The Studio's First Restaurant Review

This being a wargaming and writing blog, I never thought I'd be doing a restaurant review.  That is, until my sister Roxanne (aka, Rox of Spazhouse) and I went to eat at AFK Elixirs & Eatery. 

AFKE&E, opened a few months ago, and is associated with The AFK Tavern in Everett, WA.

We discovered AFKE&E last week during Rox's visit, thanks to my friend Daryl, who works for Wizards of the Coast.  Which by the way, is just a few blocks away from AFKE&E.

So with highly placed recommendation in mind, we stopped-in for lunch.

Normally, themed restaurants tend to be heavy on the theme and light on the eats & elixirs.

Not so with AFKE&E--who's clientele aren't known for their normalcy.  Gamers want good food, and lots of it.

Rox had The Hatchling, and I ordered the Cucco Panini.  Both came with more tater tots (Hatchling) and French fries (Panini) than either of us could finish off.  Rox washed down her meal down with a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster...

 

...which she must have liked since she took a picture of it. 

 

I'm not a drinker, so I can't comment personally on the quality and quality of AFK's alcohol-based elixirs. (You can see my "muggle cola" in the background).

 

Of course a good meal at AFKE&E is only part of the experience.  Rox and I spent several minutes taking pictures of the sci-fi/fantasy decorations adorning the tavern.

 

Here's Rox next to a stand-up of her "Tenth Best Friend."

 

 

I had a bunch of photos I was planning on including in this post, but I lost my camera somewhere between the tavern and home.  I'd love to blame my loss on too much Gargle Blasters, but I was sober, and Rox's chauffeur for this outing.

Anyway, lost cameras aside, AFKE&E isn't just a place for geeks & gamers to eat & drink.  It's also a refuge for gamers to game.  Events are posted regularly on the AFKE&E's Facebook page.

 

Their website is currently under construction, and from reading other reviews; this isn't the only teething problems this new restaurant has had, or may still be having. 

 

Rox and I had a solid 4-star experience.  But to be honest, since we haven't actually seen each other in several years, we were focused on catching up on "life, the universe and everything."  So if anything was amiss, we didn't catch it.  Our elixirs and eats arrived in a timely manner, and our waitress Nikki was professional and pleasant. 

 

Reviews on sites like Yelp are however, awash with "critical hits and fumbles," regarding every aspect of the tavern.  Comments on Foursquare are about 80% positive, while on Trip Advisor and Urban Spoon, it's a 50/50 hung jury. 

 

The only difficulty I experienced occurred when I tried calling the tavern back to inquire about my lost camera.  My initial salvo of phone calls, at about 6 PM, went to voicemail.  A couple hours later, I tried again and got one of the staff members.  The following day, shortly after 11 AM, I contacted Nikki on my first attempt.  She remembered us, even after three days, but didn't recall seeing a camera left behind.  (I didn't realize my camera was missing until a couple days later when coming home from work).

 

So there you have it.  The next time you're feeling adventurous for your next meal, give AFKE&E a try.