Many weeks ago, my wife took me on a field trip to a wonderful gaming oasis in the middle of otherwise nondescript Glendale, CA. She'd told me it was a surprise field trip. No, it wasn't my birthday. Yes, we are that cutesy couple everyone hates. Anyway, as we pulled into a part of LA we hardly ever go to, I had no idea what I was in for. She even had trouble, once on foot, finding the place. When we hit what would be the right block, we walked by an empty storefront and a toy store. I honestly thought we were going to the toy store. Maybe as a joke. Then we'd go to the real place. Not this time. As we moved to the next door, I saw the distinct layout, colors, and logos of: GameHaus Cafe.
It's the perfect combination of delicious, health-conscious (including vegetarian) cafe fare and over 1,000 board games. For a small $5 fee, you and yours can order a drink, soup and sandwich, or any number of pastry delights, and board game your brains out. For literally hours at a time if you like. If you're new to board gaming, they have easier games. If you're a pro, they've got more challenging ones. If you're a snob, they've got that odd, impossible-to-find German game you played way back when.
After our field trip, I reached out to co-founder and co-owner Robert Cron, who was quite generous with his time in retelling the inspiration, perspiration, and celebration that is GameHaus Cafe. We covered everything from how it evolved out of Cron's regular game nights with friend, to how he and business partner Terry Chiu arrived at the magic price point of $5, to why on Earth they spell the name with that silly, German-style umlaut. Cron even gives some great advice to all the would-be board-game cafe founders out there (hint: it's really expensive) and why Halloween isn't such a big deal at GameHaus Cafe.
Without further ado ...
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