Farm+Feed is a Big 1Up on the Growing Game Restaurant Concept

It's surprising that game restaurants haven't become as popular and replicated as the barcade concept. Maybe it's because places like Dave & Busters and Main Event, which became one corporate entity, last month have the monopoly or at least made everyone think they do.

The average gamer, however, isn't their target audience. It's more about accessibility to games for people who don't normally have them in their lives. The games at Dave & Busters and Main Event are mostly straightforward shooters, racing, sports and ticket-dispensing titles with a few classics like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man. They're for people who've never used their office computer to find all the possible pathways in The Stanley Parable or spent a tech-less evening sitting around a friend's dining room table waiting for the Traitor to show themselves in a round of Betrayal at House on the Hill.
If you're in that category, you might be thinking that PC and board games are too niche of a market to merit a whole restaurant concept. You'd be wrong. According to Game World Observer, more than 40 percent of the $4.3 billion in sales on the Steam game store platform come from independent game developers. According to the market research firm Statista, board game sales are expected to make at least $3.3 billion in this year alone.

Nerdvana opened this untapped restaurant concept to Dallas-Fort Worth with its well established and well praised location on Frisco's downtown square, but now they have some competition that's found some ways to fill the gaps that even Nerdvana may have missed on its game and food menus.

Farm+Feed, located in The Shops at Legacy North in Plano, is the newest gaming restaurant to offer a place to play console, PC and board games and enjoy food and drinks that are far above whatever can fit through the plastic partition of a vending machine. They excel at delivering both in a way that any gamer of any level can thoroughly enjoy.

Seating can get limited in this smaller-than-average dining space, so you'll need a reservation if you want to sit in a booth and play video games on a console or reserve a PC space in the main dining area. There are tables and a bar area that can accommodate walk-in traffic, but make sure to call ahead if you want the full experience.

Every inch of the space is used to catch the eye of the gaming crowd. The walls are adorned with framed memorabilia like sought-after Magic: The Gathering cards and rare copies of Nintendo Power Magazine. The framed and ultra rare hardware for the World of Warcraft game launch from Blizzard servers is a great touch since they're the gaming equivalent of a trophy buck mounted on the wall of a high-end steakhouse.

The game offerings alone are worth a visit even if you just stop in for a drink and an appetizer. The booths cost $5 an hour to reserve and board game access is $5 per person for the whole night to help cover the cost of wear and tear. They cover every modern generation console with a nice variety of games and fast PCs that can run games on the performance level needed for things like esports tournaments of Halo Infinite and Valorant. There's also a nice collection of board games that run from the accessible classics like Connect 4 and Clue to future, more complex classics like Settlers of Catan and Wavelength.

The menu offerings barely cover a couple of pages but there are some ambitious game-themed choices made for a crowd that's deadened its palette with Mountain Dew Code Red.

Try Kirby's Drinkland, a pun on the all-consuming Nintendo character, that's yogurt soju and Calvados served with strawberry puree egg white and lemon. The mixture sounds like it would offer something sweet, but it just came across as a little bland and frothy.

The Boardwalk, a Monopoly-inspired Old-Fashioned with an added dash of Averna amaro, and the Dratini, Farm+Feed's take on a fruity martini with a reference to the fan-favorite Pokémon character, turned out to be much better choices. The flavors are more balanced, particularly with the Dratini, which is a must for a good martini. The lemon on the back end of the latter holds back just enough to complement the taste rather than overpower it.

Some of the food items sound like dares or things gamers create when all they have is leftovers or can walk to a 7-Eleven. Go with the Deviled Easter Eggs where the yolks are mixed with Kewpie mayo and togarashi spice and served with a candied gochujang bacon creating a powerful, potent mix of sweet, savory and spicy.

Next up were the pizza rolls. While we're not above indulging in a bag of Totino's frozen pizza pockets after they've been nuked, Farm+Feed's take are the tastiest we've tried, even if that's a small list. They have the familiar form of a traditional pizza roll but the bread is light and crispy with a balanced, flavorful mix of tomato jam, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
The GG Burger didn't deliver anything fancy or underwhelming, rather a solid burger right down the middle of the taste spectrum that's very flavorful and satisfying. The dry-aged beef was juicy without being greasy and the toppings tasted crisp and fresh and paired nicely with a hand-cut pile of golden french fries.

Then the bill came and the price was more than reasonable. Everything listed above along with a few extra items and drinks came to just above $80. It could easily feed four people along with an added bonus of pwning your opponents all night.

Farm and Feed, 7401 Lone Star Drive, Suite B120. Open 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday, Wednesday - Thursday and Sunday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; Closed Tuesday.