Boxcar is a cool place! My friends and myself have been going since college before downtown started building more apartments and places. Now (before Covid), they pack the arcade to the brim so it’s not as fun to enjoy yourself as your fighting to get drinks, pull your shoes off the sticky floor, and waiting to play your favorite games. I have not gone during Covid and honesty probably won’t since there is a lot of shared surfaces. It’s a great idea and can be a fun place- if you haven’t been, you should definitely visit.

Best arcade spot near downtown Raleigh. Lots of original games from back in the day. Full pinball section.Full bar with lots of good beers. One of my favorite features is their free popcorn machine. The space is large and laid out nicely with lots of helpful and friendly staff. They can get really busy in the evenings especially on the weekend, any night really.Bar tenders could use a little more awareness and tact. I paid with a $5 bill for a $3 pint, and without asking if Id like change, they pocketed the entire bill. I have every intention to tip, but I like it when its on my terms.They also host private events. We had a corporate celebration here and it was a huge hit.

A necessary stop for any young adults in or visiting Raleigh. As a frequent patron of Boxcar since they opened in 2014. I can tell you , if you are in Raleigh, it is worth checking out. Every week, they have skeeball and air hockey tournaments, events sponsored by local breweries, live music by fantastic local musicians. The annual events like Boxcars Birthday and St. Paddys day are always a big party. Boxcar also has something for everyone. The biggest draw for Boxcar is their huge library of retro and modern video games. From pinball to Pacman to Mario Kart, Boxcar is sure to wake up the child inside of you. Children under 21 are allowed until 9pm every day. Boxcar also runs a variety of drink specials, varying day to day.

Been going to Boxcar for years now for day drinks and pre drinks! Cool atmosphere with a younger crowd. Only downfall is sometimes families go with children because of the arcade games. Nothing too big though. Great specials and in a good location too!

This place is awesome! I lost at ski ball TWICE, but you know what? I was a little rusty because it had been a few years since I had last played. It’s OK though, we had a crowd gathered around the game because we were so entertaining! Place was packed for a Friday night. Totally awesome atmosphere and KENT was a fabulous bartender!

Fun for the adults and the kids. Great game selection and drink selection. Do not drink and drive.

I watched a guy go into this arcade bar with his 10 year old son, got drunk, and then walked out with his kid (most likely drove home). Yet my friend who is a 20 year old adult who just wanted to play some arcade games couldnt get in without a legal guardian- the guy is 20 he doesnt have a legal guardian! Anyways this place is trash.

This place is awesome and I enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and the people are nice. I would love to come back to this place it’s so much fun but sadly this BS Virus pretty much ruined our freedom..... hopefully I will come back to this place in 2 years or less IF this BS goes away.....

This was my first visit here and I have to say that I loved it. This is an old school arcade. The machines take 2 tokens to start and you keep playing as long as you win. They have classic arcade games I remember as a kid as well as new ones. Overall it was a good mix. They also have different drink specials each night of the week. I was there Wednesday night and it was $4 NC drafts. Staff was friendly and the bar tenders were fast.

Great place to checkout before or after having dinner!

Lots of pinball machines and other video gamesn both classic and new. Reasonable drink prices and fun tournaments almost every day of the week. If I live in Raleigh I definitely be a frequent flyer here!

Cool place for adult fun. Its always crowded, so just prepare for that. Although they do serve alcohol, I dont drink so its an atmosphere I feel comfortable in without feeling awkward because Im sober. My boys love it too! (kid friendly place during daytime hours)

Cool concept. The place is way too small to accommodate the crowds of people that flood in there. You cant even move around to get to games because people are just standing in the way, every which way you turn. My husband and I really wanted to enjoy the nostalgia of old school games, but we could hardly get to the machines to play anything. Sadly, we will not return.

Love this place! It has a great selection of drinks and a chill atmosphere. It gets pretty crowded but everyone is friendly and its easy to meet people. Games are also great, but the last couple of times Ive been, some have been missing or broken. I imagine its difficult to maintain all the arcades while theres tons of drinking competitive customers playing constantly, but thats my only complaint if I had to find one. The free popcorn is also a nice touch when you get the munchies.

What a fun place! It is really a good place to go and spend time with your friends, a lot of different games. Saturdays and Sundays can be a little bit crowded. Sometimes, some games dont work and occasionally they have issues with some arcades. But it is still a very fun place with a lot of options and good cocktails!

Looks very cool! We stopped in just to look around, but we will definitely come back. We did play the Mario Kart Arcade game, which did not work well, as well as the free N64.

Really nice bartenders!! The one was working it alone while it was busy and showed no attitude about it. The other one who joined later we had a full on conversation with. They also had free food!! I think that was a random score, I guess they had a lot of baja fresh left from something. They have a jukebox where you can download an app and pick tunes, pretty cool. It has a good amount of seating, booths and high tops. Its dark which I liked but not too dark. And patrons all seemed friendly and chill. Chatted with some. Overall a good time, drinks are decent.

Had a quick look on a Sunday night and the place was very busy. Polite front door staff who was very professional. There was a large bank of modern pinball machines and a very large selection of video games ranging from vintage to more modern. A few id never seen before. If youre interested in video games this is well worth visiting.

Had a great family night out. Great drinks, specials. Lots of games. We had a ball. Service was great. Even though it was packed, they got drinks mixed and in hand pretty quickly. Love this place.

Great place for drinks and arcade games! (A lot of great classics with some new ones mixed in. Drink holders on all of them too!) Friendly staff and drink specials almost every night. Huge outdoor area with stage and plenty of seating. Bar opens to outside as well. Can get a little crowded so check ahead if you want to go during a more quiet time. Definitely worth a visit!

Great vibe. Love that you can play your own records. Super nice bartender. Yummy drinks. Decent prices.

Nice combination of a bar and an arcade. Beyond the foyer area when your first enter the building is the bar. The back half of the building is the arcade. The arcade has all sorts of games: video, air hockey, fooz ball, skee ball, driving, etc. They have some vintage have you might not see anywhere else.The staff is friendly, willing to help and answer any questions.I can see this place getting expensive after purchasing drinks and playing arcade games. The more your drink, the more youll want to challenge your friends at video games. There are no tickets/prizes for playing/winning games.

So fun! Great vibe! Drinks are good and priced well. Had so much fun playing their Awesome variety of games!!! Good prices on those to. I recommend!

Games are fun and being able to drink while playing is a plus. Atmosphere is perfect for the environment.

The games were in excellent condition and most seemed reasonably priced. Finding a good arcade makes me happy, especially when they have a nice selection of beer. Boxcar is family friendly, my kids enjoyed themselves and another family was hosting a birthday party.

Had so much fun there ! All of the staff were super nice && not all in your face..(Super hard to find a fun place with chill staff) They informed you of the rules without being rude !(Also hard to find) This was my 1st time visiting this place. From the moment I walked in & the greeter/host guy greeted me with a genuine smile, I knew I was going to have a great night here. The place was a lot cleaner than I expected, drinks were perfect, music selection was great oh, and the best part was that there was free popcorn! This place is amazing all around, and I highly recommend trying it, especially on a Sunday night if youre not into big crowds stuff.

Awesome place came on weekend for brunch with my wife had some yummy chilaquiles and She had the goat cheese salad with the bottomless mimosas. We had a great time, owner Teddy and his beautiful wife are awesome people, I love how they make this place like family environment. Our waitress Savannah was on point with food and drinks.. She mentioned during the week is live jazz so we will be back Soon. Strongly recommend date or family

Pretty nice place to go back in time with a great variety of retro games and drink

Nice bar located in downtown which has few arcade games and its fun to play. Pets are allowed which is great. Beers on the tap are good too. Not pricey and place was clean. Staff was helpful too. Overall a good place to hangout with friends.

The best $20 Ive ever spent.How many times can someone say they went to an arcade with $20 and were able to play for 4 hours. Its highly possible at Boxcar. If you run out of tokens, no problem. Just head to the back and play the classic systems. Are you feeling like a snack, well grab some complimentary popcorn thats always fresh. Thirsty, theres complimentary water as well as a fully stocked bar. Theres hours of fun to be had here by all the grown-ups that are kids at heart.

Moved to Raleigh before Covid and this place was my go to for entertainment. Clean, helpful staff, great environment for a family

A lot of fun and dog friendly! Jane is awesome as are their other staff members. Their customers are generally social and easy to talk to. Overall a great place to go with a group or by yourself.

Great place to spend a few hours with friends. It was busy with a good atmosphere. The only issue I had was the price on most of the pinball machines; $1 a play gets expensive fast.

Great place. Great beer and staff is so friendly to people and their dogs. One staff member even noticed I dropped $5 and returned it to me. Every time I am in Raleigh I make sure to visit this place!!

Fun for the whole family. Better to go with kids closer to when they open vs later in the afternoon. Bartenders were super with the kids and gave tall cups of ice water promptly and happily so please tip them!

Fun arcade. Has most of the popular games you want to play. Really cool environment. If youre looking to hang out, meet people, take a date, theres something here for everyone.

Great beer selection and many pinball machines (12 or more) plus other games. Can bring in food but none sold. Kids have to have adult - definitely more of an adult hang out but I have brought my teenagers here and they love it.

This is a good way to break the normal routine and do something cool. PROS: Tons of games, high energy place, super nostalgic, awesome beer selection. CONS: Can get expensive quick, usually super busy, hard to find parking. Overall, a fun place to hangout, usually like to go every few months to change it up.

Fun times! We played plenty of games from our day! Pretty crowded to navigate around. Great idea to have an arcade and bar together!

Very compact, a good variety of cabinets and games to play. Alcohol is good. A lot of people in there at once so if youre not into brushing against people constantly I wouldnt recommend it. Had a great time though, highly recommend.

I would actually give this 3.5 stars if I could. Its kinda fun! Most of the games are old school. There really arent any new ones other than 4 player Pac-Man. Ive been to better arcade bars so this doesnt get my 5 stars but its a decent place to chill with some decent deals on drinks sometimes. I would suggest to them charging a cover charge and just having the games be free-play.

Good place to go for lots of fun. The selection of arcade games is amazing, and the classics are all there. Of course there are some more modern options as well. Plenty of variety of pinball machines as well. The bar kicks the adulting of the experience up as well. Reasonably priced as you can potentially play for hours for the amount of tokens you purchase.

Excellent gem. Good drinks and service. Can be crowded.

This place is awesome, old school arcade plus bar. Good beer selection, really nice selection of old and new arcade games but I wish they had some older pinball machines. 4 stars because $1 is too much for pinball and the machines tilt really easily.

I think every city in America needs one of these places! Nestled between restaurants in Raleigh, is the Boxcar Bar & Arcade. You can grab a drink and take in some of the arcade greats from back in the day! They even have a SNES hooked up to a TV in the back for 2 players.Happy Travels!TimothyOLA Travel & Leisure Traveling The World, Together

This is a fantastic idea and I wish that there were more places like this. They have tons of different games and the prices are fantastic.

Wow... what a place.... where to begin.... once u walk in it is like a sea of games... multiple different types for all different types of people... feel free to walk around I guarantee you will find a game you like. When we went the place was packed. The drinks were good... not gonna deduct stars but it was packed... I did deduct a star because the time waiting at the bar to get helped was a while.. but still overall a great night.. I would return for the games but I would try a different night other than Saturday bc the amount of people there and the wait time on drinks.

It is a decent size turn back in time arcade for grown ups. We were there on a Friday night. It was packed however it was not crowded. It was a fun night. Will go back for sure.

Great place to go when looking for some 80s games and pinball machines. Must visit when in Raleigh or living in Raleigh.

Amazing place, dont go during holidays or busy nights or you wont be playing any games cuz everyone knows its an awesome place. Great drinks and beer selections. They have weekday drink specials..

Must go if visiting the downtown area or looking to find a safe and lively environment full of games and entertainment while having access to a full bar and various local brews on tap

Man, great bar specials. Plenty of arcade games that i grew up playing. Go here. Just do it. Dont ask questions. Get over there. Spend your money its worth it

Love this place! The outdoor area is adorable. The retro games were awesome, brought me back to my childhood. The mimosa specials were so cool on a Sunday. Had a blast with friends. Definitely will be back. It was easy to get tokens and even though it was packed, we were still able to play the games we wanted and even enjoy some air hockey.

Really fun place. Bar & ArcadeDog friendly. Clean restrooms. You cant bring your Water in but you can take your water out. Great staff. Fun!

Ive never been to a better place to get absolutely destroyed at air hockey. This place is great and has all my childhood and teenage faves

So chill and awesome when not absolutely packed. Just personal preference but I prefer and love to go here during their quieter hours.

My favorite place to go in Raleigh. So much fun. Great bar staff

Great atmosphere.. Drinks were awesome and the games are to die for.. Vintage gaming at its best

Lots of fun times... hubby was mad losing so much but I had fun lolswould come here again just for the delicious range of beers yum!

Great place to visit in Raleigh! Fun games, great atmosphere and an awesome setup for drinks! Definitely a place to stop by as part of the nightlife.

Amazing atmosphere. Fun game options. Good drink options. Insanely busy at times but for good reasons

We had a blast here. Staff was super friendly and helpful! We were some of the oldest folks there in the establishment but it was so much fun. Loved all the through back games from whe we were kids. When one of the machines took our money the staff quickly replaced it. The music added to the atmosphere and they had complimentary popcorn! Would definitely recommend.

Great place to hang out. A good variety of beer and games. The crowds can be a bit much at times, making it impossible to reach a machine or hear anything.

Used to have better games. They removed a lot of the good ones, and they dont maintain the games very well. Many have sticky buttons.

Every woman there is having a breakup fight outside the front. Its too crowded to do an anything fun. Its impossible to get a drink.

Great place to have fun. For about $30 worth of tokens and $6-7/beer, you can spend at least a few hours here. I think its reasonably priced.

I always have fun here but some of the games were not working properly and the staff didn’t seem too considered. My favorite game kept taking our coins so we couldn’t play it. I wish the games were serviced better. We went for the skeeball tournament and it was a lot of fun!

Ive been here around 9 times now and I have always had a good experience. The price of liquor is normal for the area, but this place has arcade games. It seems to be dog friendly as well, though I rarely actually see any dogs there. There is free popcorn, which is a nice plus to keep something in your stomach while you drink.In the 9 times I have been here, one game didnt work once, which is better than most arcades Ive been to. It can get fairly crowded, and sometimes there are a lot of kids, but its not too much and it dies down during peak drinking hours.

Old school gaming plus alcohol? Pretty good combo. Im not a drinker, but I see the appeal of the two together.

A complete wonderfully fun location! Tons of drinks and an open atmosphere that people of all ages can enjoy- so long as you enjoy playing games.

Fun place to hang out with friends. Its got arcade games and they serve alcohol. Its a fun place but no food as such which is bummer.

If this isnt my favorite place ever, I dont know what is. Best place for pinball ove found. Other games are great too, the entire place is an incredible experience.

I thought this place was too crowded to have fun but everyone is so friendly and no one hogs anything. I had a fantastic time, theres a game for everyone!

Ive had some interesting experiences interacting with the staff... I know bar staff has a unique job, dealing with drunk people is kind of a grey area, but objectively Ive been in here before my first drink and still seen some less than kosher things. But in the end, this is the only barcade in the area, so if you want to go, youre going to go. They have nightly specials, they have bar priced drinks... Sometimes live music too. I mean come on, its a bar, you know the deal.

Nice place to have fun. Its an adult style arcade. Was able to meet Bill Bellamy.

Today was my first time going to Boxcar and it was exactly what my friends said. A great place and a great atmosphere! The bartenders were amazing and helped us out and then the games were good as well! Highly recommend if you want to go out with friends or need a place to hangout!

Lots of fun! Really liked the selection of games (although slightly sad that there wasn’t a basketball game). The 4 player Pac-Man was tons of fun. I also really appreciated the free popcorn and the fact that Mario Kart in the back was free as well. I’d like to go again at a less busy time to enjoy it some more!

They got capcom!If youre the DD, theres arcades so you wont be bored. Plus, your drunk friends will keep you entertained.If you dont have any money, theres free popcorn and free nintendo in the back. Also, there are some free games depending on the night.Just be aware that some of the games simply eat your tokens.

Alcohol, retro games, and socializing fun? Yes, please! This place is awesome!

Always have a great time. Excellent drinks and the games are as fun as they were back in the day.

This was the first time I had been there in a while and I have to say I really enjoyed myself.

They have all the great old arcade games. This is a fun place. Under 21 must leave by 9pm.

Fun place. Its pretty popular as it was fairly crowded when we were there. But the under age crowd leaves at 9pm. Plenty of games. Only 1 was not working. Good beer selection. And they even had popcorn. We had a great time with our friends.

Boxcar is awesome! Go on Sunday for cheap drinks! Great place to bring your adult family to play games and reconnect.

Pretty hoppin place with good beer and cocktail selection!

Awesome spot to hang out and have a great drink while playing some games.

Food was really good. We went on a Monday night, which was lucky for us bc they had half off appetizers. The mac and cheese, crab, were excellent. We got a burger that was really good. I got the curry rice which was good - the chicken in it was a little dry- but the rice itself had a nice flavor. We also got the pad thai. meh. It was just ok. They have a nice variety of food and a cool interior. We came as a family but its good for adults hanging out. Service was good too. Id go again.

Great collection of 80s classics and really nice beer selection on tap.

Been coming here for years. Bar tenders used to give game tokens with drinks, but that stopped a few months ago. Bummer. Popcorn machine was out of order and so were several games on this most recent visit... All the speakers are blown on games you need sound the most for, like DDR and Guitar Hero. Double bummer. But its still a neat place to bring out of town friends and fam. Who doesnt like drinking and gaming? Just feels like the place is starting to slip.

Nice barcade. Some of the games are sticky or broken. They need to revamp a little bit. Also, I think they got rid of the game consoles so don’t go there expecting to play Mario cart.

Fun place to go with a group enjoy a beer and play some old arcade games and some new ones too. We had a catered meal brought in for our group and they gave us a section of the restaurant. It was very enjoyable.

Nice place games change around regularly so you always have something new to play.

Who doesnt love drinks, friends, live music, and arcade games? 1v1 me on Mario Kart 150cc or guitar hero. Dare you!

I managed to track down a Burgertime/ Punch-Out arcade cabinet at Boxcar. Not many places collect the older cabinet models, so this was a pleasant surprise!One suggestion though:Apparently “Typing of the Dead” had an arcade cabinet. I believe that it would be entertaining to watch people play as part of a “barcrawl challenge”. Not sure how the keyboard would be protected though.

Tons of arcade style games to choose from and its at a good spot of town. It was packed when I was there, though, which made it hard to get a drink, move around, or even enjoy some of the more popular games. Overall, cool spot.

PINBALL AND BEER, what else do you need?

Great place to go to relive your childhood of the old arcades of the 80s and 90s, with a little bit of alcohol mixed in! Great drink specials everyday of the week and a good assortment of games to play. Pinball, air hockey, fighters, ddr, some N64 titles, and thats just the start! A must go to have some fun. Parking in the area is a bit of an issue but hey its Raleigh. Overall a fun place to go.

Great place! Great drink prices! It got super packed when we were there but love the throw back arcade vibe!! Blast from the past!!

Trendy place that attracts a wide range of people. We visited on a Saturday night from around 8:30 to 10pm and the later it got the more crowded it got. Long wait times for some of the main attractions like skeeball, air hockey, bubble hockey, foosball, and some of the more popular classic games. Biggest surprise was that the pinball machines cost a full dollar per play. Definitely worth checking out but for me it would a once in a while visit mainly for nostalgia. Some games have not aged well! On a positive note, they had Burger Time!

Great arcade! Lots of games and they have cup holders on them. Bar is well staffed with friendly people, great selection, most evenings get a couple free tokens with your drink. Also there is constantly staff watching the floor and cleaning up and so everything including bathrooms stays nice and clean. Well done!