Tiffany’s

A standalone arcade and ice cream parlor established in 1981. Full counter of ice cream, bright with high ceilings and lined on both sides with video games. The first location (indicated here) was centered on the Arcata Plaza until about 1986/7 when it moved a block away just off the plaza.

Tiffany’s (often remembered as Tiffany’s Garden) was a small, homegrown Arcata hangout just off the Plaza. It started as an ice cream parlor with video games in the early 1980s and later became a youth drop-in center that still kept arcade machines and pinball. Local papers and later nostalgia pieces treat it as the Arcata arcade of that era. Owner and martial arts teacher Carol Heaslip evolved her business model over time. What started as an ice cream parlor eventually became a teen center with a restaurant, job training, counseling, and their own cable TV show. Kids could work for tokens by sweeping or clearing tables.