Meeple and Mug - board game cafe — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I don’t know if they paid people for these good reviews or if they're using review catching software, because our experience was awful. I called ahead to book a reservation for 9 people for my partner’s birthday. The staff were friendly over email but from the moment we arrived it was like one particular staff member, who may have been the owner, had a vendetta against me? It was as if they were actively trying to make sure we had a bad time. When we arrived, we were directed to a muggy, overheated, dilapidated basement rather than the large open table on the main level. When I requested if we could be moved to the large table on the main floor, the employee said they could not do it - even though it remained vacant the entire time we were there. They seemed annoyed while we were doing the rolling the dice to pay thing they do. The employee charged us $5 because we brought a cake and actually seemed annoyed with us the entire time. He even suggested some game that seemed quite convoluted - possibly in the hope we would have a bad time. I don’t understand why we were treated so poorly as we were not rowdy or entitled, just a group of people trying to play some board games, celebrate a birthday, and support a local business. We all bought food, and we were only planning to stay for a short while, but this employee/owner made the experience so uncomfortable that we decided to leave early. They refused to turn on the AC in the fusty basement we were in, and it was so humid there was water dripping from the ceiling when it was 30C in Brisbane. All of my guests were covered in sweat and when we couldn’t take it anymore and decided to turn on the AC, the employee/owner angrily confronted me in front of my guests. So yeah, book here if you want to be disappointed and embarrassed. Great place if you want a date, friendly gathering or event to bomb.

My feelings about that particular employee aside, the novelty of a board game cafe in Brisbane is counteracted by the limited game selection and the food I ordered ended up being Woolies nachos with...

Horrible experience with very unwelcoming staff. Came to celebrate my pre-booked birthday as a group of 9 and the entire experience fell short. Wanted to support a local business, paid for games and plenty of food, but left soon once we learned how they truly run their establishment.

We requested that we weren’t in the awful muggy stuffy basement with no aircon. We were refused and told we had to stay down below even when there was only one table of two on the main level - and during the time we were there, no one sat at the large table on the main level. Multiple tables available. We were told aircon cannot be on in the basement due to the weather, however staff had multiple aircons on in the main level - disappointing as they themselves were plenty comfortable while we had to suffer in the basement.

The basement was stuffy and gross overall. No one else was down there - and thank goodness because it was just horrible. The main level area is well designed but the basement just looks like a complete afterthought. One party member was unfortunate enough to have sat in a chair where the ceiling was leaking. Disgusting. We still were not moved when requesting.

Multiple disappointing interactions with one particular male staff member. Multiple party members noticed his standoffish behaviour and overall irritableness directed specifically to our group - even upon our first entry into the establishment. He was incredibly rude and it genuinely felt like he had something against us.

Food seems to have just been re heated pre-made meals. Tasteless. Store bought.

We didn’t even finish playing a game before we left because we could not stand to be in the stuffy hot basement any longer.

I absolutely would not recommend this...

Meeple and Mug has such a friendly and welcoming vibe, where everyone is respectful of one another. Staff are excellent, they help facilitate a bunch of different games and everyone is always happy to teach whatever game they are playing so you can join in on any of the games they are playing. I've been 8 times since I found this place 9 days ago and that's only because I was away in Sydney for one of the days haha. You'll meet a lot of great friends at Meeple and Mug. The board game selection they have is absurd, there is literally multiple walls full of every type of game. The food and coffee is also really nice, and you don’t have to be into board games to enjoy...