Queen & Rook Game Cafe: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Queen & Rook Game Cafe serves no meat. Every dish on its South Street menu is vegetarian, and you can swap most of the dairy for vegan versions. The kitchen fires wood-fired pizza, fries seitan, and grills Beyond Meat burgers. Look for (D) beside dairy, (VG) beside vegan, and (GF) beside gluten free.

It is a board game cafe first. The library holds more than 2,500 games, and a retro video game arcade came with the recent expansion. Board games cost $7 per person for a 2.5-hour table, and the Gamekeepers will teach your group a new one. The cafe does not allow outside board games. In the arcade, the first hour costs $15 for adults and $10 for kids under 13, and later hours cost less. Food and drinks reach every floor, so you eat while you play.

Start with the Vegan Seitan “Wings” in Buffalo, BBQ, Four Flavor, or Spicy Chili Crisp. Add the Guizhou Style Fries, tossed with spicy pickled greens, cilantro, scallions, and sesame oil. Crispy Brussels Sprouts with house agave sauce and vegan parmesan come gluten free. Pastelillos arrive stuffed with soy chorizo and potato, mixed dairy cheese, or yuca and gandules.

Pizzas run $18 to $21. Rekha Pizza piles chana masala, samosa, coriander and tamarind chutneys, vegan yogurt, puffed rice, and crispy noodles on the crust. Funghitown layers thyme bechamel over portabella, oyster, and button mushrooms. The Pepperoni wears Be Hive seitan pepperoni, and The Gritty carries soy chorizo. Every pie takes dairy or vegan mozzarella. A gluten-free vegan cauliflower crust comes in a 10-inch size.

Sandwiches hit hard. The Buffalo Chik’n Sandwich is fried seitan with ranch and lettuce. The Queen Burger, the Rook Burger with grilled portobello, and the Kimchi Burger each use a 4-ounce Beyond Meat patty and come with fries. Seitan Souvlaki lands on pita with vegan or dairy tzatziki. Kids ages 12 and under get a personal pizza ($12), a Beyond Meat cheeseburger with small fries ($12), or nuggets and fries ($10).

Dessert covers both camps. Vegan Brownie or Brookie comes from Crust Vegan Bakery. Tiramisu, New York Cheesecake, and Chocolate Lava Cake contain dairy. The ice cream list includes vegan chocolate, vanilla, and mint chocolate chip, and a full bar pours draft beer, wine, and cocktails. The specials list a weekday happy hour from 5pm to 7pm, with Yards Pale Ale for $5 and margaritas or daiquiris for $10. Monday and Tuesday game nights also advertise half-price wine bottles and $5 off wood-fired pizzas.

No meat touches the kitchen, so vegetarians skip the usual worry about shared grills and fryers. Vegans should ask their server which items use dairy.

Restaurant hours run Monday through Thursday 5pm to 10pm and Friday through Sunday noon to midnight. The kitchen closes one hour earlier. The cafe recommends reservations through Resy and hosts private parties. It sits at 123 South Street between Front and 2nd Streets, and it says it is ADA accessible, with an ADA-compliant entrance, restrooms, and tables.

Go on a Friday afternoon, claim a table, and split the seitan wings and a Rekha Pizza while you learn a new game.