The Forge Tavern

I share this a few months after my visit to forge because I’ve heard stories of how people share negative reviews and they get banned, and the people I was with at the time want to go back so I didn’t want to ruin it. I went to this place to play a game with some coworkers. It ended up being a long game, about 3.5 hours. We reserved a table ahead of time. I personally had not eaten all day but unfortunately have a gluten allergy so I was unable to get any food. Consequently, I did not want to drink as I was driving and had an empty stomach. My companions got a soft drink and burger each. By the time we were done and ready to leave, the owner had come up to our table to talk to us about essentially not spending enough. The owner had stated that he expects patrons of the establishment to “come hungry and thirsty and have big appetites.” He also went on a rant about how “unfortunately” his servers survive on tips and so in order for them to make a decent wage, people need to buy stuff. I put “unfortunately” in quotes here because American food service owners have put the responsibility on their customers to supplement their employees wages. He COULD pay his servers more, he just doesn’t want to and wants to put the responsibility on his patrons. So him saying that this is “unfortunately the culture in America” is nothing but a farce and a virtue signal. Anyway, it was incredibly disrespectful for my friends to spend money, me wanting to spend money but I can’t due to not having any reasonable accommodations, and then be told at the end that we should have spent more. This establishment clearly operates more as a restaurant than a board game store, which is completely fine to be clear, but they should be more upfront about their branding and what they expect. I would never go to a restaurant and sit for 3.5 hours without buying anything, but I also am not going to restaurants under the guise that I am able to reserve a table to play games with my companions for as long as I need/want. If they want a time-limit, that’s fine. If they want a cover charge, also fine. But be honest and upfront about it and don’t be disrespectful to your patrons because you didn’t set that expectation to begin with. AND I was guilted despite wanting to contribute and support but not having an option/reasonable accommodation. It was completely and utterly embarrassing and the only reason I didn’t say something right then and there was because I was with coworkers who would not have liked me to make a scene. I strongly discourage making reservations to play long games here, whether those are board games or TTRPG ones.

I can't say enough good things about this place. Not only is the idea and decor of this place unique and fun the staff is so friendly. I have Celiac disease and had questions about some of the drinks wanting to ensure they didn't contain gluten (you would be surprised where gluten shows up in drinks you wouldn't expect). I believe it's the owner that talked me through mead flights and then even built me a special wine flight when I couldn't decide. Love this place and last night reminded me I need to come much more often! Thanks for caring so much about your customers.