Bard & Baker Board Game Cafe
TROY, N.Y. >> There is no better way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon than playing board games with friends.
Last weekend, I got to do that during my first of many gameplaying sessions to come at the new Bard & Baker board game cafe, located at 501 Broadway in downtown Troy.
When I first learned of local entrepreneur Charlotte Guyton’s plans to open the Capital Region’s first board game cafe I was pretty excited. And when I got the chance to sit and talk with her about it, she really sold me on why board game cafes are not only fun, but kind of necessary nowadays.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve seen happen over the last 10 years in the hospitality industry, it’s people moving away from having a face to face conversation,” Guyton told me. “We want people to talk to one another more. It makes the whole world a better place.”
I want to see that too, and I did during my recent visit to Bard & Baker. For the most part, our cell phones were tucked away. All conversations and information exchanges happening were verbal, and taking place between only the persons sitting at our table
hen is the last time you were able to say that about five people you spent an entire afternoon with?
Assisting us through this long forgotten experience were the board games sitting before us. While hundreds were available to us, my party played a total of four games — a card game called Go Nuts for Donuts, a guessing game titled Code Names, a bluffing game known as Secret Hitler (although we didn’t quite figure that one out), and spooky game Betrayal At House On The Hill, in which I proudly defeated all of my friends.
While we played, I enjoyed a tasty lychee rose tea and scone, then after my big win a pork belly sandwich ( PBLT) served on homemade ciabatta bread, a great victory meal.
While I truly love everything about Bard & Baker, my favorite part is that it’s located in a spot that’s very special to me. The section of the old Record newspaper building where the board game cafe is now located is the former lobby and main entrance.