Monsterama Pubcade

My husband and I spent the day here for his birthday last year. It was a blast! We had the whole place to ourselves. We loved getting to play several old school arcade games, the ambience & spooky decor! We also enjoyed the secret door to get into the actual arcade part of this establishment. It added a whimsical element we appreciated. Great place for kids and adults alike!

I love this place. It's my number one place on weekends with my husband, so we can play some pinball. The hours we spend just playing some of the retro games and getting drinks is such a blast. They have the stern pinball machines which is a bonus, they don't program the games to just take your money and the cherry on top is the food is great! The employees are always friendly and helpful. All around a great place. Good people, good food, fantastic games.

great drinks (try the grave digger) fun shots like mini beers and the ecto 1 (looks like a green ghost floating in a shot glass). and they have food (burgers, tenderloins, tots, and i love the southwestern egg rolls i tried, aptly names mummy wraps). lots of pinball, a pool table, KI2, street fighter alpha, and mortal kombat. good times USA

The pizza was good. The crust was too thin and crispy for me. I like a soft, thick crust, but it was piled high with lots of toppings. The drinks were cute and tasted delicious! The arcade was fun. This genXer hopes to go back again soon.

This was a fun way to spend an afternoon! We started off with lunch in the pizzeria. The funnest thing on the menu was some skull shaped calzone type of things that my daughter ordered. The food was good but the service was a bit slow & my grinder came out cold, overall it was good but it could have been great. The arcade was a lot of fun though! The family enjoyed all the retro arcade games from years gone by along with some of the newer games. We spent almost 5 hours inside between lunch & the arcade. The

We were in town for a soccer tournament. Do not let the small area upfront fool you. There is a door behind the Coke machine that leads to the real fun. The food was okay. the service was friendly and fairly quick for the number of people we brought in. If you like pinball, they have a wide variety and some darts as well. Overall, it's a fun atmosphere for the group.

Very cool arcade with a wide variety of games and great pinball. Enjoyed several of their menu offerings that were all delicious and the service was great! Everything was reasonably priced and our family had a great time. The decor is clever and a fun sight to see.

One of the most unique places I have ever been to! The food was fantastic and was monster themed and for anyone in to vintage arcade and pinball, you will have a blast. Service was great and one price to play all the games you want. If you're in Des Moines and looking for something to do, this is The Place!!

Awesome place!! My son chose this place for him and his friends for his 12th birthday hangout. It was a blast, the games were great, food was great and the staff was awesome. Definitely go back and have more fun.

This place was SOOOOOO cool! My husband, me, and my 10 year old son all had such a great time. Food was great, staff was super friendly, the environment was so neat.. definitely recommend! My son wants to have his birthday party here now! Lol

Stumbled on this local gem with my friends and I am sure glad I did. I love that the games are all free play (with a modest cover charge) versus having to pump quarters or tokens into the arcade games and pinball machines. Lots of variety in the games offered means you can spend many hours there reliving your childhood or showing your kids the entertainment of yesteryear. We ordered some calzones and pizza and it was tasty, hot and fresh. The monster and horror theme decor especially delighted me as I ado

When my little sister asked me to come here I was expecting dirty, dingy, Chuck E Cheese for adults. So happy to say I was wrong! Tastefully done, great decor and something for everyone. Unfortunately my luck at Candyland wasn't this great. Food was quick and hot. We will definitely go back for another outing!

This place really surprised me. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but man does that really 180 once you enter the place. The decorations and horror movie memorabilia are nothing short of amazing. And the game selection was ripped straight from my childhood. And if those things don't peak your interest, wait until you have a chance to eat their pizza. It was so good we got one to-go. I wish we had one of these in my hometown. I would eat there daily.

Small, but awesome place. Pizza was great; we had the slaughterhouse. Played in the arcade with my boys for a few hours.

A fun and quirky place for a date night. Good selection of games (shoutout to the Golden Axe). Relatively inexpensive and provides at least an hour of entertainment. Didn't try the pizza but hopefully will on our next visit.

Absolutely awesome soon to be barcade! Alex helped us out with everything & the price was great! The environment is a rockin monster mash with esthetically pleasing compliments. Even the entrance to the arcade is such a fantastic use of imagination. This is by far the best arcade I've been to. Can't wait to return for the bar portion!

VERY cool place, definitely recommend. It was cool getting to play through some OG arcade games I always died too early and ran out of money to play as a kid. Seven or so working pinball games and maybe 30 other games. The price felt fair, and the experience was super fun.

This place was really fun for the grandson , we played games for about 4 hours. The people that work there are super nice , food was so so. Not a lot of flavor to the grinder sandwich. Other than that a great time ! Thank you monsterama ??

Not as fun as it was when u paid an admission and played games for free. Plus they have cleared out a ton of machines and alot of the ones they have dont work

I had high hopes for this bar that were crushed. After not having the tools to make my preferred drink I took the suggestion for the bartender on a drink saying it was similar to what I originally asked for. That was a lie! I was giving a ginger beer drink with soggy marshmallows. ( blackened, I was looking forward to them) I was so disappointed. The back room with all the games had several clothe items literally scattered over the seating areas. They had a few games. Ultimately left very soon after arriva

Very cute restaurant with monster theme, plenty of old arcade games in a speakeasy fashion (behind the old soda machine in the picture!) to spend a couple hours playing! It is a pizzeria so we have to come back for that but there was $2 off hot dog basket today, we got the Chicago dog, tons of flavor. two (very tasty) hot dog baskets and two cokes $17-something. Edit to add the women behind the counter was very friendly and helpful. Thanks :)

LOVE IT!!! The monster decor is amazing! The older games are so much fun. It's like going in a time machine!! We had a blast. Hoping the food is yummy also!! We're getting some pizza to go!!

What a cool place! Had a little hangout here for a birthday, it's really a cozy environment to get together and play some fun games. Great geek vibes. :)

Amazing atmosphere staff is great and helpful great food super super friendly The arcade was a blast lots and lots of fun highly recommend definitely in my top 10 places in the state of Iowa can't wait to go back

We didn't eat here this time we just came to play in the arcade with my 7 year old son. The decor and atmosphere are fun and the arcade pass is very reasonable! We loved it and will definitely be back to eat and play in the arcade again!

Cool place, cool games, and awesome decor. Clean restrooms and friendly staff. Only a couple of games were not working, and the guy was happy to help fix issues with pinball machines. We didn't eat, but the food looked good!

Went for the first time (and certainly won't be my last) the place is full of surprises. It is kinda quirky, dark and zombie like decor. Every appeared clean and taken care of (especially the back room). We had a wonderful and thoughtful waiter/bar attendant (not sure if they serve any type of alcohol beverages, I don't drink) so I didn't ask about it. We (as in my 74 year old sister (I am 71) and sisters great Granddaughter who is 11) ordered pizza (thought the price was a little high) but it was good

Had a great time here last night. Enjoyed the games and the Taco pizza!

What a fun gem! I love the secret entrance, and there are SO many classic pinball machines. Can't wait to come back and play more!

Cool place, games are super cheap and when we went on valentines day we got a free couples poloriod pic before we left from the nice bartender (hope the camera is ok btw)

Great place would have loved to seen more games tha worked but understand that them games are old and not everyone works on them kinda things

This place is amazing ! A blast from the past with some of the best games and pinball from back in the day ! The atmosphere is awesome and the pizza is great ! Definitely a place to check out in Des Moines that even a lot of the locals don't know !

Unlimited plays for a flat fee. Very cool idea!. Not the biggest place in Des Moines, quite a few of their machines were broken (roughly 5 out of 25 to 30 machines)

The new adult drink options, amazing. The game area has a few more options. Hope to return for a company outing soon.

Monsterama was a great surprise to find in South Des Moines! They are also associated with Lucky Girl Tattoo which shares part of the building. When you enter the bar/ dining area is decked out with monster movie memorabilia. You'll see props as well as characters coming out of the walls! I wish I had more pictures to share. The staff is wonderful and they make great food! I enjoyed the chicago style hot dog and my fiance tried out the Gizmo Grinder. We had some fun Monster Energy drink mocktails and a 2 li

Love this place! Haunted with classic arcade games. Release your monster and enjoy some pizza! Boo!

It has mortal combat 1-3. It has very good decoration. The food is ok.

We hosted a 10yo birthday party here today, and everything was great! The kids all had a blast playing classic games, the pizza was solid, and the staff was super friendly & helpful.

This place is absolutely amazing!!! Notably on the nostalgia part but the food was spectacular!!!! I would give 10 stars if possible!!!

I came with my fianc?e and her son to play at the arcade. Had we not eaten a few hours earlier, we would have gladly tried their food. This is a hidden gem. The aesthetic is fantastic. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by friendly (and stylish) staff, and are given 3 choices. You can dine, play, or both. As I said above, we only chose play as we had eaten beforehand. The 3 of us cost $20 for as long as we wanted. To our surprise, the only games we had to pay for were the claw machines, and the machine

Be sure to put this on your Halloween to-do list! Games galore! Wait until you see the entrance into the arcade from the dining area.....

We absolutely loved the experience. The calzones were really really good. There is no To-Go menu right now. The place looks really small but it's bigger on the inside. The waitress was super super nice. It is somewhere that we would do an older kids birthday party at. The arcade is a flat fee and they're all set on free play. There are a ton of arcade games. The decor is monsters and villains which I like. I would totally recommend it for a fun date night or an older kids birthday party. It was $150 for fou

Staff was SUPER friendly. Pizza was really good. Some great classic games

What an awesome place to take the kids for lunch. Free play, pizza and coolest setting ever... damn the food was awesome

Great atmosphere and awesome games!

Love this place! The theme itself is very cool. with all the monster movie memorabilia. You pay once to get in, and the games are free to play. I spend a lot of time here with my friends. Just tried their food for the first time (along with a monster themed drink) and it's not too bad lol

All you can play retro arcade games for $12 and it's horror themed, what's not to love. I stop here any time I'm in town. One of these times I'm gonna have to eat here because their pizza smells incredible.

What a great family atmosphere!! We came and Alex took the best care of us as needy as we were and had such a fantastic attitude the whole time!! Whoever owns this place should seriously give that girl some brownie points!!! Loved our first time here and the food and mock tails were so fire!! Plus you can rent the whole place, byob for 300$ for 12 ppl!!

The decor is great. They have a good selection of classic arcade games in mostly good condition, including some of my childhood favorites. The pizza wasn't particularly good or bad, but my wife's crust was really burnt. They gave us a coupon for our next visit, and I expect we'll come again. It was a bit expensive, but I'm sure the electricity bill is pretty high.

Decided to check out this place and man was I impressed! Initially I was very confused walking in because I didn't see the arcade. We decided to order food first and they had a parm chicken sandwich on special and it was very good. My kids ordered the special monster drinks and they are pretty expensive but very good also. The atmosphere was eye candy to us because there are so many things all over the place! So after we ate we went through the soda machine and saw all the classic arcade games that had unli

Pizza and cheese bread was great! Staff was friendly and helpful. Prices are really reasonable, arcade is all you can play for one price which is great. The decor is amazing!!!! Definitely worth checking out.

I went here for the first time, and it was amazing the pizza was great, and a nice arcade room with classic and pinball games. I'll definitely will come back here again

Went there with my family (children 3 and 11). Aesthetic was really well done and the food was tasty and reasonably priced. There was very little seating in the dining area which forced my family to initially have to sit at the bar, but I was told there will be remodeling in the near future to allow for more tables. The arcade was a lot of fun and we'll likely go back. The one thing that really stung was this was our fist visit and we didn't know how the whole system worked. We were never explained that th

You might think Monsterama is just all gimmick and no substance, but it really is that good. The atmosphere is fun and off the wall while staying cozy and friendly, and the food is legit. The pizza is full of big servings of fresh tasting ingredients, and the hot dogs are meaty and juicy. I personally hope the Wasabi Dog becomes a year-round menu item. Love this place and love introducing friends to it ??

This place is really cool. If you like pizza and horror movies, this place is for you. It's also a old school video game arcade. Right next door to an awesome tattoo shop. You should check it out.

Really, REALLY, fun. A bunch of pinball machines, arcade carts, and the food was great too! My personal favorite machine on first visit was the Midway wave racer. I used to have a collection of Midway games on my GameCube, but the disc got too badly scratched.

I cannot give this place a higher review if it was really awesome we had some pizza and it was also delicious everything was great was the atmosphere the customer service the games the pricing everything go to this place as soon as you get a chance

The Irony of all the $htty kids parties we've had over the years to find this awesome place. How does the horror arcade feel safer than Chucky cheese? ...and the food super amazing (meatballs sandwich for the win)

We had a blast! Great pizza- love that they use some local ingredients. Our boys freaked when they showed them how to get into the arcade. Tons of fun old and newer arcade machines. Definitely recommend!

Great games, great pizza (they make their own dough and sauce and even use Grazianos), great service and monster themed! There's an employee that is dressing up like Halloween. It's bada*s!!! You can even get a sweet tattoo next door at Lucky Gals Tattoo shop. Make a day of it. I definatly recommend.

Food so good I only got the leftover photos

This place was a great experience and well worth the money, I have been to a couple of old arcade places in the Des Moines area of course but this one was by far the best. They have a variety of old games including Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and many pin ball machines of all dorts of different themes and genres. If you are looking to get food I cannot comment on that as I never got any but we did buy some drinks. The drinks were relatively cheap ($2.50) and free refills, not much t

Great local place! Pizza was good, the owner/worker was super friendly, the decor is amazing, and the games were fun. Nice spot for a date night on the Southside. Deserves some love from the community!

Very cool arcade pub with a hidden door that brings you to the action

Went here for my son's 15th bday party, had a blast! Their pizza is delicious, and although they don't have alcoholic beverages per se, the monster-infused cocktails they make are creative and tasty. Best of all, after admission, all the arcade games are free! Well, sans the bear claw-esque machine where you can try to win a ps5 for a buck. Very fun! Absolutely would go back for food and a casual good time.

I've been waiting for this place to open for awhile now as there isn't really family friendly arcades in DSM that do not serve alcohol or are only 21+. They have a flat rate fee, you pay and get unlimited games, which is nice with kids who nickel and dime you lol. The inside is amazing and decked out in horrorbillia, the staff is very friendly and explains everything to you as soon as you walk in. We came on the soft opening so full menu wasn't available yet, but the pizza we did try was great quality, fr

We had our sons birthday party at Monsterama. All the kids were very excited and had a great time. The pizza was great and the staff (Alex) was very nice and helpful. Would definitely recommend to anyone!

Great deal! Fun atmosphere. Friendly staff.

This place is great! Came here with my little(Big Brothers Big Sisters) and we both had a blast at a good price. Cool decor and great variety of games. Spent 2 hours and could?ve stayed even longer.

Went here with a party of 9 for my sons birthday dinner and was very disappointed, there was not room for a party that big as the dining area is very small. This is advertised as a family place to eat and play but no room to eat. We ended up leaving and going else where.

This Place is Great! Surprise from wife ended up being a huge surprise because this place is Retro gaming at its finest! What a treat it was super fun can't wait to head back and play more pinball/rollerball and many other games. I would highly recommend this place to any gamer from any age group.

My 6 year old son and I had a blast. The thin crust pizza was great and so was the 1/4 pound hot dog. We highly recommend Monsterama!

The decor, theme and arcade are very cool. The only aspect that turned me off were the prices and the fact that I got charged a "waiting fee" to escort my kids into the Arcade - $60 was a bit much for me to be a return customer, but it was a fun experience for sure

My son loves this place! We're close by,so him and his friends can walk there and hangout there all day if they want too. I'm excited that there's finally a place that kids can go,have a good time,and still be safe.. We need more of these places on the Southside ??

Great place to play, but some of the games were broken making it not worth the 15.00 for unlimited play. Food could use some more variety for kids. The staff was super nice.

Great quirky place to have a good pizza and play some arcade games. Pinball games need cleaned and a good matinence. Stuck flipper on Mando, 007 had a funky target that was going off qithout hitting it. But work good for that most part. The arcade games need some attention. Only half Hydro Thunder worked and it's steering was all messed up. Crazy taxi would not start a new game but was powered on. Worth the money but could use a a someone on staff a couple days a week just to fix some stuff.

Good food and fun games in a great atmosphere. Did a birthday party here and it was fantastic.

Part of Monsterama is a retro arcade and part is a pizza restaurant. Both parts are tied together with awesome monster decor. The arcade side is packed with a variety of games and pinball machines, and $15 gets you unlimited play. The machines are a bit close together, though, so it may be difficult to get around on a busier day. The "Mack Attack" pizza, which is basically a vegetarian street taco pizza, was very flavorful. My friends also enjoyed their pizza, which featured Graziano sausage. As the Term

We came visiting all the way from Texas and had A BLAST! Easily one of the best experiences in Des Moines

Atmosphere is great and it has food!

Funky and upbeat place to take the family. Classic arcade games at a fair price with unlimited plays and all day admission. Only bummer is the church next door ;)

Great service (alex) kept helping with anything I needed and was just great in general. I love Monsterama so so much one of my favorite places to go for the food, service, and games! Would recommend to ANYONE!

Food was great. In my opinion the games should be free. I think this would get more people to come here and eat.

Retro arcade games that took me back to teen years. My 13yr olds, son & grandson, enjoyed it as much as I did. Awesome family fun. Thank you

A really great experience with the kids. This place is like an old man's dreams come true and put into a business idea I highly recommend you try it.

This is the place to come for some fun, the pizza is amazing and the games are great. Swing in and have some fun!

Nice atmosphere, vintage game room, fun hidden door gaming room entrance. Gaming is flat price, but is a little expensive unless you plan to be there more than two hours.

$15 for unlimited freeplay is fantastic! Lots of games. Some arcade machines have multiple games. Pizza was good and so was the service.