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Musée Mécanique
Museum and Arcade
Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco
The experts at SF Weekly and SFist recommend this place
"Lots of cool vintage arcade games as well as some newer ones"(21 Tips)
"Yup, the place from the Princess Diaries."(7 Tips)
"Laughing Sal is terrifying and the photo booths are great!"(6 Tips)
"There are fortune tellers, skee ball galore, and jack-in-the-boxes."(5 Tips)
161 Tips and reviewsFilter:
- game room
- arcade games
- antiques
- laughing sal
- princess diaries
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Lizzie HinemanMay 26, 2018Fun, cheap and easy stop for our trip. The games are great—the new ones and the antiques...especially the antiques 🙃 $0.25-0.50 for each game.
Upvoted Oct 13
Lindsay EyinkFebruary 28, 2014The best fortune telling machine is the one in the back with the zodiac signs and the typewriter. Find the guy in the machine room and have him explain how some of the machines work. Super old school.
Brian StraussFebruary 18, 2019A totally unique experience. An inexpensive classic worthy of local attention in an otherwise sea of tourist traps. The amusements span more than 100 years. Arm wrestle a machine and whack-a-mole!
Rosa MirandaDecember 1, 2019Great old vintage arcades and new ones. Great place to have a good time and spend a little fun.
Ben MackeySeptember 25, 2018Bring some quarters and try all the old machines. The mechanical pianos were by far my favourite.
Natalie SwanMay 27, 2019Playing the arcades is much more fun than watching other people play. Give it a try! My favorites are retro shooters Red Dead Redemption style and the atari spaceship one at the back🚀
Kian LaviAugust 30, 2019A real gem in the middle of a tourist trap. I was enthralled by all the cool and wonderful machines, and I especially appreciated that they still have photobooths that actually develop B&W photos.- Blake SuharJuly 20, 2018An absolute MUST SEE if you are in the Fisherman's Wharf. Such a fun place to spend an hour or two playing out the evolution of arcade games over time.
Rachel MercerJune 17, 2013Amazing place. Get a bunch of quarters and go to town! Fortune teller machines are fun, as are the zoetropes. Spend some time with the Original Star Wars, Pac Man, and Marvel v. Capcom cabinets too.
KarenJanuary 6, 2018A super fun museum, really a large collection of vintage carnival games. Check out all of the miniatures. Well worth spending some money to play the games here.
Johnny MoralezJune 8, 2015Really cool walk through the arcades of the past. If you like games check it out. Also has some newer arcade games.
WhiskyAvengerJuly 5, 2018Come here to be horrified by the creepiness of Laughing Sal then console yourself by playing games from the the early 1900’s to the 1980’s.
Shawna MarieJanuary 13, 2017Great old arcade games. Bring quarters! Amazing place to learn and have fun. Tourist attraction, so not as busy during the off season and weekdays
Anthony V.April 28, 2019This location was featured in the film “The Princess Diaries” where Anne Hathaway’s character brings Queen Clarice (Julie Andrews) to use the photo booth and play an arm wrestling game.
Keith SmithJuly 11, 2017The old arcades are fun to see and play...also interesting to see the American mindset around the early 1900's.
Campbell BirdJune 13, 2016Possibly the coolest place on the wharf, even if you don't like games. Check out all of the weird old amusements and throw a quarter into some of them. What happens might surprise you.- Nate FolkertFebruary 27, 2022one of the cheapest and most entertaining attractions at fisherman's wharf
Edward HomickNovember 8, 2012Aesop Rock filmed his music video for Homemade Mummy here. One of the most unique and fun places to go to in the city. Where else can you have this much fun literally for spare change?
Yas AbJuly 8, 2016Adorable and unique! Some items are very creepy though. I love that all of the older games are for about a quarter each, or 50 cents.
Hamid Alan9aryJanuary 7, 2022Fun place to spend with the boys 😁 brings back lotsa memories 😅 You will need cash for quarters
Junes CJanuary 16, 2013Located right on Pier45 next to Fisherman's Wharf, wandering in here made my Sunday afternoon. Charming, cheap(25 cents), carnival games& wooden zoetropes made me feel like a kid from another century!
MariApril 9, 2018Fun collection of antique arcade games. People were weird back in the day. Most importantly there are real photobooths.
Catriona HunterJune 30, 2016Range of old coin operated arcade games and machines all in working order. Music, fortune tellers, games and an air-hockey table. What more could you want!
L WilsonFebruary 22, 2020Total gem - games dating as old as the 1800’s. Play the arm wrestling game Julie Andrews did in “The Princess Diaries!”
JennyMay 31, 2015Delightful! Bring a few dollars in change and test out some of these old timey arcade games. When you get tired, check out the old timey massage chairs!
Kurtis SherryDecember 19, 2019This place is unique and I wish I could have spent more time in it. There’s so many hidden treasures
Gregory K.March 24, 2018It’s free and a fun to explore the levels of play interactive through a few past generations
Eleanor RigbyJuly 10, 2017They tell you that the museum its for free, and yes it is.But you need coins to watch things work. They also had a machine that changes bills in coins so you can play
Amanda ThauFebruary 28, 2013Old school arcade and antique lover's dream. Tons of old games, fortune teller machines, and other gems. Play most things for 25 cents! What a deal!
Dazia PinedaMarch 27, 2023Crazy machines and really old ones! Be sure to change bill for quarters (they have machines to do so).
Mikael ThomasJanuary 24, 2017This place is amazing. So many old games I played as a kid in the 80's and 90's.. so many great memories!
Michael AraujoSeptember 13, 2015This place was so cool with all the antique machines. The great grandfathers of modern video games and console amusement.
Brad DOctober 13, 2013Make sure you have tons of quarters and dimes for these classic arcade games. I suggest arm wrestling - but don't go straight for the most difficult setting unless you want to break your arm.
Maria KaurkovskayaJanuary 23, 2015A lot of mechanical pianos and other musical machines. Great experience of old games and fun predictions from "famous" fortune-tellers
James CJuly 29, 2013Awesome old school quarter machines. Totally worth a look. You will definitely find a machine that is worth the coins for it.
Steve OatneyJanuary 28, 2014Great old automatons and mechanical-game amusement. Needs a bit of a facelift, but great carnival-style history and hands-on fun.
Ana MontesMay 16, 2014Must visit while in sf. Free to walk in..cheap to play... you can see in 10 minutes or stay to play.
DanaJuly 18, 2015Worth a look-in, a bunch of arcade games from the 1920's. The fortune telling machines spit out some cool vintage-esque cards.
Theresa DeApril 21, 2018This was neat place I stumbled upon just walking around. Neat to see the history of games and progression.
Daniel StansellApril 24, 2017Stocked full of arcade games from decades past, bring cash and quarters! We run out of coins before we make a full lap.
- Adri .July 8, 2014Free entry, bring quarters for the games. Lots of cool vintage arcade games as well as some newer ones
Dalton DFebruary 28, 2013Free to walk through, great old games you can actually play, plus instruments
BingAugust 8, 2012Skeeball fanatics and pinball wizards, this one’s for you. This arcade mecca is free to get in, and most machines cost 25 cents to play.
Jenny MackintoshOctober 19, 2012Such a fun, unique SF experience. So many great machines, but the Addams Family game made me smile a lot.
Jason BakerJanuary 9, 2014This place is awesome. Old School arcade games. A must visit place when in SF
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Welcome to the Musée Mécanique, one of the world's largest (over 200) privately owned collection of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition. (You can play them!)
Closed until 10:00 AM tomorrow (Show more)
- Mon–Fri
- 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
- Sat–Sun
- 10:00 AM–8:00 PM
(415) 346-2000
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- 8.9
"Great and very interesting. Not a good place to take the kids. Only one game in the entire museum. Very lovely and clean!"
Elizabeth Russell - 8.3
"Love this place. My wife takes out daughter here all the time. Who says there aren't things for kids to do in the city?"
Jonathan Chinchilla - 8.1
"First exhibition seen here: Kubrick in the summer/fall of 2016, great museography with a perfect flow around his filmography and some wonderful set objects and annotated scripts."
Wilson Favre-Delerue
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