We are incredibly excited to announce the Rook Room Lounge & Cafe coming very soon to 300 SW 5th Street in downtown Des Moines!
There’s plenty of exciting stuff we can’t wait to tell you – so what are you waiting for? Get to scrolling!
Now that you know WHERE we are, we know your next question is very likely WHEN?!
We can’t wait to open those doors, but we have to make a few small improvements first. We’ve already started work on those with an expected opening date of March 2025.
That said, we may have some special events in the space before then, so be sure you’re on our newsletter and are following us on our social accounts – you can find those in our footer.
Our new Rook Room Game Lounge & Cafe will be centered on unique experiences in a comfortable atmosphere. In other words, the perfect place to play! But we know what you really want: the cold, hard specifics.
When it comes to food and drink, we are planning a creative food menu full of unique twists on old-favorite comfort foods and elevated game night snacks; local beers, wines, and seltzers; a game-themed cocktail menu; coffees and espresso drinks; and unique non-alcoholic beverage options. In fact, Lachele’s owner/restauranteur Cory Wendel is consulting on the kitchen and menu!
For days and hours of operation, we’re looking to start at being open five days a week including some of the prime game days/nights: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We also plan to be open from morning until late evening – so plenty of time to visit!
As far as what to play, we’ll be housing our collection of 700+ games in our new space all ready for you to play as much as you want. We’ll also be working on boosting our collection once we get open. As always, if you have any games you think might be great for our space, we take donations (and even label them with your name so everyone knows how cool and giving you are)!
We’ll also have plenty of geeky touches for gamers (and even non-gamers) of all levels and interests. Things like our d20 Dice Roll Drink Menu, memberships and member exclusives, tons of special events, more of the event series you already love, themed food and drinks, nerdy decor, dice-filled candy machines, mystery merch, and more!
Great question! Opening the best place to play in Des Moines is a lot of work and we’ll take all the help we can get.
The most exciting and helpful way you can lend a hand is our Kickstarter. It’ll be launching later this month and running for 30 days. We’ll have a ton of great rewards and extras at a variety of levels for anyone who contributes. So whether you can contribute a little or a lot, we’ll make sure you know you’re appreciated. There’s a bunch more information coming soon, so stay tuned.
On top of our Kickstarter campaign, we’ll also be holding some volunteer days at the new space. While it’s in great shape, it has been a running restaurant for 7+ years, so it could use a little TLC and elbow grease.
We’ll be putting out a call in the next month or so for anyone wanting to come in, get a tour before we open, and be tasked with some cleanup duties. If that sounds like something you’d love to do, keep an eye out on our calendar!
Looking to help by working at the Rook Room? We love that enthusiasm. We will be hiring a bunch of excited, fun, game-loving people soon as we staff up. But for now, we have a lot on our plate. Please refrain from sending us any inquiries or applications. We’ll be posting more info about how to apply on our website and social media soon!
We don’t know what it’s like not being busy all the time. So in addition to opening the Rook Room Lounge & Cafe, we’re continuing to hold a ton of events with venue partners around Des Moines. Go ahead and check out our calendar for all the details.
We’re also “open for business” when it comes to private events in our space. So you or anyone you know is looking for a hip spot in downtown Des Moines to host a little gathering, go ahead and let us know. We’d be happy to have you. We’ll even give you a guided tour if you’d like.
Finally, we’re working on some special preview events, so make sure you’re on our newsletter list. Subscribers will be the first to get invites!
That’s a lot, but it’s not all. We want to open our doors as soon as possible, but that means we’re delaying some work until later.
At the time of opening, we’ll have a ton of gaming space available in our main cafe area and mezzanine for you to enjoy with plans to nearly double the lounge area in the future by adding an additional gaming space/event space/private rental space in the lower level.
We also have a ton of other ideas that we’ll be working to add once we open. Stay tuned for details as we release them.
For now, thanks for participating in The Great Rook Hunt and we can’t wait to see you at the brand-new Rook Room Game Lounge & Cafe!
