Gamers Geekery & Tavern — Restaurant in Cary

BLUF: Lots of promise, friendly staff, clean environment, still working out details. A lot of this review is coming from the only other place I know like this, Mox, which I encountered often on the west coast.

Service: Very friendly, but seemed very new. They didn't seem familiar with the menu, but more than willing to find out and get you any details. They greeted us very friendly and made us feel welcome. Likewise, they seemed unable to assist myself and my daughter in choosing a board game, whereas Mox the staff seemed almost too eager to tell me exactly what boardgame to try.

Food: I want to rate higher here but man. This was rough. The pretzel platter was decent enough, if a bit small. The Rampage (their take on a charterie platter) was crackers, salami, old sticky prosciutto, blocks of cheddar/gouda, and pitted olives. Idk, it just wasn't a "real" platter to me, and very disappoitning for the price. The chips and salsa were genuinely just chips with a typical jarred salsa, the type of thing most places give you free for sitting down (here $6). It was ... disappointing. I would eat before coming again. The beer was solid. Not great - not local micro brewed favorites (Bond Brothers and Fortnite around the corner), but decent brews popular in NC (Trophy and Pernicious).

Atmosphere: Great - lots and lots of seating, private rooms, and honestly the whole place felt welcoming and clean. I liked this the most.

Selection: Relatively speaking ... very few games to choose from. Again, I'm just going off other places I've been to. There were maybe 1 shelf for every 4 I was expecting. That being said, the selection they had was solid, ranging from any type of tabletop interest. I feel like I could explore this place for months and keep finding a new gem.

System: I guess I'm spoiled by the west coast version of this place - Mox. You can sit down, eat, and play a game, and get a discount on the game if you end up buying it. Like 15% off. This place, by comparison, charges you just to sit and play, and you pay full price. I want them to succeed, but I can't tell you how many times I bought a game at Mox because of that initial 15% investment for having even tried it. Likewise, the thought of returning and PAYING to try a game out is as dissuading as Mox would be inviting to try something new.

Overall: I will definitely try this place again. I'll eat before I go, and only go if I have more people to try the games out with ($10 max per table, vs $5 per person), or I would go just enjoy a beer and hope to meet some new people with similar interests. It's difficult to want a place like this, but to know it could be executed so much better. I feel like 3 stars is a solid compromise on all my hopes and...

Great concept. Poor execution in many ways. The idea of being able to play any multitude of games when you meet up with a group is cool. The atmosphere lends itself pretty well, though it's a tight squeeze through tables when it gets crowded, and the chairs are not exactly comfy. It also gets quite loud when everybody starts playing their own games, but I guess that's to be expected. We had the privilege of starting out with an empty place. This is mostly because even though they open at 3pm, the kitchen doesn't open until 5, which I don't get. From direct experience, it doesn't seem to benefit the business. Most people just wait until it's closer to 5 to come, so why not have the kitchen open when you open? Having said that, I'm not sure why you'd wait for the kitchen because the food was absolutely terrible. And I'm not picky. I'm happy as a clam with your average bar food, but this was barely edible. It was just hot dogs! With a handful of chips (dumped out of a bag, I'm sure), because unfortunately, they don't offer fries or any other yummy sides. I could tell I was not the only one to not like their food. And even though we ordered together, our dishes came out randomly, which was strange. Our waitress was nice but not exactly attentive. This brings me to my next point, which is that drinks were as bad as the food. The waitress didn't seem to notice that no one was drinking their mocktail, lemonade, OR sweet tea. I can maybe give a pass on the mocktails because they're more complex, but how do you screw up lemonade & sweet tea? Beats me, but they did. Again, overall a neat idea. But they have a long way to go before I'd officially recommend them. And I CERTAINLY wouldn't pay the $15/ month membership fee to come regularly, at least until they improve. We had to pay this just for the "privilege" of eating there once, since we're not members (ouch)! And the rest was not cheap either, @ $14 for 2 gross hot dogs/ 1 side, $15 for a bland quesadilla/ NO side included!! Etc.... you...

What a great gem ya’ll have in Raleigh! I highly recommend this spot for meeting up with a few friends for games-plus. I brought a new colleague who is unfamiliar with modern board games and this was the best experience I could have hoped for. Service: very friendly and helpful. They will let you do your own thing until you come up to the bar and ask for help or to order. Food: Good selection, well prepared, good price. I would rathe come here for a bite than any other chain or similar mainstream restaurant. Game space: large, study, and beautiful tables well-spaced to give you room to walk around. On this Friday night it was busy and very lively. My colleague and I offered to share our table with a couple that came it. Enough space for two two-player games and food. Game Library: I believe it is available on their website. Very nice selection of games. We had plenty for my colleague to learn in and several others I’ve been looking to play. Social: I saw a MTG event going on. I did not see anything on their website about other open table social events to join pickup games or the like. But, if you have someone to go with, or even a small group this...