Tabletop cafes?

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Locally we have a few board game cafes, but does anyone know of any tabletop cafes?

I had the thought of one, part game store,  part easy/cheap food restaurant.

hotdogs, fries, drinks, etc.

a small game of 40k can take 2 hours no problem, so I’m sure plenty of people have gotten the munchies half way through a 2000pt game
 

I know my LGS has chips and cans of pop, but that just seems unsatisfying one most cases for me.

[Remain_Indoors]

There's a couple of Tabletop Gaming cafes local to me. They serve food and drink while providing areas to play tabletop games - wargaming, card games, boardgames etc. Ones pretty good, with a decent selection of food and playing area. The other is the opposite, very much a crap cafe with a couple of tables shoved in.

[MegaVolt87]

Problem with that is the cafe side. Hospitality industry is a money pit and if the cafe is bad the LGS will haemorrhage cash to prop it up. Ditto if its a licenced bar instead. Theoretically (this is general ideas not specific advice) having a shared location space with a business partner, make a partnership with someone with hospitality experience  and it could work as a business. 

[Cleon]

Locally I have a couple that have teamed up with nearby places to let people do 'order in' rather than actually producing food themselves, also having some pastries/brownies on hand from local bakeries/cafes. I assume that works better as the throughput of food irders from people gaming is unlikely to use a kitchen efficiently.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

50 minutes ago, Cleon said:

Locally I have a couple that have teamed up with nearby places to let people do 'order in' rather than actually producing food themselves, also having some pastries/brownies on hand from local bakeries/cafes. I assume that works better as the throughput of food irders from people gaming is unlikely to use a kitchen efficiently.

My thought Was like the gas station rollers for hot dogs, a simple small oven for fries, and a refrigerator and freezer. 
that way you avoid utilizing an actual kitchen per se.

also some sort of membership, could be utilized for discounts on food, products, and invites to special events for free.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Inquisitor_Lensoven

[Focslain]

4 minutes ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

My thought Was like the gas station rollers for hot dogs, a simple small oven for fries, and a refrigerator and freezer. 
that way you avoid utilizing an actual kitchen per se.

A FLGS semi-near me (about an 1hr drive) is doing exactly this, they even have a small 'dining' area so you can sit and eat between matches. It's not bad, still needs a little work though.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

58 minutes ago, MetalMammoth said:

Mmmm... Nothing beats grease and bits of food on your minis & codexes!

Now if only we could add open flames and unruly children to the mix...

Don’t worry, napkins will be provided in abundance for free. 
Use is up to the player however 

12 minutes ago, Focslain said:

A FLGS semi-near me (about an 1hr drive) is doing exactly this, they even have a small 'dining' area so you can sit and eat between matches. It's not bad, still needs a little work though.

What kind of food do they offer?

[Doobles57]

My main venue for gaming has this. Front half is a board game cafe type thing and the back half is all gaming tables. Serves coffee, beer and decent food. 

I get the concerns about greasy food etc around the tables, but our group is made up of adults who know how to clean themselves so not really an issue. Understand thats not always a guarantee though. 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

34 minutes ago, Doobles88 said:

My main venue for gaming has this. Front half is a board game cafe type thing and the back half is all gaming tables. Serves coffee, beer and decent food. 

I get the concerns about greasy food etc around the tables, but our group is made up of adults who know how to clean themselves so not really an issue. Understand thats not always a guarantee though. 

I would have a house rule all children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21+ .

[StraightSilver]

My closest FLGS is a gaming cafe, and I absolutely love it. For anybody interested it's Bad Moon Cafe in South London.

It's a really nice space to game in, I think that's more down to the deign of the space and the staff who keep it clean and tidy. 

As a Londoner, where houses/flats don't allow for gaming space most of the time, it's a godsend, but having a cafe makes it preferable to similar stores, such as Darksphere.

It's also nice to be able to go in and buy a White Dwarf or Codex and sit with a coffee or lunch to read through it.

[Redcomet]

2 hours ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

My thought Was like the gas station rollers for hot dogs, a simple small oven for fries, and a refrigerator and freezer. 
that way you avoid utilizing an actual kitchen per se.

also some sort of membership, could be utilized for discounts on food, products, and invites to special events for free.

As soon as food production becomes a thing a whole host of rules and regulations crop op. A couple of my friends opened a LGBT focused book cafe and had to alter their plans to only serve food, not cook it. 

[NovemberIX]

I think Ft.Worth and LA have Warhammer Cafe's, never been to one, but from the pictures it looks like a sandwich and chips kinda place. Would be nice to have an instore option when we break during apoc games at the FLGS.

[Focslain]

2 hours ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

What kind of food do they offer?

He was still in the early stages, but had gotten one of those rolling hot dog machines, had a few microwaves/toaster ovens and refrigerators. So hot dogs, chips and candy. Think the plan was for a small popcorn machine too. When I saw it last (two months ago) it was more like a break room, just while getting the tour the owner stated his future plans.

[The Yncarne]

We have one local. I'm not sure if I can post a link, but the menu includes burgers, sausages, wings, fries, coffees and adult beverages (even poutine for our Canuck friends). When I last visited it was a Fantasy Flight thing and the food was ok. A bit better than most convention food offerings, but not something I'd go to for food first.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

1 hour ago, Focslain said:

He was still in the early stages, but had gotten one of those rolling hot dog machines, had a few microwaves/toaster ovens and refrigerators. So hot dogs, chips and candy. Think the plan was for a small popcorn machine too. When I saw it last (two months ago) it was more like a break room, just while getting the tour the owner stated his future plans.

sounds like he was going the route i thought of.
probably a panini press/george foreman grill wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[Slave to Darkness]

Dont forget you need to worry about stuff like food hygiene and all that good stuff as well, and stock rotation etc etc, if you dont sell a lot of food you may end up with wasted stock/cash. If you have no catering experience you may have to hire in someone else who isnt going to dribble over the food. 

[Cpt.Danjou]

My closest FLGS has a restaurant with burgers, beer, coffee and sweets, you can play in the restaurant part, but it is mostly Magic players in there, you are allowed to eat in the rest of the gaming are, but no Alcohol is allowed due to local laws. This is in Stockholm Sweden.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

3 hours ago, Cpt.Sneeze said:

My closest FLGS has a restaurant with burgers, beer, coffee and sweets, you can play in the restaurant part, but it is mostly Magic players in there, you are allowed to eat in the rest of the gaming are, but no Alcohol is allowed due to local laws. This is in Stockholm Sweden.

I’d be more worried about drunk people running into the tables and knocking models off than the greasy fingers some people here said they’re worried about.

[sarabando]

theres a gaming bar/cafe in Basingstoke Hampshire called Dice tower that does all sorts of gaming events

 

[Kenzaburo]

18 hours ago, StraightSilver said:

My closest FLGS is a gaming cafe, and I absolutely love it. For anybody interested it's Bad Moon Cafe in South London.

It's a really nice space to game in, I think that's more down to the deign of the space and the staff who keep it clean and tidy. 

As a Londoner, where houses/flats don't allow for gaming space most of the time, it's a godsend, but having a cafe makes it preferable to similar stores, such as Darksphere.

It's also nice to be able to go in and buy a White Dwarf or Codex and sit with a coffee or lunch to read through it.

I immediately thought of Badmoon Café. I was there sometime during summer 2019 for a painting class. A really nice store and as StraightSilver said, it's clean, airconditioned and nicely designed. The crowd was pretty chill, too. If my memory serves right they made the coffees on site but had the food (pizza) be delivered by a nearby place they cooperated with. Had a great time there, I wish I could've found the time to play, too. 

[Xenith]

Geek Retreat in the UK is a combo cafe/boardgame-tabletop game store. Smaller ones sell snacks, but I recall the larger ones sell food like pizza, nachos etc. 

[Emperor Ming]

Would love a table top/board game café in my area

[Slave to Darkness]

On 6/30/2022 at 4:29 PM, Xenith said:

Geek Retreat in the UK is a combo cafe/boardgame-tabletop game store. Smaller ones sell snacks, but I recall the larger ones sell food like pizza, nachos etc. 

and you too can get in on the Geek Retreat franchise and open a store in your town... 

 

No I dont work for them, but I am thinking about it. Im not sure if it will do well where I live though, even the local GW is like a ghost town but that maybe due to the manager herself than the local player base, the local vets opinion of her is lower than my opinion  of Matt Ward or the state of current GW.

 

 

Also, Im not sure if its still open but before I moved half way across the country (England) there was a place up in Liverpool called the Scythe and Teacup,  it was the top floor of an old warehouse so not the flashiest of places ( Liverpool is like the underhive so its to be expected) but they did do a bangin bacon butty and tea and coffee was cheap, just what a financially struggling wargamer needs. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Slave to Darkness

[sibomots]

Card Kingdom (Seattle, in Ballard on Leary Way) scratchd out an existance in the MtG side but their Seattle location grew to bust the seams and they opened...

Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, WA (a lush much bigger venue with many more gaming tables tables, painting tables (yes, bring your paints and sundries)... and  then..

They opened the Portland, Oregon version of MBH.

I've been a frequent patron of CK since before MBH and although the roots of the stores' hospitality is sometimes apparent, they have become a bit arrogant.

Still -- despite all of that -- Yes, Café, Alcohol (in the bar only), but Food *brought to you if you wish*.  Not a bad menu and not just chips and dogs.

Nutshell, for premium service and premium prices, CK/MBH.   I don't know of any other in this local area.  I'd be interested in knowing.

(Since C-19, it's been tough on game shops.. Uncles Games shutdown (Cross Roads on 156th near MSFT),  Heroic Knights Games (Issaquah, poof), and even before that (not a huge "game" shop but not a bad place to hang, The Dreaming (on University and ~ 50th sorta, by UWash Campus).

--

Off topic slightly -- anyone reading this have memory of USS Enterprise in Totem Lake (Kirkland, WA)

Good luck.

 

[MadGreek]

 

On 6/29/2022 at 12:42 AM, MegaVolt87 said:

Problem with that is the cafe side. Hospitality industry is a money pit and if the cafe is bad the LGS will haemorrhage cash to prop it up. Ditto if its a licenced bar instead. Theoretically (this is general ideas not specific advice) having a shared location space with a business partner, make a partnership with someone with hospitality experience  and it could work as a business. 

This. My friend has a game store here in San Diego. At one point he acquired the adjoining space and entered a partnership with a brewhouse to open a tasting room as part of the store. Put tables in the back room, beer was good, I really enjoyed going there, even when not playing anything (just to drink a beer or two). However, for various reasons, the bar side was underperforming, and the game side was subsidizing it heavily (so I believe, anyway). Game store is still there, and prospering, but the partnership dissolved and the bar is gone. Shame really.