Joystick Comedy Arcade

"I've been going to studio and yacht club/joystick for over 5 years, and while I have had good times, there have been some really negative experiences as well. As of the last year or more, one bartender, Nancy, has been extremely rude to myself, many of my friends, as well as those who I have met through my friend groups on an unprecedented amount of visits. It's getting too consistent, and really does effect the atmosphere of the entire business when a single bartender can become so notorious to so many people. While they have the ability to at least pretend to be nice, they clearly have anger issues, and will pick and choose who they decide to either be a complete and utter ball of anger and unwarranted frustration towards, or and at moments notice, switch personalities and become a completely different kind of tool for those they like. This, to me, proves they can control their attitude/actions, but simply choose not to when they feel they can get away with it, which they do quite often to say the least. How they decided that customer service of any kind was for them is beyond me, and again, it really begins to tarnish the name/reputation of the business as a whole and makes it a very unwelcoming one to say the least. Their genuine lack of kindness has been something they seem to have had no issue getting away with, much less being in anyway told to stop or reprimanded for such terrible customer service/bartender abilities. I have little faith this will change, and despite loving to attend the drag shows, playing video games, and watching stand-up, it becomes not worth going to/dealing with when this kind of person continually proves themselves to be an emotional, ticking timebomb of ill-willed action against customers on a daily basis. If you're thinking everyone gets treated with the same respect without bias, throw that idea out the window and replace it with a non-inclusive atmosphere and add the potential for some serious aggression/a hateful personality to top it all off. On a side note, if you like arcades, try Double Tap instead! Great selection of games, and you don't have to risk dealing with someone who can't apparently or in any consistent fashion be a decent human to others. Let alone, and as I said, you risk being around someone who is incapable of serving customers calmly and competently. Again, if they are still able to be doing this, they are not the only one and/or the business itself approves of such behavior. Make the drive to a different drag show to avoid drama if at all possible, but worse case, don't talk to the bartenders any longer than needed to avoid negativity/verbally abusive (hopefully not physically abusive, but be on guard) staff."

"my first time coming into this bar i wanted to check the place out with my friends and there was this lady with black bangs sitting by the stairs to lead downstairs and i thought she was counting till so i didn’t want to look around her and she stuck her hand out asking for ID then wanted to charge $5 per person when there was no sign saying so. i apologized for walking around her and her table and explained to her i’ve never been there and she rudely said something along the lines of im not sitting here for no reason. none of us will come back again. bartender was nice to us walking in and out."

"Had a fun time lastnight. Staff was friendly, drinks were solid. Prices were fair, the comedy show was good, host and headliner were my favorites. Casual atmosphere. Next time will try and stay for drag show @studio13"

"Everything was great but the bartender nancy ruined my experience. their comedy was so bad and their drinks tasted like a cheap alcoholic made them. everytime i wanted a drink i had to wait for them to come back from their cigarette break, and they never washed their hands when they came back. during comedy night, i had to get up during their set and leave out of second-hand embarrassment. after the third “my dad died” joke, i was the one who needed a cig break. monty was awesome tho, he makes it worth it. also, nancy kept giving myself and other customers unsolicited back rubs. this made many of us quite uncomfortable. it’s not that i don’t like back rubs, but i just dont trust where those hands have been. get your greasy mits off of my back, you troll."

"Absolutely amazing how much this bar has to do, you can watch natinal headlining comedians nearly every week, play tons of video games, sing karaoke, watch anime and just have a great time with friends! Plus it's located right under studio-13 so you can watch drag shows! This is EASILY my favorite bar in Iowa City and would highly recommend it for anyone looking to have a great night!"