I've had great nights here, but I would never bring someone here without warning them ahead of time that the staff may be rude or without having a contingency plan in place. I'm not swearing off this location for good, but it definitely helps to have proper expectations going in.

This barcade is just okay compared to Coin-op. The guy checking IDs at the door was pretty cranky so it wasn't a good impression right off the bat. About 10% of the machines were broken and just ate our tokens. Thankfully I came here with a private party so we had unlimited tokens, but if I came here on my own dime, I'd definitely be way more upset. They don't serve food here, but in terms of drinks they have a wide variety of beers on taps, cocktails, and even White Claw. The space isn't huge so there are a limited number of types of games. Mainly pinball, old school games like Pacman and Frogger, two driving games, and Skeeball. I wish they also had basketball.

3.5 Cool arcade bar in Oakland located in the busy downtown. They have a bunch of old school arcade games. Dope. I set the highest score on Ms. Pac Man the last time I was there. Someone go take the throne. I challenge you The venue is small compared to the SF location. Drinks are decently priced. Good place for happy hour and night out with friends.

Emporium Oakland takes over the space of Rudy's Can't Fail. reality check: all arcade games are older than my gen Y sons. play only costs 1 or 2 tokens. token costs .25@. cheap, play area only a single walkway behind the bar. i've been to the old emporium across the street, this spot looks twice the size of most Peet's/Starbucks. . games: pinball, galatica type games. fussball, skeeball. no pool, darts, billiards, bowling. flatscreen: Indiana Jones x 2. offerings: beers, cocktails, spirits. HH: opening till 6 every day brew: nitro stout Faction (5) -slick bitterness, not so smooth, definitely hoppy. on draughts: -most drafts of lagers, lighter ipa's -id check at door. -it's ok to hang out. not a lot to do here. little seating ......

Such a fun place!! I like it better than the Sf location because oakland is better than sf. When I went on a sat night there was a dance floor with all the best bay music along with the games. I looove this place I love the games food, drinks and atmosphere.

Who knew what that our uber popular Uptown was missing something so obvious?! I love arcades and bars and this place is the perfect combination of the two without getting too juvenile. There are no tickets and cheap redemption gifts (upcharges) here, no pizzas and ball pits and most importantly no kids allowed! They've got great games that are a quarter or Fifty cents at most; I won't hate on my other fave arcade bars but in comparison - Emporium has all the good stuff! Racing games, Classic and Pinball Pacman and an air hockey table. It is located right in the heart of Uptown and so close to all the the Great venues; there is a plethora of libations in the area, one of my favorite bars is directly across the street. The space isn't huge, (It's the old 2nd Rudy's Can't Fail), I imagine it gets packed on the weekends, but If you happen to plan a date night during a weekday it makes for a perfect activity.

The neighborhood looks a bit sad since so many businesses closed their doors for good during the pandemic shutdown. This is a cute little hangout spot in which to pass a couple of hours . It is rather small, so don't expect to be playing games the entire time if you go on a busy night. I went with a beau on a weekday early evening. It was a novel idea, but maybe not the best place to be on a date unless you want to just drink and stand around. I don't know about you, but I need to be actively doing something that distracts me from feeling self-conscious around someone new. This place seems like it might be better to just hang with friends. Atmosphere is casual fun and the throwback games provide some whimsy and nostalgia.

Gotta change my review. A buddy of mine, we went here and kinda got shafted by some of the bartenders here. They totally ignored us as we had cash in our hands.... not sure why.7

Any challengers for NBA Jam??? I would gladly beat you anyday!!!!! Believe that! I guess they call it a "Barcade" because you can get drunk and lose to me in NBA Jam as i mentioned. Lol... Pacman? Galaga? Burger Time? Adams Family Pinball? Mortal Kombat? All the classics man!!!! Ill post some pics later, for the artwork is pretty dope here. They usually have a movie playing on 3 T.V screens, it is silent but it catches your attention! The bartenders have been pleasant with me everytime. I am not big on drinks tho, very simple, IPA or Don Julio neat for me. You can take food inside which is a def plus. They play a variety of music and even had a DJ on one friday night! Let me know sumn then!!!! I dont think i have anything negative to say about the Emporium. It is a cool place to chill after work or on the weekends. Even the security be chill!!! I forgot they have 2 air hockey tables and Football feel me???? Check this place out if you have not yet!!

Went on a Friday night. It was buzzing. Not every lot packed but a decent crowd. Drinks seem a little watered down which is why I took a star. But the vibe is lit. The old school games. They have a lot of pinball machines. I don't think they serve food but who buys food in an arcade anyways.

Well, hmmm, look at what we have here! Looks like a barcade has arrived in Oakland and it definitely has the young crowd going crazy! Emporium is just what the city of Oaktown needed! Smack in the middle of one of the liveliest streets in Oakland, Emporium is bringing the young crowd just the twist it needed, and please believe, it blends in so well with all the hipster, lively bars and the theatre. My Meetup group and I had the opportunity last week to visit the smaller addition of Emporium. On a Thursday this place was LIVE! Be prepared to get carded once you enter! But once you walk in, you quickly notice the arcade games all throughout the room. I have to admit, they have truly renovated this used-to-be food restaurant. Sadly, the Emporium doesn't serve food although they allow you to bring in outside food. From hearing the manager, it doesn't seem like obtaining a food license is anything they plan to do anytime soon. All the machine games worked properly and were super fun. I enjoyed that most of the machines had cup holders on the side so you can place your cup down while you played the machine. Admittedly, this place is pretty awesome! It definitely puts a different spin to the bar life. You can now have fun while playing games and enjoying a couple of drinks as well. Now, I do have to admit that the drinks are not strong; if you are looking for strong cocktails you're in the wrong place. I recommend you go to Make Westling or Somar to really get that. They have a limited cocktail menu but they are happy to make you any drink if you ask. Plenty of large screen TV'S around the bar area. This place would be perfect to catch the game! Just by the looks of it, I can see this being a very popular place for the young crowd to be!

Three words to describe this place: cozy, retro, and chill. This place is a melting pot of retro vibes meets hipster vibes. This arcade and bar is super chill. You hear the pinball machines going and people laughing everywhere. Such a fun place to be at on Friday night. They have classic arcade games like pinball, pac man, mortal combat, etc. I love that they still use tokens; a little souvenir you can take home with you. I love that you can walk around and drink whatever you want. The bartenders are fast and efficient with orders. I also love that they have a taco stand right in front. You can literally drink, eat, and play arcade until the sun rise.

Limited amount of games, the drink options were nice however and it is in the middle of downtown. The bartender was very polite and the highlight of the night, however the manager looking gentleman was extremely rude to both me and the bartender (which again, I felt was doing an amazing job)

Similar to the Emporium in the city, same games but a way smaller venue. No live DJ when I went, very crowded so hard to walk around and everything was quite sticky. Killer Queen, skee ball and that one game where you balance the silver ball with a stick and try to get it into the hole, are still my favorites games here.

I haven't been to the one in SF yet, but I had a fun time here with my friends! They have some happy hour deals, but they aren't publicized anywhere. I would call to ask; I remember the worker saying most beers were $5 when we went at around 6PM. Overall, the drinks were good and the games they had were fun. There isn't a wide selection of games to play, but they have some good classics! I would definitely come back.

Great atmosphere, friendly bartender, and cool games. I don't know what more you could want in a game bar. The games were super fun and in great condition. The beer selection too was really good (I am an Alvarado Street Brewery server in Monterey and was happy to see their beer on the list). I highly recommend stopping by here to hang out and play some games if you're in the area. 10/10 recommend.

Emporium Oakland is fun for how small of a place it is. It's a barcade that keeps the masses entertained. I think both bars and games could be better but I'm rounding up the 3.5 stars to 4 since my friends and I had fun for the 1-2 hours we were there. It gets crowded and there's only so much you can do, so not sure how you would spend even MORE time there. They have some classic games like skeeball, air hockey, and pinball machines. You'll need some cash to exchange into tokens to use on the machines. Games are priced okay. They have a projector playing movies on the high wall and it was Spirited Away when we were there. Random but if you're gonna play a movie can we get some subs lol. Bathrooms and staff are nice. Don't get the sour beers, they're terrible. No cover at least, so there's no harm in checking it out.

They're open!! I went Wednesday to their First Look party with some friends. Although I was initially surprised by how much smaller it is than the SF location, they also use their tiny space more wisely. I spent almost two hours here and could have stayed longer if I didn't have other things to do. There's a row of pinball machines along the back wall, and other arcade games across from those. Since it's only one row, I could see this place getting crowded and cramped very easily. There's also foosball, air hockey, skee-ball, and Killer Queen!! They all use 1-2 tokens that can be bought for 25 cents. Drinks are pretty standard, similar to the SF location but without the boozy slushees - sad. Overall, what a nice addition to the Oakland area. ((:

I went yesterday with a friend and it was not what I expected. Some games were out of order, the door to one of the bathroom stalls were broken, and there is not a lot of fun games to play. I could buy video games and have a great time. Chuck E. Cheese is better.

HIGH SECURITY: One of my girlfriends and I came here and the security doorman spent at least five minutes thoroughly looking through our bags - that wasn't the issue but it did cause concern this location may have many threats to our safety. The upsetting part of our experience, was that he allowed two men to walk past without even asking for anything from them but then he allowed the pictured fella to walk through & didn't look through his backpack. Do two young professionals deserve to be harassed because of their personal belongs? If thorough checks are protocol, it should be applied to all patrons of the bar. Pretty upsetting to experience and witness such blatant disrespect and discrimination and/or sexism. Very disappointed in this first experience with the Emporium.

Smaller than the Emporium in SF, but still a good addition to Oakland's nightlife. It's a pretty nice place to meet up with friends to have a few drinks. The staff, bartenders in particular, can be hit-or-miss in regards to quality customer service. Sometimes they're super attentive, other times they ignore you or make you feel stupid for the questions you ask. Typical and not unexpected as I'm sure they have to deal with their fair share of stupidity but still frustrating especially when you're sober and just trying to get my night started but oh well. Given it's a smaller Emporium than the SF location there's also less games meaning slightly longer wait times depending on how busy it is. It's still fun, but definitely gauge how many tokens you try to get based on how many games you're realistically able to play. All in all, I would come back and play more games. Maybe give the spot another chance to wow me. It's also surrounded by a bunch of other spots so even if you wanna hop around when the lines get too long for games, it's super convenient to find another bar to venture off to.

NFL blitz is my jam. Drinking beer and friends. What more could you ask for. I'm upset I dropped $100 on the floor. My fault. San Francisco spot is nice too. DDR is where it's at.