March 2024 by Michael H
This used to be a great venue, having enjoyed many previous visits. However, the terrible customer service endured on a Saturday evening has put us off returning. From the moment we arrived staff appeared harassed and inconvenienced by our presence.We experienced particular rudeness from two members of staff. Had to wait over 30 minutes for our drinks order, which was then dripped across our games table by the server without apology or acknowledgement, leaving us to hunt down napkins. The host?s sole focus appeared to be on getting customers to exit as soon as possible - in our case this meant standing over us and abruptly announcing it was time to leave after less than 2 hours. The entry fee permits 3 hours of game time and there were many free tables, but no helpful mention of this from the host despite us clearly being mid-game.Extremely disappointing experience. We will perhaps give the Waterloo branch another shot, but won?t be returning here.
March 2024 by Ryan Staples
Great atmosphere. All the games you could want. Nice place to catchup with family or friends. Imagine would also be good for a date night!
March 2024 by James Evans
A great time made even better by Liam taking the time to explain our game to us. Really made a difference!
March 2024 by Shawn R. Briggs
Loads of boardgames to choose from and a good vibe for young to young-ish people ?
March 2024 by Hannah Gladwin
Great place, staff were friendly and attentive and there were so many board games to choose from to play! We didn't get much food, just some nachos and fries, but the nachos were topped with pulled pork and they were really tasty. The beer tasted great, cold and fresh. We had a great time, lots of fun :)
March 2024 by The Doctor
Good fun place. Get the nachos
March 2024 by Rosie D
Had to pay a 'deposit' to book a table that turned out to be a fee that we never got back without warning and was overpriced, food and drinks overpriced, service incredibly slow - took us more than 40 mins to order any drinks or food and only after we reminded them 3 times (met with the response 'someone is coming'), didnt uphold the cocktail discount advertised on menu.Given 2 stars because food was very nice and the staff that eventually served us were friendly.I think this is so close to being a great place, if the service was quicker and there was more transparency about the fee. Hopefully the service improves because its a good spot I'd enjoy otherwise.
March 2024 by Sam Saltwell
This venue?s previous life as an eel, pie and mash shop (no really) gives it a strong speakeasy vibe as you walk through to the surprisingly large gaming space at the back.Huge board game selection, atmospheric surroundings, and friendly staff = a great place to game with friends.If you found my review or photos helpful please leave a quick thumbs up ? Thank you!??
March 2024 by Zack
Have to pay to even play (as opposed to other gaming cafe like Loading Bar up the road that only require you to buy drinks or food) but great selection of board games and tasty menu
February 2024 by Alex Lui
Saturday 17th: Me and my friend love board games cafes and have been to Draughts Waterloo and others cafes before.This was the first time we came to Draughts Hackney and sadly the two guys (one stocky, with a beard. The other skinny) at the front of the shop were fairly rude and disinterested consistently throughout the time we were there.The drinks came only after asking twice following a wait of 30-40 mins and we never had anyone check in with us over the entire time. The building was almost entirely empty and we wanted to stay longer to finish the game but was told that wasn?t possible.
February 2024 by Iman Saraei
An amazing place for playing board games with friends.
February 2024 by zafina mallick
the atmosphere could've been absolutely amazing; however there was a group of over 15 people sat next to us that was (understandably) very loud... made me wonder why there is not a limit on the amount of people before they should require a private room ! dragged the experience down for me bc it was extremely difficult to communicate with the people that i came with meaning that we couldn't effectively play the games. the chips were expensive for an average portion - actually i felt like all the food was quite expensive. would be better if they had halal options - if they do, it should be clearly signposted.
February 2024 by Seif Ashraf
The great variety of games do not compensate for the terrible service they have. The people working there are decent people. However, the food came in an hour late. When tap water came to the table, no glasses came with it. Staff are hard to reach to ask or request something. No tissues were given with food. This is definitely a problem with us playing a game with cards involved. It delayed our game time making our experience worse as we couldn't finish the game because of these delays.Bathroom with no mirror in front of the tap while washing hands. No tissues for drying up hands.I guess the place mainly lacks good service when it is busy as it was a Saturday
February 2024 by James Bradley
Service could be a little on the quicker side, especially when you have time limits on the tables but other than that, a really amazing Art Deco style interior makes for a vibrant and epically cool place to lose oneself into a solo player board game.
February 2024 by E
Really great place to play board games with a group of friends. We had a lovely time! So wholesome. Great range of games and never ran out of new ones to try too. 100% would recommend!
