The Board and Brew — Restaurant in College Park

My partner and I are new to the Maryland area and enjoy finding new fun things to do! We thought to come and just sit and have a latte, but didn't know it was a full service place. We reviewed some boardgames and menu and thought, "Why not?" compared to a boardgame cafe in NYC, this is place is huge and extremely affordable with great food.

Service (with knowledgable Bunny Owner Experienced Waitress Bonus): Our waitress was helpful, attentive, and didn't ignore us at anytime. Wonderful job, though I forgot her name, she was a rabbit owner, who owned a lop, which makes her awesome in my book. Bunny owners are always good workers all around.

Latte ($4.75) & Mocha ($5.50): I am not picky, but my Mocha was fine, it tasted like a Mocha. My partner said the latte was really good though, good balance of coffee and milk.

Salmon (Lox) Style Bagel / Chesapeake Smokehouse Smoked Salmon ($13): We ordered this with no bagel, so they customized our order just fine. The salmon was "salmony," I mean its smoked salmon, it only has one taste at any place on this earth. Its fresh enough, really good, can't mess it up, you'ed be a major clown to mess up opening a pack of smoked salmon and putting it on a plate.

Southwestern Egg Sandwich ($8): This was awesome, I wasn't expecting the meal to be so huge. Amazing portion for $8, easily a $16+ item in NYC. Crispy bacon, nicely cooked eggs, great avocado spread, on an extremely fresh bagel, I loved it! Definitely a hit with me.

Gaming ($5 Per Person): We scouted the games before sitting because we were hesitate at first with no intention of playing. The organization of the place and clearly labelled shelves made it extremely easy to peruse the goods and find a game we can play. Previous places we have been to just piled the boxes with no clear labels, so kudos to this place for making it easy to find something within the 750+ games they have. We ended up with "Bunny Kingdom," a deck management game with cute bunnies, and it was an awesome game, with the learning curve, it took about 1+ hour to figure it out. We ended up buying the game the same night.

Game Quality: After observing the games and boxes, people take care of the games well here with minimal wear and tear. My game box was a bit sticky, but we wiped it off. Absolutely no fault of the cafe, because its all up to the "us" locals to care for them while playing. But our pieces were fine with some broken pieces, but no big deal, still playable and still really fun.

Food on table while playing (if any): I always wonder about various things a business does. This place is tricky as a gaming/food place. The plates were not big (my food kept sliding off the edges, causing me to keep wiping the table), but I think the reasoning is that people have a plate on the table while playing, so if its big, its in the way. Then the drinks, which I almost knocked it over, screwing drink holders on the side of the table? Which may take up space and be in the way at times for passerbys, meaning people may bump your drink (not good). Phew so hard... but what they have going now works great! I want my own cafe someday, so what you (Board and Brew) have going is amazing to watch and learn from!

Overall: We spent $43 + tip (plus $4 worth of parking), for two drinks, two meals, and two people gaming, totaling 4 hours spent here. 1 hour eating + 3 hours playing. What an incredible experience we had after a long week of work. Adding great service and a great atmosphere, and a wonderful crowd that hangs out there. We will definitely come back and play more often! Thank you Board and Brew!

Parking is easy too, drive right in the apartment complex with the ramp that says "Guest/Rental Parking" for $1 an hour. Yes, New Yorkers, its called "rental parking" here, I was...

I've been going since their opening.

The vibe of the place changed drastically depending on the time I happened to go. Early in the morning I found it to be a really nice quite place for studying (they have wifi) or lounging on a couch while enjoying a cup of coffee. There is plenty of room. Later in the evening on a Friday it was actually hard to get a table for 4. I've also enjoyed their open mic night (Tuesdays). 5 stars for the vibe and vibe diversity.

Food/Drink: In terms of drinks the blueberry latte is crazy how much it tastes like blueberries. The old bay fries are well worth the upcharge if ordering a meal with fries. Brew burger is my preferred dish as they tend not to overcook the meat although the toppings (onions and salsa-ish sause) may not be for everyone. They have also recently added craft bears including hard cider and hard root beer although a bit pricey at 4-7 bucks a piece goes with the vibe really well. Bonus it keeps the college crowd from getting crazy drunk. 4 stars for the food with one star taken away due to a limited menu. 5 for the drinks just such a good selection and all of it good.

Games: For 5 bucks/per person unlimited gaming. They have over 600 games! And this isn't you're grandmothers old board game closet. They have something for everyone. When I went during a less busy time the staff was very helpful in selecting and learning new games. Some might think 5 bucks is a bit steep for playing a game and depending on you're situation it could be. For me it's a steal for ~3 hours of entertainment. 5 stars for the gaming due to selection.

Staff/service: A bit of a mixed bag actually, I've had fantastic service and poor service. The poor service didn't bother me too much as I wasn't in a big rush at the time but it doesn't excuse the lackluster performance of our server. Other times it's been fantastic. The "system" of how the place works does take a bit getting used to; a bit like chipotle in that regard. You can either order at the register directly to go or self sit and a server will come by and take you're order. They also have these service sticks which lets you let them know when you need service or don't (like when you're playing a long involved game). 2-5 stars for service depending on the visit.

Overall a really unique an cool place. If I lived closer I would spend even more time there. If it existed when I actually went to CP I'd have instantly made it part of my weekly routine. 5 dollar unlimited gaming, eclectic vibes, good (although limited) food, great drinks, mixed service,...

Let me just say, I've been a customer for years. Literally since maybe 1 month after they opened and I remember the service and food were amazing. Thats sadly not the case anymore. My wife and I haven't been in a while but we wanted breakfast and decided to come back. We were seated promptly and then we ordered our drinks, hot chocolate and a white chocolate macadamia nut latte. We waited for a good while and in the meantime we ordered our food. When our drinks finally arrived they were good, but they weren't hot. They weren't even really warm. When you drink hot beverages, you expect to feel toasty on the inside, but this wasn't the case. They still taste fine, the latte was good enough to get again and the hot chocolate was alright, but the recipe definitely changed. I don't believe the chocolate is sourced from the same place as before and I had to ask for the whipped cream. Our food was out actually much faster than our drinks surprisingly. My wife ordered the BNB which is 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, bacon and home fries. I ordered the cinnamon French toast and a side order of French fries. This is where things took a turn. Almost every item we ordered was either cold or luke warm. The only items that were okay temperature wise were the French toast and the home fries. The bacon wasn't crispy and it was cold to touch. The pancakes were cold and the syrup was even colder, the eggs were also luke warm. Even the fries were slightly warm though they looked fresh. This was so disappointing, especially because the flavors were decent, but cold food in restaurant is just inexcusable. We wanted to take it back but the server was rarely there and we were still hungry. So 6/8 items total were cold to luke warm and the service was spotty at best. This is just so much more upsetting when this a place I've loved in the past and raved about and supported for a long time. It was so disappointing that I dont think I would even go back for gaming. Hopefully it gets better but I won't be back...