Abilene local Rhonda Reyes has a huge passion for board games. It’s a passion so big she recently decided to share it — and her board game collection — with the community of Abilene by opening the city’s very first board game lounge, the Tables of Sundries.
“I had a large board game collection of my own, my personal collection,” said Reyes. “And so I thought, what if I moved all those from my house to a commercial setting, a brick and mortar, and then bought more to add to my collection and offer them to the public to play.”
With over 200 board games to choose from, the Tables of Sundries allows visitors to pay by the hour and enjoy any board game in their collection while relaxing in one of the themed game rooms.
“We have all genres,” said Reyes. “We have detective games. We have trivia games. We have cooperative games. We have a lot of games that are mathy or that involve a lot of spelling. We have games that even one person can sit down and play that game. I don’t mean solitaire. I mean a full-on board game, but one person can sit down and play that game and still have fun.”
The Tables of Sundries opened this past December and includes four different themed rooms: the entry room, the Chery room, the garden room and the family room where visitors can play while also enjoying snacks and drinks from the lounge’s kitchen.
“We have a regular charcuterie, which is your typical meats and cheeses, olives, and crackers. And then we also have a fruit charcuterie,” said Reyes. “I have iced coffee and hot coffee. I have iced tea, sweet or unsweet, and I have Italian sodas and about 20 different flavors that I can add to those.”
Reyes said customers are also welcome to bring their own snacks and food to enjoy in the lounge.
“Since our menu is fairly small, we’re happy for people to have their meal and play a game at the same time. A lot of people, if you’re playing a game, you get the munchies,” said Reyes.
The lodge also includes a kids’ playroom called the Kid Kave. It’s a space dedicated to younger kids with toys, stuffed animals and a mini kitchen for young hands to enjoy while their parents can relax nearby.
“One thing that I do is I seat parents in that room near the kids’ playroom. That way if the parents want to play a game at the table, they’re close to their children,” said Reyes.
The Tables of Sundries is also available to rent for small events like birthday parties and retirement parties, said Reyes.
“Our rooms hold several people, but they just don’t hold hundreds of people. So the space can be good for that,” said Reyes. “We had one party where, after they did their festivities, they wanted to play a few games. We had another party where they didn’t want to play games. They just wanted a nice room to have a party in. And that’s fine too, we’re just glad you like our space and want to be here.”
The Tables of Sundries is located at 3301 S 14th Suite 28, River Oaks Village.
It is open these hours:
“We’re working very hard to make this place such that no matter who you are, your age, your background, or where you are in your life right now, there’s a little something for everyone here,” said Reyes.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene’s first board game lounge offers fun for all ages
Reporting by Lauren Dossey, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
