Main St. Board Game Cafe Opens in Huntington

HUNTINGTON, NY–Long Islanders, especially Huntington residents, can now enjoy playing a board game in virtually any group setting while they consume hot or cold food and drinks.

When walking into Main St. Board Game Cafe, you will first notice shelves lined with a staggering amount of games; either that or the counter to your right with a variety of food and drinks lined up behind it, complemented by three chalkboard-styled menus: treats, food and drinks. You will then encounter friendly staff who will help you and your family, friends or date find a board game most suitable to your tastes.

One copy of each of the 300-plus games are available in the store's library if you intend to hang out; $5 gets you a ticket during the day, or $10 at night or on weekends (it's always $5 for children). Each ticket gets an individual four hours of gameplay. Alternatively, the store always carries a few copies of each game in retail if you want to purchase one to go.

Neil Goldberg, the owner, had seen the concept of a game cafe work before in New York City and wanted to bring it to Long Island. He had spent 19 years as a sports producer before being laid off about a year and a half ago. He didn't want to go back into the field after that and opted for the challenge of launching his own business. He combined his willingness to be an entrepreneur with his love of board games. He achieved his goal when the store opened in April.

"About half the games in the [store's] library were in my basement a month and a half ago," Goldberg, 45, told Patch. "It’s a heck of a thing when you finally open the first time and you see that first customer come in and spend some money."

The back portion of the store features a giant case of nine rows and five columns of square shelves, each housing at least five board games. Long strips of white paper separate the games into different categories such as "area control," "social deduction, diplomacy and party games," and "cooperative," just to name a few.

Didi Feuer, 30, the store's director of games and programming, said an employee will assist customers on finding a game based on their interests, games that they’ve enjoyed in the past and their experience level. The staff puts an emphasis on trying to recommend a more modern game that fits the customer's criteria, though all of the classics are on hand, as well.

"A lot of times, people look at the shelf and they’ll only be familiar with Monopoly or Life, and we know there are games out there that are even better than that, that they maybe haven’t heard of," Feuer said. "If we guide them through the rules, the transition into a new game is a lot easier. We want to make sure that people don’t have to sit down and read through the rule book for 45 minutes before they start."

In addition to the classic competitive board games, the Main St. Board Game Cafe offers an assortment of cooperative games, such as Pandemic, where the group has to work together to avoid losing as a whole. There are two-player games geared specifically towards a group of two. A kids' section exists for a family-fun night. And then there are multiple sections for the experienced, hardcore crowd.

Feuer said it was important to the cafe that it has a game for everyone of varying skill-levels.

"We take our vision very seriously in creating an environment where everyone feels welcome," they said. "Our goal is to create a space where people don’t feel intimidated by new games but excited about them. Sometimes, game stores or game communities can feel sort of like an insiders’ club where you need to have a certain experience level in order to feel welcome. We want to be friendly to people who are already enthusiastic about games, but we also want to guide newcomers towards games that they’re going to love."

There's plenty of food and beverages to go around while you play. Sandwiches, nachos, pretzel sticks, pizza egg rolls, mac & cheese wedges and different types of tater tots and fries are at the forefront of the menu. Desserts include ice cream, cookie dough, brownie a la mode, yogurt parfaits, muffins and milkshakes. If you're thirsty, coffee, tea, water, juice, milk and hot chocolate are available.

According to Feuer, Goldberg realized Huntington was the perfect place to launch the business due to how culturally rich the community is. They noted Huntington already had a bookstore, an independent movie theater, a comic book shop and a performance theater.

"The town itself fosters a sense of adventure," Feuer said. "We thought we’d be a great fit here in Huntington, because when people come to the downtown area, they’re looking for fun things to do, they’re open to new things and they’re used to Huntington offering a cultural experience.”

Feuer said the public reception has been extremely warm after a month of the store being open. Weekends have been packed, and a wide variety of customers have spent time at the business, which was a goal of the staff. Families with children, Dungeons and Dragons players, dating couples and more have all come in and spent time playing board games.

"They’ve really enthusiastically told us, 'This was so much fun. We can’t wait to come back.' And to us, that’s the best thing we could hear," Feuer said. "It seems like people are rooting for us and that feels really great, because we love this community and we're so happy that people are walking in and having a great time."

The store is located at 307 Main St. in Huntington, and is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.