Arcade Bar · Little Five Points
Joystick Gamebar
★ 4.5 (789 reviews)
$$ — Mid-range
196 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
Mon–Thu 5pm–2am · Fri 4pm–3am · Sat–Sun 2pm–3am
In the heart of Little Five Points — Atlanta's most eccentric, creative, and genuinely characterful neighbourhood — Joystick Gamebar has been operating on a simple and irresistible premise since it opened: free vintage arcade games, cold craft beer, and cocktails made by people who know what they're doing. The formula has never needed adjusting because it was right from the start.
The room is loaded with over 30 vintage arcade cabinets and pinball machines, all on free play. Pac-Man, Galaga, Street Fighter II, Donkey Kong, Tapper — the selection rotates but always prioritises the canonical titles alongside a few deeper cuts for the serious collectors. The combination of alcohol and competition produces exactly the kind of evening that's almost impossible to engineer deliberately: genuinely unplanned fun.
For visitors working through Atlanta's best hidden gem bars, Little Five Points as a whole is worth an evening — Joystick is the perfect anchor and natural starting point before exploring the neighbourhood's wider bars and restaurants.
16 taps pulling from Georgia-focused craft producers alongside national favourites. The list changes frequently — ask what's freshest when you arrive.
The bar does the standards well — Old Fashioneds, Negronis, Margaritas — without overthinking them. Ideal drinks for long sessions that need one hand free for a joystick.
The crowd-pleaser. A well shot and a draft beer of your choice. Affordable, cheerful, and paced correctly for a three-hour arcade session.
A rotating selection of Georgia craft cans available alongside the draught. Ideal for those who want to keep things portable while navigating the room.
Little Five Points is one of Atlanta's most distinctive neighbourhoods — independent record stores, vintage boutiques, tattoo studios, and a music venue scene that has incubated more than its share of the city's culture over the years. Joystick fits perfectly into this context: unpretentious, genuinely fun, and completely devoid of the kind of self-consciousness that afflicts so many bars that try to be "experiences."
The crowd skews creative and young but spans a wider range than you might expect — groups celebrating birthdays, couples on adventurous date nights, regulars who've claimed their favourite cabinet. The outdoor patio is a welcome retreat when the indoor room gets loud, which it inevitably does as the evening progresses. Combine a Joystick visit with the Clermont Lounge later in the evening for one of Atlanta's most interesting bar nights. Read the complete Atlanta bar guide for everything else worth knowing about the city's drinking scene.
One weekly edit. The best bars, the finest bottles, the rooms worth travelling for.
Sponsored features, newsletter placements, and city guide takeovers available for Atlanta bars and brands.
