Did you have a hometown arcade growing up? I was thinking about the one I went to as a kid today: Yellow Brick Road in La Jolla’s UTC Mall (San Diego, CA). So many memories of running in w/ my brother, a few pocketed dollars from my folks, going straight for the quarter machine.
I remember them very clearly, we had several. The other thing I remember was lone cabinets in random shops. Like an MK1 cabinet in a mom and pop grocery.