IS COMMUNAL SCRABBLE an underrated icebreaker? Ben Castanie thinks so. He and his partner, Aurelia Peynet, are the latest to stock their newly opened eatery — Snakes and Lattes, 600 Bloor St.W. — with a wall of classic board games for customer use.
“It’s a different way to interact,” he says, of the nearly 1,500 vintage games he and Peynet have scrounged over the years. He says customers swing by the low-tech locale for a game or two for different reasons, socialization and nostalgia being a couple.
At the Holy Oak Café (1241 Bloor St. W.), Wednesdays are reserved for game prime time. Justin Oliver, co-owner, says dozens of people come in to socialize and play throughout the evening, swigging pints and battling it out over Scrabble, Cathedral and Blokus.
Other hideouts that serve up Boggle with their brew include the Bishop and the Belcher (175 Bloor St.E.), Paully’s Pub (1240 Yonge St.), Disgraceland (965 Bloor St. W.) and Kilgour’s Bar Meets Grill (509 Bloor St.W.).
Andrew Kilgour, owner of Kilgour’s, and a Scrabble enthusiast, has designated Mondays as the bar’s official Scrabble night.
“All kinds of people come in,” he says, noting that players sometimes compete until the wee hours of the morning. “From kids to professionals, I mean, we’re talking top ranked.” There is only one rule: no clocks.
“This way a less-advanced player can come up to two professionals and talk to them. If a clock’s ticking away, they might be less inclined to chat.”
Kilgour says Scrabble players — sometimes up to 40 on a Monday night — come for the social aspect, too, especially in the summer when the patio begs for a cold drink and an outdoor Scrabble match.
At the Pie Shack (2305 Queen St. E.), decks of cards get so much use owner Tim McConvey has to replace them almost every week. For Snakes and Lattes, which boasts the largest board game selection of any café in Toronto, are there plans to have organized tournaments?
“Well, we’ve thought about it,” says Castanie. “But we’ve just opened, so we haven’t made any definite plans. For the moment, people just seem happy to come in on their own time.”