afk tavern

afraid to return. today i had a frustrating and unpleasant experience. shaun and i were going out for breakfast, shaun o’donnell’s was too crowded and the blooming onion was closed. we finally decided to go to theafkfor burgers.afkhad been one of our favorite places because of the food and atmosphere. i need to preface this with the fact that i’m not the type of person to send food back or criticize the wait staff (having been in food service and having friends doing that now.) we entered and waited to be seated while the waiter was talking to people at a gaming table. we eventually took 2 menus and seated ourselves in the almost empty restaurant. we looked at the menus, decided our order then talked about books for 10-15 minutes. we were being actively ignored after he had told us that he would be back in while. we were about to leave for late breakfast at the totem when i decided to place our order at the kitchen. a woman there noticed me at the kitchen door and asked if i needed a waiter. after saying yes, she told the waiter to take our order. at this point, the waiter was overly smarmy and attentive (we were not impressed.) we were not rude or overly abrupt when we ordered. the food came quickly and we were twice asked if everything was fine at various times during our meal. we gave positive responses. when he came over to inquire if we wanted desert, i requested a fill-up on coffee. he took the coffee cup away and returned with a cup that had a heavy foamy, bubbly surface. immediately i knew there was something strange about the coffee. i’ve literally had thousands of cups of coffee and never one that looked like bubble bath. after about 5 minutes or so i got up and asked for our check. i had considered pouring the coffee into something and taking it to the health dept. for testing. when we were paying for lunch i asked the waiter about the foamy, bubbles which were still atop the liquid. his response was “i don’t know, usually only rich coffee goodness in it, but i could check my process and see if there is some problem that may have caused that.” so i am unhappy that i can no longer go to the afk. shaun will not be going back, and i will be telling my friends about the experience.

epic time for all. tried outafktavern while visiting the area, after hearing all the hype about it being a gaming bar. it was even more awesome than we could ever have hoped for. it...was...glorious. it is extremely hard to find a gaming place for board gamers beyond the token connect four and monopoly boards, so we were happily surprised by the selection of european board games they had to offer. we had a few fun rounds of race for the galaxy, 7 wonder, and the longest possible game of manila. fun times!

even more surprising was the quality of the food and mixed drinks. i've been to a lot of trendy bars and martini lounges in hollywood and la, but none of them can touchafktavern's mixologists. i've been trying to find a place near home that can make so many amazing drinks, and still haven't found one half as good as what i had at afk. and to top it off, they were all gamer and geek themed! i was tickled pink to get to order an pan galactic gargle blaster. douglas adams would've been proud!

many rounds of drinks were ordered, and they were all amazing. we tried over the span of hours of gaming (and i highly recommend all of these), a mead tasting flight, lon lon milk, vespene gas, a cyberman conversion colada (best colada ever!), morning glory dew (my lvl 80 priest thanks you), a pan galactic gargle blaster (it was exactly like having my brains smashed out by a piece of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick), a geruda valley tea, the best whiskey sour i've ever had, a peacekeeper daquiri, a limbic fizzler (pretty!), a shot of go team deathknight!, a like like shot, and a fallout shot. we wanted to order more, but we were pretty blasted and finally decided to slow down.

as for food, we had some mozzarella joy sticks, beer fries, pita and hummus, onion halos, the true gold corn balls, the ult, and the street samurai burger with unicorn bacon. the fried food had a very clean taste, which we were told was because they were cooked in a fry separate from any meat products to avoid cross contamination. neat! our vegan friends would be grateful if they could've come with us. on another note, their "unicorn" bacon was something magical. if you like/love bacon, you need to try theirs.

next time we're in the area visiting family, we're definitely going to have to go back and try a whole new set of drinks from their massive specialty menu! any fan of amazing mixed drinks, good food, and games of all types will love this place! i hope they open one near where i live someday! i would be there every chance i had!

fun and unique, needs fine tuning. overall, i had a fantastic time atafktavern. my favorite aspect of it was being able to hang out there for hours with my group playing board, card, and dice games on the table while ordering drinks now and then. while we didn't partake of them, you could also play various console games, a feature i've never seen at a bar or restaurant. we never felt rushed but still got checked on for drink orders reasonably often.

drinks are the other strong point. as a beer geek, i was pleasantly surprised that they had diamond knot ipa and trois pistoles on tap for 4.25 a pint, a good deal for great beer. the two drinks i ordered off the immense and very geeky cocktail menu were tasty and reasonably priced for their strength.

the food service could use some tweaking. it took a long time for our food orders to get taken. they have excellent fries and tots, but the burgers were a little skimpy on condiments. i was pleased that my dragon burger was adequately firey, and my boyfriend's toadstool burger had an absolutely immense portabello on it. there's loads of pubs where i can get a much better burger for my buck, though. it was also odd that we had to request ketchup when so many people ordered fries and tots, and the distribution of silverware and napkins was a little iffy.

in short, i would come back for the drinks and the vibe, but may stick to the fries in the future.

a haven for gamers of all speeds and breeds. after hearing of this unique place several months ago, and now seeing a drink menu full of nerdy themed drinks circulating in various corners of the internet we finally made the trip up from capitol hill. it absolutely should have happened earlier. the menus were enticing and creatively named, for food, drink, and... games? yes, they have a game menu!

they have many platforms, from ps3 to atari 2600 to card and tabletop games. want to try portal 2 before purchasing, or are your curious about castle ravenloft? perhaps monopoly or uno are more your speed? just hand over your id in exchange and play away!

although the unique focus of theafktavern is the games, the food and drink are a solid win. creatively named, and uniquely created, our food was delicious and another trip is needed to try a few other enticing items.

carnivore? how about a dragon burger (nicely spicy with more heat available for the daring) with side of beer-battered fries. vegetarian? how about the druid delight (truly delightful veg sandwich) and a side of bulbasaur soup (no actual bulbasaur in the soup, they're a bit... gamey... *rimshot*). thirsty? wash your food down with a sereni-tea, sonic screwdriver [10th or 11th doctor], or some klingon bloodwine.

my only complaint (besides being so far away from my house, which is more my problem than their fault) is that i had to charge my cellphone halfway across the restaurant and keep an eye on it until it had enough juice i could use it again. for its focus on the nerd community i would have expected an outlet at every table (they have free wifi and games for pc after all...)

even if you're a casual gamer, or not even part of the nerd community swing by, you'll find some good food, and a welcome band of people. maybe you'll pull up a chair, learn a new game, and meet some new people. we did.


-----17 jun, 2011-----

sandwich is a hearty combination of hothouse cucumbers, fresh tomatoes, spinach, grilled portobello slices, red onions, and hummus. the soup is a delicious barley and veggie soup. the beer-battered fries (not pictured) were also a hands-down win!

afk ftw. check it out for yourself.. have you heard ofafktavern? have you ever been there? have you read the reviews on yelp? well don't bother with yelp. tryafktavern yourself! it is a great place to hang out if you are a gamer. wi-fi, x box, card games, board games..afkhas it!
afk is a great place to hang out if you love games and want to meet new people to hang out with. it has a warm atmosphere. local artists have colored the walls with wonderful artwork. the staff is almost like a second family. always willing to talk if you need to and relaxed. service can be a little slow at times but that is just to make sure all your food is prepared wonderfully
the food is delectable with very creative gamer names such as the "fire bat macaroni; or 'the one ring" burger. their burgers are beyond reproach. delectable patties that is like a small steak between two buns coming in everything from "the normal" to "the orc burger". the pastas are unique but good. the fire bat is a nice spicey macaroni that will be a delightful surprise their sides range anywhere from a salad, to onion rings, fries, tots or if your are really ambitious +2 tots or fries with chili and cheese.
even their bar area is creative with their drinks. you can get everything from your run of the mill drinks to "monk's uncle" beer or the blue "mana potion". which ever you choose you won't be disappointed
if you have been looking for a reason to go, or you just want a place to run your latest battle tech, d&d campaign, or just play magic the gathering.. or even if you just want to hang out for a drink and a nice meal i would check it out and judge for yourself.

afk ftw!

100% pure, unadulterated win.. there aren't many bars that i really enjoy, mostly because i feel like the nerdiest, most awkward person in a room full of drunken idiots sloshing bud light and hitting on women made of silicon and fake tanning spray.afkis different. it's designed for the black-humored, good-natured, dice-rolling, epic-reading, and occasionally costumed individual looking for a great place to get wild, nerd style. the drinks are tasty, the food is decent, and most menu items include a clever reference. i recommend the mana potion and, if you've got at least two hungry friends to share with, the +2 tots. if you're a medieval geek like me, you'll also appreciate the mead list. pick out a game from their collection or bring your own, and your evening is complete.

like any budding establishment, apparentlyafkis still working out a kink or two. i've heard that others have experienced slow service due to the tavern being understaffed. the service has been excellent every time i've been there, but enough people have complained that the issue is still worth mentioning.
some people whine thatafkisn't their "scene", but they're welcome to go throw up in a sports bar somewhere. cry moar, suckers -- you're in our bar now!