Coral Sword

This place is AMAZING!! Coffee is super delicious! The chocolate croissant was fresh and best ever!🥐 ☕️ I’m very picky with coffee and I would definitely recommend! The line out of the building speaks for itself! The place has all sorts of games and it was such a cool spot to hangout in Houston! My fave!

I was in the area looking for a good matcha. I was not disappointed! Ordered a matcha with almond milk and a vanilla cloud. The vanilla cloud was giving vanilla bean, still tasty! Matcha was perfect. Also a hot matcha with oat milk and chai syrup. Which was also super good.

Great local gaming cafe. We went on a Saturday night, and it was pretty busy. Fun atmosphere, great energy. The servers were friendly, helpful, and quick. They have a ton on games to choose from in all different styles. Because most people are there playing some form of physical game, there are ongoing sounds of strategy and friendly competition and laughter. Easy to talk with the people at your table. Not too loud. We'll definitely visit again. Only have 4 stars on the food bc it's not a huge selection, but honestly, these are snacks and coffee/drinks. Go for the fun and fellowship.

This place is amazing! Very few card shops are this high quality in what they offer, and have this cool a vibe and atmosphere. Like an home for geeks, and a restaurant in one! Unlike other low quality card shop places, they have actually attentive and decent staff. If you’re looking for a “third place” this one’s got it all.

The service was wonderful. They were friendly and listened when taking your order. The atmosphere was nice, they had board games and things to do while you wait or drink your coffee or eat. The only reason the review is a 3 star, our order consisted of three coffees (one cold and two hot)and an apple danish. While the outside of the danish was good it did not have hardly any filling. The coffee was decent, there was nothing that really set it apart to make it different. The flavor was not all there unfortunately, and it tasted more like drip coffee rather than espresso.

Just my kind of place : ) Great atmosphere to work remotely, study, and take my teen kids to get some homework done. Additionally, this cafe is great to have a great time together with the family since they have a bunch board games available to play.

Really enjoyed coming here. Such a fun concept. Enjoyed their selection of board games and had a lot of fun with my friend. Coffee was good and the bacon, egg, and cheese Danish was pretty good. I do wish they had a larger selection of food items but overall great vibe and would come again.

Great stop for board gamers! $5 play-all-day, or free if you purchase a drink or food item. About 6-7 shelves of board games to choose from. Great selection for both seasoned and casual board gamers. We’ll be back!

This café is awesome. It's packed with fun games, great drinks, and plenty of unique items to browse and buy. I tried one of their specialty sodas, a lavender lemonade (I think!). It was pretty decent and refreshing, though not my all-time favorite. I'd give it an 8/10. Their game selection is super varied, so there's definitely something for everyone. I can't wait to come back and spend more time exploring!

The overall concept of the place is very fun. I love a café where you can just go and game. They have different board games, card games, etc on the wall. It was a lot of fun because you could just invite a group of friends and play different activities together. Overall was really cute hole in the wall place with around 40 people worth of seating. Now the only thing that was not up to par for me were the drinks. I ordered the Matcha latte and my friend ordered the lavender latte. These drinks are probably one of the worst Matcha drinks I've ever had in my life. I'm not sure how they were made but either the Matcha standard wasn't very great or it was mixed with something that wasn't dairy, but it had no taste with a hint of grass. Now I understand that certain matcha do taste like grass, but it was overall such a bad drink. I'm not sure if things have changed because I went a couple of months ago, but I hope they did! There was street parking next to the location and a very tiny street lot right in front of the store. You might have to loop around our parallel park in order to get parking. At the time of also, they had a magic gathering contest going on in the background so it does get a bit noisy and crowded. If that's not your scene, check ahead of the time, what event might be happening at that location for that time.

I lalalalalalove this place. Amazing customer service and great drink choices. Affordable prices. Amazing playlist. Plus, you can also play games and they have tournaments

This place is so fun but always packed and the drinks arent very good ! But it was many choices for board games and that makes up for it .

Super cute little spot my friend took me here in Houston. I love that it's a boardgame Cafe and you can sit for hours playing. The food and drinks are limited but are really good. I had a nitro Thai iced tea with a shot of espresso and it was delicious. It was light and refreshing. For food I ordered the egg sandwich which was more like a snack. It wasn't heavy and I think the bread overpowered the egg. They have a ton of games you can pick up and play. You don't have to bring your own. They also host magic the gathering events. Which my friend goes to a lot. Fun fact: favorite boardgame is Wingspan!

This is my favorite cafe in Houston to spend time with friends! What truly makes this place special is the atmosphere and space for activities that they've created here! The coffee and food are good but nothing to write home about but I have no problem supporting them because of their hospitality There are close to a hundred board games for visitors to use and the community takes good care of them. The few games with pieces missing are noted appropriately so you know before playing. They have plenty of community events and a lot of groups meet here. I've seen all kinds of people here and it's a family friendly place. If you do come please make sure to buy something so that we can keep this place in business!

My flat white and breakfast sando were both great. Very cool space with games for play or purchase, and plenty of seating for getting some work done. Parking is available but limited, I had no trouble finding a spot out back. I like the extra touch of giving hot sauce with the sando. I'm a huge Hunter Pence fan, so I enjoyed the jerseys in the back

Great hidden gem for gamers who like to gather together. All kinds of coffe and drinks with great pizza flat bread.

Recently found this gem and absolutely love it! Board game cafe with a huge selection!! Can pay $5 to play or just order from their menu. I love the atmosphere of it and there are some people who come to study (although it can get kind of loud so probably not the best). Probably a dozen or so parking spaces but haven't had trouble finding parking when coming over.

Cool vibe. I really liked the decor, the chill nature, the games, and the staff was very friendly. Nice size menu with cool choices. I really liked the iced teas they offered. I had the peach tea with honey. So so good. All in all, I'll be back to try more things.

Another cool coffee spot in East Houston? Yup. Good selection of drinks at great prices. Even moreso, a number of gaming options if you are interested and lots of interior space to play. The interior decor was very fun, a great environment for tabletop gamers. I will definitely be back.

Absolutely love this place. Great if you want to hang out with friends but also perfect if uou are looking for a little spot for remote working.

me and friends come here sometimes, the coffee is good and it's fun to hangout altogether! but now i'm wondering about y'all cause lately y'all keep getting our drinks wrong except mine are y'all hiring transphobic staff lately? i can understand if our drink orders could be confusing but even the remakes get attitude from the barista. i had heard y'all were trans friendly especially lately that was amazing! now i think that was a lie and tbh i'd rather my friends not get that service, so we'll look somewhere else for games and beverages good coffee but don't go if you're not passing enough apparently

We were very excited about this place initially! We visited in July to check it out as a possible venue for a small get-together for my daughter and 4 of her friends for her 18th birthday. The staff we spoke to at the time said to avoid making reservations for weeknights because of the various gaming clubs that meet but weekends should be fine. I made a reservation via their website (WHICH IS A GOOGLE FORM) for a specific date and time 3 weeks in advance. I never received a confirmation email or phone call. So I called a few days later to confirm. No one answered the phone but the voicemail gave an email address to use. I sent an email. Again - no response. I continued to call and finally reached an actual person who said to call back the next day when the game master was in. (We are now 5 days before our reservation date). I called the next day and was told that my reservation would not be possible since "lots of people were making reservations for the weekend". I said I am not MAKING a reservation. I MADE a reservation several weeks ago. I explained to the Game Master that the employee told us in July to schedule our event for the weekend because weeknights tended to be more booked. She said that in the intervening month the Coral Sword has become more popular on social media so now weekends are filling up more quickly. So my daughter and I were forced to make last-minute plans at another venue. The day after we were told our reservation would not be honored, I received an email from the Coral Sword confirming our reservation FOR THE WRONG DATE (a day later than I had requested). Maybe this place is great for a pop-in game and food session, but their advance reservation business definitely needs an upgrade. Zero communication until a few days before is not acceptable and they should have a reservation platform, NOT a Google form. Maybe this is just growing pains for a growing business, but we are definitely disappointed customers. Please do better Coral Sword.

Came here for a friends birthday and we spent hours playing Boardgames I bought with me and also new ones to try from their collection. We stayed there for so long and the only thing we had to do was pay for a food or drink item as admission. Obviously, we stayed so long we got hungry so we bought snacks. Their food was average (French fries 4/5, chicken tenders 3.5/5) but the company, ambience, service and comfort is 5/5 would recommend. 2nd time here and loving it. We will all probably be back again.

Awesome spot. It seems like more of a social place since their focus is board games. Personally, I'd probably go to a quieter coffee shop if I wanted to do solo work or reading. But that's just me! Great chai latte (get the cinnamon on top). Btw, they sell beer in addition to coffee/tea/snacks. I came here for a drawing meet-up (Houston Drink and Draw meets here regularly) but it's obviously a spot for gaming. I believe they have a shelf of games available for play as well as a shelf with games for sale. It's fantastic and much appreciated that they host meet-ups here as well. Parking is a bit tricky. There are a couple spots in the front and a small/tight lot in the back. I came here at 5pm on a Saturday and all those spots were taken (it was really busy inside). I was lucky and snagged a spot on the side street (Fourcade), right across from the barber shop which adjoins CS. There does seem to be available street parking nearby although I didn't read any of the signs. There is also an abandoned building next to CS but I saw towing signs so I didn't want to risk it.

My first experience here started off not too well and a 1 star rating but ended up being a 4 star rating because of the service, tasty drinks and being worth my time. You should call ahead of time because they were out of quite a few things. Came a ways from where I live because of seeing the other reviews and the matcha looked so good however, couldn't try it because they were out of it. I ordered the cappuccino and chai instead. When I ordered, I stated I wanted it for "here" because I wanted it in a regular cup for the experience of how a cappuccino and chai are served and it was served in a to go cup. Ricky was so sweet and apologized for the mishap and said he should have asked. He went back to remake them and they were worth the wait. Very delicious!!

Looooove this place! The vibe is so chill and the baristas are always super cool. The drinks are also so good and reasonably priced.

The Coral Sword has an amazing space and fun vibe. I the coffee and excellent service :)

This cafe was cute! The coffee was great, the hot cocoa was even better (not too sweet!) And there was plenty of parking and seating inside. The staff were friendly and the decorations were so cool! Their menu has limited food options, but they offer plenty in the way of drinks to stay satiated. I had their vegan almond butter and jelly sandwich and it was fantastic with my coffee. The music was fun and not too loud to study, and they had so many small nooks and tables tucked away for less distractions. Bathrooms were impeccably clean and I will definitely be back!

Welcome to the hippest gamer hangout in H-town! This place is especially perfect for Magic: The Gathering and coffee lovers! You can even reserve a table to study! The staff is always nice and welcoming, Sandy is the best! There is always some unique boutique coffee brewing, fresh sandwich bites, and trendy drinks in their mini fridge. These go great when you have a long commander game or study session to dominate! I love playing Magic: The Gathering, so its always a fun time when and host Friday Night Magic (FNM) and Commander (EDH) games regularly on the weekends. You can join their discord channel and be all in the know for the upcoming events! You can buy trading cards, board games, and get a group of friends together here...what's not to love! Definitely the goal of creating a welcoming and cool place to game out was achieved here, thanks CORAL SWORD

This spot was a pleasant surprise on our trip to Houston. I had an iced dirty chai with oat milk and my mom had an oat milk latte. We also split an almond croissant. The croissant was tender, sweet, and delicious. We loved how much seating this place has as well as the music and overall atmosphere.

I've been here a handful of times over the past couple of years and I love this place. Their chai latte and dirty chai latte are both delicious, and their snacks are good as well. I typically bring my own game (mtg) when I go so I've never borrowed one of their games before but they have a super wide selection and it's always fun to browse through. The 2 person tables are a bit cramped, but they are just big enough to fit 2 mtg play mats, though there's not much extra space for your drink.

Coral Sword is my favorite coffee shop on the East End. The coffee is great, they've got ample seating, the staff are SO friendly, and I love all the free board games that they have available. The friendly staff thing is really important to me as someone with an anxiety disorder. Everyone I've ever spoken to there has been kind and low key. I really appreciate it. For people unaware, there are frequently game nights and social events at this shop, so it's often loud inside. I don't mind, and it's easy to avoid the noise if you check their Instagram and go around events. Just a heads up for anyone seeking a quiet place to get work done.

i'm here mostly looking to find another way i could troll Sandy.... then Katy wrote a review so Great space to hang out and has everything covered from beer to coffee to snacky snacks.

A small, local coffee shop with a cozy atmosphere to study, hang out with friends or play board games. Personally, I don't care too much for the drinks - they're too diluted. The ones I've had were the Matcha Milk Tea, Earl Grey Milk Tea, Nitro Thai Tea, Cappuccino. They also offer pastries, sandwiches, and snacks. Once you order, they will bring it over to you. There is plenty of seating inside and outside. However, it does get quite crowded over the weekend. There are plenty of outlets (granted they're sort of "hidden") to charge your electronics. The employees are friendly and helpful. They have 2 shelves for board games: one for retail and one where you can play. The shelf to the left of where you order is for retail. The shelf where you can play has plenty of games to select from. Once you've decided which one you want, you bring it to the front to get the game pieces. And when you're finished, just return them to the front. There is designated parking on the front, side, and back of the building. Parking is sort of limited and does fill up quickly. They recently repaved the parking area in the back!

I'm from out of town and the place is really nice but I have to say I am extremely disappointed in the fact that they weren't willing to sell me any booster packs for the game I was looking for. They said they were out of stock but I overheard them say they had an extra booster box case left but were saving it for a friend. That's really nice and all but not professional at all especially when I Ubered there for nothing.

I stopped by here for a bit for an iced tea and was really impressed by how much care they go through to make a fresh brewed iced tea! I'm not a gamer so I couldn't tell you the first thing about all the board games they have but the place was packed by happy people playing games and the whole place is filled with board games you can play while there or buy ones to take home so it really seems to be the "it" place to be. The atmosphere is super friendly as well and both the staff members I saw were super cool in explaining their offerings and the prices are great too.

Amazing have lots of board games and TCG packs to buy. Love their deal where you can play unlimited board games from their library. Great place to hang out and enjoy their food and drinks

Perfect spot for a quick coffee break Not only is it aesthetically pleasing but they have games and beer as well.. too bad i'm on my break

We are from out of town and needed a quick coffee. Most places closed early and were able to get in at 9:30pm. The staff was friendly and the place was clean. A cute atmosphere with people playing cards and games.

Super fun place for board game lover, card games d&d etc. the atmosphere is very friendly and easy place to make friends of similar internet Ice coffee just need a bit more sugar

This is the Spot!!! If you want some good coffee and better vibes check this spot out. Bel Biv Devo on the speakers, board games on deck, plenty of room to hang or work and the look fits perfectly. Coffee Krew come thru.

Such a cute place and great idea! Parking is a bit crazy, but that's normal for Houston. A great place to spend some quality time with people with many different games, snacks, and drinks.

This place was extremely different for me. This establishment gives me Austin vibes 100%. It's a corky cool hangout spot where you can play board games of your choice, web browse while drink coffee or tea, meet and connect with friends and they also have retro video games. This is unique for me because I'm not use to seeing HOUSTON this different.

Me and my friends ended up playing games here for 5 hours! They had a great selection of ciders and we also ordered the mozzarella sticks. Super yummy. The baristas were also so friendly and welcoming. Can't wait to come back

Located directly next to East End Barber Shop (there's an internal door between the two businesses), I first noticed this place when I was getting a haircut. A nerd's dream, it is a coffee shop that specializes in board games, with literally hundreds available to play, and even hosts regular Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons competitions. I later came to find out that it is owned by former Houston Astros Star, Hunter Pence, and his wife, which, me being an Astros and Pence fan, only added to the appeal. While it's not huge on square footage and seating is somewhat limited, it has a very cozy vibe, which is great for getting some studying or work done. There is a reasonably extensive coffee and tea menu as well as a limited selection of pastries, sandwiches, and cookies. I only ordered drip coffee from Ethiopian beans, but it was fantastic. Additionally, the staff was very friendly, and I found there to be a really overall positive feel in general coming from both the staff and customers (I guess board games bring happiness). I love that I now have yet another great coffee shop to go to in East End.

I came on a Saturday afternoon and for some reason the barista seemed bothered that I even walked in and asked where to order... I think I came through the back door? Maybe that through the whole experience off? LOL... nevertheless, I ordered despite the really obvious strange vibe I was getting. I ordered a toasted almond latte that was super decent! I'd go back buuuut maybe during a more typical coffee time? Morning times? Please be nice to me baristas... I'm so sensitive!

Such a cute hidden coffee spot. I was looking for a study spot and found this place, it is small but each time that I've gone it hasn't been super packed. If you're a coffee lover like myself, you should definitely try this place out. Their matcha latte was creamy and tasty, their vanilla latte was good as well.

It's a really cute place. The theme is cute. Board game mania. It's weird tho. Hipster? Nerdy? Both? Coffee here... Eh. Pizza.... Eh. Cheese was weird. The toppings want great. It felt like a lazy pizza. Slapped the stickers right on, no finesse. All my toppings were basically chunked together at the edge, not spread nicely and equally around the pizza. And the crust was too crispy. Wasnt pleasant. Cut your mouth much? Chicken tenders.... Eh. Dry. Too much crust. The tables and chairs are a bit weird. It looks nice. But for some reason as I sit here, something feels off. Not sure why. But over all the place is cute. If the coffee was A bit better I would be very happy.

FAVORITE Spot in the neighborhood! Whether it's for coffee in the morning with the dogs or to have a beer/glass of wine and play cards all night, it's the spot to be. Friendliest staff and very fun place.

SASHA IS SUCH A W. they experimented so hard trying to figure out how to make the earl grey tea latte that coral sword originally had, and they ATE. W service and id definitely come again to get my drink made by them. THANK YOU for helping make me fall in love with this spot again (it's been over two yearsss)

Kicking myself for not coming here sooner! I was definitely a little nervous that it might be over-the-top nerdy and that it wouldn't have games I was interested in. Let me just reassure anyone thinking what I thought, that there is seriously something for everyone here! There were a crazy number of board games from Catan to Candyland. I found a game called The Mr. Toast Game that was basically like an Animal Crossing cuteness version of Uno - we're actually going to purchase this game for our personal collection. The boyfriend and I came here for the first time on a Monday for Coral Sword's Hearthstone Fireside Gatherings where you can play the game with other people connected on the wifi (though not very great wifi strangely enough). I had previously only played the game for about a month before I quit and could tell the bf was elated to find other people he could enjoy/discuss the game with. The food and drinks here are also worth trying out. I ordered a phoenix down, which is essentially a pina colada with Yakult and is absolutely genius. If they made a boozy version of this with some rum, I would be in heaven! The snacks like the matcha rice krispie are from Morningstar, so you really can't go wrong. The pizzas are prepackaged frozen and heated up, but they smelled dang good and I'm definitely ordering one on my next visit!

I went to this place today for the first time and I love it. The people the servers , everything .... I was searching for a place to play rpg's like VTM and this place seem perfect .

I ended up coming here in hopes of getting some college work done and I was able to do just that as well as enjoy a delicious pepperoni pizza. Will definitely be coming back

Top notch service, staff, and establishment. Some shops round town have attitude bout making a pour over. Here, it is the standard and love them for it. Worth the wait. Every time. Gotta try food sometime. Order at counter or table is brilliant.

Super cool place to grab a coffee and play board games! Highly recommend the nitro Thai tea. They have a huge variety of popular and exotic board games. All free to play! Really nice staff too!

This a great quirky place to relax and play board games. The board game selection is enormous, many of them I've never heard of before. They also have tons of board games to purchase. The atmosphere is vibrant and there's even more seating towards the back of the building. The food menu consists of a variety of pizza, cheese sticks, and some baked goods which include donuts, cookies, and brownies. They also have several local beers on tap and a good selection of canned beers. They also a good selection of coffee, tea and hot chocolate. I had ordered some cheese sticks. I'm assuming they were baked from frozen since they don't have a fryer. They were served hot but not exactly super crispy. They were just okay for $6. You are also not allowed to bring in outside food. But this a great spot to hang with friends and play board games.

I had never heard of this place until I was invited to my gf's friends birthday hang out thing. Going into this place I was really nervous cuz yk there's always the irrational fear of what if your partner's friends and family hate you. Another thing that made me nervous was the parking situation because of all the other yelp comments, but it wasn't that bad tbh. If you don't get a spot up at the top just go round the corner and you'll be fine. When I walked into the cafe, my anxiety turned into awe. There were so many games to play here as well as a wall of items you could purchase, and I gotta say the prices weren't bad at all. It was so cool. I ended up getting two hibiscus lemonades because they were so delicious. The cheesesticks were average (but I mean what do you expect from a game cafe so it was fine). Fries were also ordered at the table and once again it was what you'd expect from a cafe. Overall it was a great experience. Service was wonderful as well. The staff was attentive, extremely nice, as well as patient and ready to answer any question that you may have. Definitely a cute spot that you should visit at least once and have fun playing games while sipping on a treat, just probably pass on the food.