Color codes:

A current meeting place

Backup

Promising except for hours

Permanently closed

Avoid

Name (click for web site)

Address (click for map)

Notes

33 Revolutions

San Pablo @ Central (1 block from El Cerrito Plaza BART, 6 blocks from Hwy 80 Central Ave. exit), El Cerrito

April, 2008: Opening in Central Perk's old location. They seemed welcoming. We'll see how it goes. June, 2008: Almost unanimous feeling that it's not good enough for regular use, but possible backup when other places are unavailable. It closes at 9pm on Tuesdays. Most people thought the food was expensive and the service was awful. August, 2008: Service has improved a lot. It now closes at 10pm on Tuesdays. It won a new poll on where to meet on Tuesdays. December, 2008: They have started having loud live music. It gets too cold. We are considering other locations. December, 2009: Closed.

The Albatross Pub

1822 San Pablo Av N of University, Berkeley

Limited food selection, emphasis on alcohol, dimly lit, not crowded on weeknights. What did you expect? It's a bar. Free street parking, usually within several blocks. July, 2002: Elizabeth says: I went to the Albatross pub [Sunday] night for the new Scrabble group that meets there, but got distracted by the folks playing Taboo and Boggle at the next table, and I ended up playing Pictionary with them. The Albatross has a bunch of games behind the bar that they let people use if you give them some i.d. to hold. They serve pizza and popcorn to eat, and besides liquor they have juices and I think coffee. It's not an ideal games setting--it's a little dark and on Sundays there's Trivia in the back room which gets pretty loud by 8:30 or 9 (I arrived around 6:30) but it wasn't bad, and I'll probably return occasionally.

December, 2009: Andrew says: Apparently they're open all night, have plenty of empty tables, and don't mind if you bring in outside food, which (if all true) makes them the perfect venue for us. Parking is a bear in that neighborhood, but apparently we can park at Whole Foods and not get towed. The 51 and 43 buses are also very convenient.

For those of you not familiar with Alta Bates's Ashby Campus, it is on Ashby between Telegraph and College, at the corner of Colby. The cafeteria is on the ground floor. There is a parking garage, but it's strictly hourly, you have to pay at all times of the day and night, and it's not cheap. I've never tried the food, but I plan to the first week just for informational purposes. After that, I'll probably pick up something at Whole Foods and bring it with me.

November, 2006: Rebecca says: Meals aren't as cheap as Royal Pizza or Las Palmas, but they have lots of space, are *very* tolerant of groups hanging out for hours without buying much, and are open till ONE-THIRTY! Michael says: I think we may be a bit too loud for that location though. Also they actually do have a history of kicking groups out. I know in years gone by they have kicked out both chess players and go players. I think we got away with meeting there for scrabble because the group never got large enough to be a problem for them.

1600 Shattuck Av, SW corner at Cedar, Berkeley
Enter on Cedar.

November, 2006: Rebecca says: They don't have a lot of food, but they have sandwiches and salads and smaller things (bagels, pastries, that sort of stuff), and they serve food till late. Leo says: I've been there in the evening a few times, and while their food and drinks are pretty good, they're almost always completely full.

2072-2074 University Av W of Shattuck, Berkeley
S side of University

December, 2007, with a new menu. There are plenty of free tables, plenty of room between them, they're rectangular, and they're moveable. They say we are welcome to come. They're open past 10. They have a menu of pizza, sandwiches, pasta, and salads, including some vegetarian and vegan items. Prices are higher than before but still under $10. There is a large TV but the sounds was not noticeable. The lighting is good, we don't need to call in advance, you order at the counter and they bring your order to your table. Bus and BART access are easy. There is a metered parking lot a block north, on Berkeley Way between Shattuck and Milvia. Otherwise allow some time to find free street parking. We may go there from time to time. June, 2008: It's doing better, which is bad for us. For the NBA finals it was packed before we got there so we went across the street to Taiwan. August, 2008: It still seems to be crowded, so it's now a backup site for us. December, 2009: We are giving it another try after being unhappy with yet another return to the Albany Round Table. No, wait, we're trying the Alta Bates Hospital Cafeteria.

& Music

5903 Shellmound St., Emeryville
654-1633
At Emeryville Marketplace.

Lorna says: It's casual, you buy your food individually as you get there. I was with a large group one time and we had a very long table together, away from the food area and the bar. What I don't remember is the noise level. And I don't know whether they welcome gamers. But it may be worth investigating.

& not expensive. Parking could be hard to find within a couple of blocks, though. November, 2006: Closed.

862 San Pablo Ave., Albany, CA 94706
898-1318

December, 2008: Michael says: The place is open until midnight, has plenty of free seating (if last night is any indication) and food that looked good and inexpensive: sandwich choices @ 5.75 to 6:00 include French ham on buttered baguette, chicken curry with mango chutney, tuna nicoise on baguette, etc. Also a number of salad choices ranging from 3.50 to 6.75. I talked to the owner Paul - he said he would welcome us playing games there "daily." Alan says: I just read 15 reviews on yelp. They are all over the map. Several people criticized their sanitariness severely, which seems like the biggest issue to me. Some said their "French specialties" were reheated Costco sandwiches or tuna out of a can. Some said they had to wait 20 minutes for a simple sandwich. Some said their staff was incompetent, like asking 3 times for the order without ever writing it down. There were other criticisms, too. But some people liked it. I'd still be up for giving it a try. February, 2009: Alan says: We have now met there several times and it seems to be OK for those of us who go. December, 2009: Closed.

November, 2006: Rebecca says: Combination cafe and antiques/collectibles shop.

This place is BIG. According to their permit, 5,000 square feet.

The antiques part has been in business for a few months, but they only opened the cafe portion last week. (I was in there a couple months ago and met the owner, who was very nice. She said that she was tied up in permit heck trying to open the cafe; I guess she finally got through the paperwork.) So they probably don't have regular customers and will be interested in getting people in the doors!

Food is limited to things like sandwiches and salads. They focus more on coffee and tea. Food is served from morning till closing time, which is "10pm...ish." (Yep, that's stencilled on the window.)

It looked to me like the sort of place where hanging out would be welcome. I think they even had overstuffed armchairs. There were lots of tables. Unfortunately, the tables looked like they were bolted to the floor, so we wouldn't be able to shuffle them around, but we could probably work around that. Michael says: Seems almost too good to be true. It is open until 11pm, has street parking and is very near the El Cerrito Bart station. It has quite a few (moveable) tables, serves freshly made sandwiches, soups, and salads at modest prices (5.25 for a sandwich, 3.50 for soup and 4.25 for a salad). It is run by a husband and wife team who assured me we would be welcome there (and they didn't mind if we were noisy "as long as we were people having fun"). Jon says: They have fliers on the outside that say parties, clubs, groups, and committees welcome. January, 2007: Several people say: The food is not that great, and they'd rather eat elsewhere. April, 2008: Closed, sold, and reopening as 33 Revolutions.

Michael says: Lorna, Dianna and I liked the food. Nathan prefers the food at Las Palmas. The venue did not seem suitable for games to us. It has small tables, fairly loud music (and echoic surfaces), and seemed too busy to tolerate people hanging out playing games.

Crepevine in Berkeley

705-1836

June, 2010: Julie S. says: I play games there all the time on Saturday nights. The tables are large, and the food selection is considerable. It's open until 11 on weeknights. Alan says: We moved here from Four Corners Cafe. Advantages: The tables are rectangular and plentiful; the food and service are better. Pretty much the same: management seems happy to have us; amount of light. Pretty much the same or only slightly worse: sound level (similar to Las Palmas), price (but many delicious meals under $10), parking (but free street parking available within a couple of blocks). June 29, 2010: Was too noisy for some people, especially before 9pm. Will try the other end next time.

1050 Gilman St, SW corner at San Pablo, Berkeley
Entrance faces San Pablo Av.

December, 2001: Cybelle's at that location has closed. June, 2002: A new restaurant, Chipotle's, has opened there (see entry above).

EndGame

May, 2004: Chris Hanrahan, Marketing and Events Coordinator, says: Sorry to hear about your play space, that is always a bummer. I don't think we can help you out right now (on weds. we get 20-30 people for boardgame night at the store.), but Endgame is moving in July. We will have about 1,700 sq. feet of play space. We lack the food requirement, but have just about everything else going for us. We are going to be across the street from a brew pub, and some other great resturants. We will be 2 blocks away from bart in downtown oakland. Once July roles around, I would be happy to set up a time and show you around the space. Have a glance at our website, I just announced the move this evening.
Good luck on finding your new space!

559-9006

June, 2002: Ana says: They are a bar & Tapas (well Mexican Version) type place that has an upstairs with movable tables. The upstairs had a good set up to have a couple of 4 player areas with one large 12 player area. The food is absolutely delicious, but runs higher than what we are likely used to (since the substantial dishes were about 10 bucks - sirloin - my guess is not a huge amount). I did not inquire if they would be into having us, since I didn't know if we are still kind of looking - nor if people would want a place where you can munch for about 6 bucks but it would take closer to 12-15 bucks to fill up. If any of you go there for dinner to see what you think, maybe you could ask them about the possibility. Lorna says: I've also tried Fonda's, and enjoyed it very much. However, I was glad someone else was paying the bill. I think it came to about $75 for the 3 of us. We had several of the delicious tapas, dessert, and a drink. Fonda's is definitely more upscale than our usual haunts. That makes it less attractive financially. They also might prefer to maintain a more upscale ambience, rather than allowing people to play sometimes noisy games. Another problem is the service of the food. As in most restaurants, you interact with the waitress several times at the table. With tapas, you might also order multiple times. This would be disruptive for games. I think it's far better to eat in a casual place where you order your food as you arrive and pay for it individually. The waitress doesn't have to try to wait on a lot of people who all arrive at different times, switch tables, want a separate tab, and can't be interrupted in the middle of timed games.

862 San Pablo Ave., Albany, CA 94706

December, 2009: Where Cafe St. Honore used to be. Open until 11. June, 2010: We went there for months but the tables were round and small, seating was tight, and the menu and service were limited, so we moved to Crepevine in Berkeley.

Games of Berkeley

540-7822

May, 2004: Pam says: They have two separate rooms available and will let us bring in food, as long as we're neat and will stay open for us until at least 10pm. As for parking, it's not far from the lot we were using on University, just [two blocks] further to walk. They have tables and chairs in both rooms. The basement room tends to be more humid, but has a couch as well as tables and chairs. There is no charge for us to meet there. We can rearrange tables and chairs. Dianna B. says: Another place to park which is free is on Bancroft at Milvia. Berkeley High School had some tennis courts there that they have abandoned, and now anyone can park there. On a weeknight there always seems to be plenty of parking. This is about 4 blocks from G of B, but they are short blocks.

Guerilla Cafe

June, 2010: Closes early on Tuesdays but at 10 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Menu looks very limited. May investigate.

November, 2006: Karen says: Good burrito place which has a nice owner. They have chess tables so I think they might not mind games. Michael says: Closes at 8pm every day.

It's Your Move Games and Hobbies

4920 Telegraph Avenue (Temescal), Oakland
547-4386

September, 2003: The owner, Rue, says: "I just wanted to remind you all that your group is welcome to try out our space as a new or alternate venue for game play. It was a part of our vision to have game groups of all kinds use our venue to play. We have several groups who already use the store and we have room for a bit more on certain days with some flexibility. We just need to plan in advance" and lists these advantages: "Great accessible location adjacent to freeways and major intersections. Free convenient parking in the lot across the street from our venue. Great eateries within a block for meals before or after gaming. A variety of snacks and drinks right in the store. Spacious game area for up to 30 people to play on *real* tables."

5804 College Avenue, Oakland
Near Rockridge BART, across from Zachary's

December, 2008: They have put a bench where we prefer to sit, making it harder for us to arrange seating for games. It's also kind of cold. But we still like it there.

1598 University at California, Berkeley

1328 Sixth Street, Berkeley
First block south of Gilman, west side
525-3121

September, 2002: Picante reports that they must stop using the banquet room until they get the right permits from the city of Berkeley. We have no other details yet. September, 2003: The banquet room is being turned into a bookstore.

2072-2074 University Av W of Shattuck, Berkeley
S side of University

February, 2004: Renamed to Sambrasil. May, 2004: Closed. August, 2004: New business, Royal Pizza, opened at that location. November, 2006: Closed.

November, 2006: Closed.

962 San Pablo Av, Albany
524-1214

January, 2002: They charge $50 on arrival to use the separate area, and they now treat that as a rental, not as a deposit, so we don't go there any more. November, 2006: Bethany says: The staff seemed as unwelcoming as before, despite our investigative visit. At the start of our evening, an employee told us we couldn't sit in the back room without a reservation (despite what the manager told Michael about no reservations required). Then the employee told us we couldn't reserve the room with less than 10 people. Finally she agreed to "pretend" it was OK for us to stay in the room. At 9:25, another employee came to kick us out because it was "time to close". When we argued the restaurant wasn't supposed to close until 10 pm, she gave us until 9:45. Most of us who were there agreed not to go back. December, 2009: With Cafe St Honore and 33 Revolutions closed, we went back. They still want to close well before 10. update: Back to Bobby G's.

Royal Pizza

2072-2074 University Av W of Shattuck, Berkeley
S side of University

August, 2004, with a new menu. There are plenty of free tables, plenty of room between them, they're rectangular, and they're moveable. They say we are welcome to come. They're open until 10. They have a one-page menu of inexpensive pizza (not sure about sandwiches, pasta, and salads). A huge slice of average-quality one-topping pizza is $3. The large TV is gone. The lighting is good, we don't need to call in advance, you order at the counter and they bring your order to your table. Bus and BART access are easy. There is a metered parking lot a block north, on Berkeley Way between Shattuck and Milvia. Otherwise allow some time to find free street parking. November, 2006: Closed. Reopening in December as Bobby G.'s. We will check it out then.

2072-2074 University Av W of Shattuck, Berkeley
S side of University

February, 2004: Renamed to Sambrasil. May, 2004: Closed. August, 2004: New business, Royal Pizza, opened at that location.

2071 University Av W of Shattuck, Berkeley
N side of University
845-1456

1471 Addison Street at Sacramento, Berkeley

Pros: It's a private room; no one will be there but us. The lighting is good, and we can adjust the temperature. There are enough tables and chairs, and we can move most of them. There is usually free parking within a block or two. There are bus stops a block away on University and on Sacramento. Cons: Tap water is available, but we need to bring our own food and drinks. We are entirely dependent on Nicole for access. Nicole is not available on Wednesdays, so if we wanted to go to Nicole's on Tuesdays instead of Pizza Man on Wednesdays, we would need to switch Las Palmas to Wednesdays. The third Tuesday of each month would have to be elsewhere (although it could be at Pizza Man). There is no one to clean up after us, and Nicole must leave the place clean and have us all out of there by 10.

48 Shattuck Sq at University, Berkeley

November, 2006: Michael says: I've been there for lunch a few times. They have counter service and lots of tables. Food is Indian (obviously) not expensive and good. May just work for us?