Game cafe Queen & Rook is going ‘retrofuturist’ for its new location on Fairmount Avenue
Queen & Rook, the board-game cafe on South Street, is planning a second location in Thirsty Dice’s former space. The theme will be a different kind of fantasy.
Queen & Rook’s next act is looking less like a castle and more like a spaceship.
The board-game restaurant and bar, which has built its South Street home around a medieval fantasy theme, is planning a second location at 1642 Fairmount Ave., the former home of Thirsty Dice. Edward Garcia, who owns the business with his wife Jeannie Wong and partners, said the new Queen & Rook Fairmount is expected to open later this year.
Garcia said the goal is to create what he calls “a fantasy future” with a “retrofuturist” design pulling from 1970s visions of tomorrow. Think The Fifth Element, Barbarella, the original Robotech series, The Battle of the Planets, as well as the Solarpunk movement, with touches of what he called “disco futurism.”
“There are a lot of ways of imagining the future,” he said. “We want to try and look toward a more positive future rather than an apocalyptic one.”
Queen & Rook is taking over a space already associated with board games, but Garcia said they’re trying to craft the new cafe in a way that doesn’t seem like they are reviving that concept. “This is an opportunity for us to bring something that the neighborhood valued into the area,” he said.
The new location will keep its core formula: thousands of board games, a full bar, and a vegetarian menu. Garcia said the menu will be largely similar to South Street’s, though the Fairmount Avenue location may add more small plates.
Queen & Rook launched in 2019 on Second Street and moved around the corner to 123 South St. in May 2024, adding wood-fired pizzas, a basement arcade, after-school programs, and a companion shop next door.
The new location, which straddles Spring Garden and Francisville, may also get video games, though Garcia said that will depend on the final layout. “We’ll still have thousands of board games for people to play,” he said.
The goal, Garcia said, is still escapism — just pointed in a different direction.
“You step into a fantasy setting, you’re playing games, you’re having drinks, and it just feels so fun,” he said of South Street. “This, in the same way, feels fun, but also hopeful.”
