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Why five (5) stars for a coffee shop (as if we don't have a large number of them in Calgary)? As a Yank, I realize Calgarians and probably Canadians really like their coffee but want something different in a coffeehouse.
With me? Read on (for originality).
So, this friendly new Edmonton-based coffee shop now in Calgary's Kensington neighbourhood that opened Monday, 18 July on the 2nd floor above the Song Han Vietnamese Restaurant which apparently at one point was a Swimco is here to challenge the "coffee shop paradigm".
I met the two owners on 24 July briefly; I was curious about the location (since my last visit to Kensington, I did not see this shop). I saw games and coffee and immediately thought Pokémoron or World Of Warcraft but no, not this time.
Board games of all kinds; the picture attached only shows about 1/4 of the games they have. There is a huge area behind the main counter (pictured with the beautiful menu on a clear background). The place is nicely lit (at least on sunny days).
As it says on the menu, order a drink including coffee, beer*, and wine*, pick a game and it's $2.50 hourly. At first, I was thinking WTF but then it makes sense as it keeps people from buying 1 drink and spending all day in there using resources and the $2.50 allows them to keep the games stocked.
*this will be changing as they get more beers and wine selections (has to do with licensing issues).
The prices on drinks are inline with Higher Ground and Starbucks, also in the neighbourhood but the difference maker is the gaming area (my Shaw wi-fi also worked in there on my T-mobile branded LG G Pad 8.0 X).
I have not seen this concept live before but the owner told me the original location is in Edmonton (hence the Edmonton-based reference in the first sentence) and they already looking to open up additional locations in Calgary! I can say the in the first season of Daria, the coffeehouse episode where the students of Lawndale open a coffeehouse of old (a place for people to read, play games, etc) is surely an inspiration (of course, this was the late 1990's).
I did forget to ask about snacks or if, you as a gamer, can have food like pizza or what-not delivered.
Hopefully, you can. I will ask on my next trip in here (probably on Tuesday).
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