Most bartenders wouldn’t exactly welcome a Risk board and all of its cards, figures, and dice on their bar top, but at Vigilante Bar in Austin, Texas, beer is served with a side of board games.
Located in a mixed use development north of downtown, Vigilante aims to provide a living room away from home for tabletop gamers, complete with a tap wall of 12 local beers, a menu of street food-influenced bites like samosa croquettes and pho sliders, and a library of over 200 board games. With heavy wood throughout and plush red curtains, the space feels like a cross between a secret society clubhouse and classic British pub. And if there was ever a question as to whether there’d be enough beer and gaming enthusiasts to support such an unusual concept, a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $40,000 provided the answer.
“It’s the bar that I always wanted,” says co-owner and general manager Preston Swincher. “My buddies and I used to get together and have game nights, then we’d all go out to a bar. The idea was, Why the hell do those things have to be separate?”
This story is from the #125 (June 2017) edition of BeerAdvocate magazine.
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This story is from the #125 (June 2017) edition of BeerAdvocate magazine.
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