Long Beach Bars with Games

Long Beach’s well-known, well-loved bar scene is great for sipping your favorite cocktail or craft beer and also indulging in a little friendly competition. Sure, lots of bars offer pool; this list is about alternative games: pinball, skeeball, video games–current and retro–virtual reality, even board games. Check out these unique Long Beach bars where you can have fun with friends while indulging your competitive spirits.

Port City Tavern

You know you’re in for a good time at Port City Tavern (4306 E Anaheim St) the moment you check out its cocktail menu full of such locally pinned concoctions as the Horny Corner (hibiscus-infused tequila, lime, grapefruit). Yes, it has pool–free pool–and it also has darts and a shuffleboard table spread through a patio with comfortable seating and heat lamps as well as a game den with cozy couches.

The Blind Donkey

The ultra cool, subterranean Blind Donkey (149 Linden Ave)–renowned for offering some of the best whiskies in the city and a terrific Old Fashioned–is so serious about games it created an entire game room for its customers. Here they can play pool, darts, skee-ball, Pac Man, and shuffleboard. Yeah, it’s a lot. If your competitive side runs a little more toward the performative, the Donkey offers not one, but two karaoke nights each week.

BEACHWOOD BREWERY

Beachwood Brewing’s Distillery and Taproom (3630 Atlantic Ave) features an excellent array of Beachwood brews–from Knucklehead Red IPA to Dia de los Mangos Belgian-style sour–and a full bar serving cocktails made with spirits distilled in-house, such as Beachwood Black and White gins and Beachwood Juniper and Citrus gins. It also hosts live music and food pop-ups. Not only does the spot have several pinball machines, but Beachwood is so serious about the game it regularly hosts pinball tournaments with the local league, Pinball Wizards.

DAVE & BUSTERS

If Dave & Buster’s (7515 Carson Blvd) didn’t invent the barcade, it certainly has come to define the concept. Located at Long Beach Towne Center (7575 Carson St.), this 41,000-square-foot space has a bar with great drinks, great food and, of course, games. Lots of games. More than 180 games of all descriptions, types and tech levels. Everything from Pop-A-Shot to virtual reality, to skeeball to games based on blockbusters like Top Gun and Transformers. If you prefer watching others playing games, the bar has a 40-foot-wide, ultra-high-definition LED screen that can show multiple channels simultaneously.

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About the Author

Steve Lowery

Steve Lowery is a longtime local. Over the years he has written for the Los Angeles Times, ESPN, and others. If you're looking for the hidden gems of Long Beach, Steve is your go-to.