Rook Room, new board game lounge and cafe, to open in Des Moines

Tony Tandeski (left) and Annelise Tarnowki (right), owners of the Rook Room stand at the counter of what will be the new lounge and cafe where people can play boardgames and socialize. (Courtesy Tony Tandeski)

By Nikoel Hytrek

January 13, 2025

Des Moines will get a new space for people to play board games and socialize this spring with the opening of the Rook Room Game Lounge & Cafe.

Coming in the spring of 2025, a first-of-its-kind gaming lounge—the Rook Room Game Lounge & Café—will open its doors in downtown Des Moines at 300 SW 5^th St, in what used to be the site of St. Kilda’s.

The Rook Room is a gaming events company that has organized pop-up events at venues across the Des Moines area since 2019. Those events have included board games, jigsaw puzzles, table top role playing games (TTRPGs), and more.

“This really is the culmination of a dream we’ve been working toward as a business for more than five years,” said Annelise Tarnowski, co-owner of the Rook Room. “We’re excited to introduce this concept to Des Moines in this historic downtown location.”

With a permanent location, the Rook Room will have hundreds of board games and puzzles ready for anyone to grab and play while they also have coffee, local wines and beers, game-themed cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, and food.

A view of the inside of the gaming lounge, showing the front counter and some small tables

Courtesy Tony Tandeski

The menu is being created with the help of Cory Wendel, owner and restauranteur of Lachele’s Fine Food on Ingersoll.

For a fun twist, there will be a drink menu where drinks are decided by rolling dice, “game tenders” to help people choose games and learn to play, tools to match people who want to play the same games, events for players old and new, and more.

“As we started to plan out what we wanted for our space, we really leaned into what we—as self-proclaimed game nerds ourselves—would want to see in a place like this,” said co-owner Tony Tandeski. “Our goal is to create something fun and unique here in Des Moines that features little touches that delight and keep people coming back for more.”

The grand opening of the Rook Room Game Lounge & Café and its official hours will be announced at a later date, but Tarnowski and Tandeski hope to host a special opening event in March. Special preview events will be announced in the lead-up to opening day.

On the Rook Room’s website, the owners said they plan to be open five days a week, from morning until late evening.

Nikoel Hytrek

Nikoel Hytrek is Iowa Starting Line’s longest-serving reporter. She covers LGBTQ issues, abortion rights and all topics of interest to Iowans. Her biggest goal is to help connect the dots between policy and people’s real lives. If you have story ideas or tips, send them over to [email protected].

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CATEGORIES: LOCAL NEWS

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