June 08, 2023
Nik Korba/Unsplash
Queen & Rook, the Queen Village board game café, is relocating to a larger space on South Street and adding a retro video game arcade this fall.
Queen & Rook, Queen Village's board game café, will add a retro video game arcade and revamp its food and drink menu when it relocates to a larger storefront on South Street this fall.
The café, which has been at 607 S. Second St. since it opened its doors in September 2019, will remain open while its owners, Edward Garcia and Jeannie Wong, renovate and set up the new space. The café will operate on three floors at 123 South St.; no official opening date has been announced.
Classic video game titles from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s will be introduced, with staff on hand to help younger patrons learn the controls. The expanded Queen & Rook will host live DJ nights, wedding receptions and other special events, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.
"We are so excited about this expansion! It will allow us to do more of the events people come for every week and lean into games like no one else in the region," Garcia said. "Having welcoming, fun, and affordable social experiences has never been more important. Whether guests are enjoying a meal and a board game with friends or family, or creating new memories over a game of Ms. Pac-Man, we want to be the place they go to have a good time."
Queen & Rook will also install wood-fired ovens to serve pizza alongside its vegetarian-centric menu, and its cocktail, beer and dessert menus will be revamped.
The Keep, a retail and event space Garcia and Wong opened in 2021 to keep sales afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will remain open at 613 S. Second St. to host youth programming, game demonstrations and its summer day camp for kids ages 6-13. The shop, which its owners hope to incorporate into the larger space, is open Monday-Thursday from 5-9 p.m., Fridays from 5-10 p.m., Saturdays from noon-10 p.m. and Sundays from noon-7 p.m.
Queen & Rook is just one of several board game cafés in the Philly region, including Twenty One Pips in Ardmore, Thirsty Dice in Fairmount, the Board and Brew in University City and the Philly Game Shop in South Philly.
Until Queen & Rook's new location opens this fall, its current spot at 607 S. Second St. will remain open Monday-Thursday from 5-10 p.m., Fridays from 5 p.m.-midnight, Saturdays from 11 a.m.-midnight and Sundays from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Garcia and Wong will provide updates on the new space on the café's Instagram ahead of its opening.
