The Paladins League — Restaurant in Portland

Paladin's League is one of the best gaming cafe's in Portland. (And I've been to most of them at least once.) TPL is going to be one of my go to spots for dates nights and family outings.

TLDR: Great food, warm environment, good game selection, family friendly

The food is really good, even in Portland, where the bar is high, they aren't just phoning in the food, it's quality, flavorful, and satisfying. (I've had the Mac and Cheese and the Burger). Their boozy hot cocoa is not one note, but manages to be a complex delicacy.

And the game library is great. As a parent of a younger child these spaces are usually out of reach. No longer, there are several shelves of games that my 3 year old can play. Every time we are there there are kids of all ages playing games. A ton of light social games as well.

And my complex heavy strategy wishes are fulfilled by this location as well. We recently played Expeditions (Stonemaier Games) there and had a great time. They have Arkham Horror (and a ton of others that I can't remember off the top of my head) but know there are a great number of heavy strategy games both familiar and new to me. There are a lot of D&D resources as well as a rentalable room just for D&D stocked with minis which I hope to avail myself of at some point as a professional DM.

One of the staff even said they were special ordering a game for a group of beekeepers coming to play, so they are very interested in supporting the community and growing their offerings.

Small note: I'm not a huge fan of table fees (but love that kids play free). I do totally understand it since keeping their library of 500+ games stocked is a service that other locations don't provide. I am looking forward to their monthly family subscription model. Hoping that this business can become a pillar of our community and a great...

I really, really wanted to like this place.

I visited early afternoon on a slow weekday to try a cocktail. One of the owners was taking orders at the register and couldn't answer my question about a menu item (what the rotating infused gin was in the Herbalist, a $13 gin & tonic).

She grabbed the cook from the kitchen to help with my order, which seemed odd, considering I also saw and heard that cook on the phone dealing with vendors, training a young employee, running orders to customers, and presumably making all the food. The cook did their best, but was clearly unfamiliar with the bar setup and stuck a dirty rosemary sprig in the glass.

As far as gin & tonics go, it was just fine, excepting the grimy garnish. The space is beautifully built out, and the game collection is very impressive, but the sparse staff seem overwhelmed by ownership that fails to provide the bare minimum of service and relies far too heavily on employees.

Edit in response to owners: Safety is my priority. When the most dangerous (and lucrative) menu offerings are so unfamiliar to the owner of an establishment who assigns themselves the role of service to cover absent employees, I am ill at ease in the neighborhood where I...

Great staff, good food, fun games.

They have a very cool looking private room w/fancy game table to rent, as well as reserved tables and walk-in booths and 4-tops.

They have an excellent game selection! Not the old basic, zero-effort Americana games, but modern games that are fun, take thought, strategy, and cleverness to play and win. I'm excited to try out more games here.

They have a great pastry selection. I enjoyed the chicken pot (hand) pie, the milkshake, and cider. Can't wait to get into the apple pie & blueberry coffee cake - they look excellent.

The only complaint:

Horrible, just horrible music. 80's & 90's tracks on repeat. We heard "me so horney" three times, among other repeats. The first time was both nostalgic and awkward with the young kids around. Repeats were cringe. Please play original, royalty-free, creative commons, etc. if it costs too much to play something appropriate (Cloud Cover is $16/month commercial use, I believe.)

Music aside, I'm looking fwd to...