Episode 16: Drew Lovell on opening Bonus Round Game Café

Drew Lovell and Courtney Hartley, husband and wife owners of Bonus Round Game Cafe
(Courtesy: Bonus Round Cafe Facebook pages)

On the 16th episode of the podcast, Clark talks to Drew Lovell about opening a board game café. Drew is the co-owner of the Bonus Round Game Café along with his wife Courtney Hartley. The Café opened in 2018 and is located just south of Wrigley Field on Clark Street in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.

Drew talks about the couple’s long-time plans to open a board game café and the rigorous process they went through thinking about financial issues, finding the right location and thinking about the kind of atmosphere they wanted to create.

The pandemic cast a long shadow on small businesses like the café. Drew talks about the challenges caused by being forced to temporarily close for nearly a year, finding other business models just to survive, and looking for ways to recover from the effects on their community and the café’s bottom line. Drew also takes the minigame questionnaire in which we find out why he likes an unusual game piece involving a balloon, why he loves games with little or no downtime, and the importance of effective rule-teaching!

Episode Links

Bonus Round Game Café is located at: 3230 N Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60657

Bonus Round Game Café’s website: https://bonusroundcafe.com/

Reserve a time at the Café: https://www.exploretock.com/bonusroundgamecafe

Send your feedback, questions and suggestions to Clark at: clark@boardgametimes.com

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