House Rules Board Game Lounge

Great classic smash burger! - Classic Smash - $8: Great! I’d rate this as one of my favorite smash burgers in Grand Rapids. The patties were on the thin size even for smash burger standards, but the caramelization was top notch! The burger was big, but it was somewhat more fluff than fill. - Service: You order at the counter and they bring it to your table (you can specify your table or they can assign one to you). It was super fast service, but minimal. - Atmosphere: Games. Everywhere. Lots of tables to play and the food is served in a separate area with different tables. You can still game there (or at least that is what I saw). - Conclusion: I’d recommend their burger for sure! Delicious. Bring or buy a game and lots of friends. It is a great place to hang out. Visited on a Wednesday at 8pm.

Visited for the first time on a Thursday evening around 4:45 PM and they found us a table for two hours. We ordered food and drinks and picked out a game. The energy overall was high, different tables having fun with their groups. I really enjoyed it and would like to return.

I met some friends at House Rules for some gaming, beers, and food. We had a great time. I had a hearty portion of mac and cheese. This was my second or third time at House Rules, and I look forward to my next visit.

Wow, I'd love to see this in more places. It was so fun and I feel like it would be a great third space for folks. There are five coolers of alcoholic drinks and five coolers of non alcoholic drinks so there's a HUGE variety for people which I liked. We ordered the Beast fries and they were great. The staff even subbed out the meat for us. Would be my go to spot for sure if I lived in Grand Rapids!

I come here almost every Tuesday for the free drop in game night they host between 6pm and closing. I meet some amazing people every time and have a blast playing board and card games. Their selection of games is absolutely massive, with a game for any type of person. The food here is pretty nice too.

Traveled from Florida and found house rules, and what a great find. This place is amazing with every board game you could think of, every drink you could think of and the most delicious food! I love the coolers with all the different options and the bartenders make some amazing drinks. I would definitely go out of my way To visit this place again and again.

I’ve been here 3 times now. Food was pretty solid along with the atmosphere. Fun options for games. Food came decent quick and the bartender made a decent drink for my wife. But what we both noticed is that no one working there smiled……if you’re working in customer service, the easiest thing to do is put on a smile. My partner and I work in the service industry and have for decades. I have managed plenty of establishments to see how this simple gesture changes a customers experience completely. The two bartenders were doing the dead face, short answer, while still holding a conversation with the other. I’m not sure if they’re trying to act cool or they just despise life. It doesn’t matter how many hours you worked that day, every customer should get the same positive experience. Except, after three visits now, the same bartenders gave the same poor communication and lack of emotional intelligence to every customer. Where most would be too afraid to say something, I am not as this is a huge pet peeve for us. It wasn’t “an off night” it wasn’t a one off incident or whatever excuse someone will try to use. It was poor customer service for people who couldn’t control their personal emotions during their shift I don’t care if everyone is short staffed and most customers are difficult. We make sure we are above and beyond nice. We Tip way beyond normal for good service.always. You need to retrain your staff on customer service and how things like rbf arent the way to make more tips. I didn’t get a smile from ANYONE till the front desk person would come around and let people know their time was almost up. When we checked in though, it was short, RBF, and annoyed looks. I want this place to be better but I won’t be back for a bit till hopefully the staff turns over since it’s service industry. They stay open because of groups like Betka pope and others hosting events there. Oh well….

Our first time in happened to be a very bustling trivia night late Monday evening. Unsure of exactly how a board game bar would work my S.O. and I went up to the bar where Ashley gave us the rundown. Not having any open tables she assured us trivia would free up soon and sat us at the bar to get us started with food and drink (literally the best White Russian I've had. Eat your heart out Jackie Treehorn). After some reddit googling about good 2 player games and some light banter with a very busy barstaff, I asked Ashley if she knew any good games she would recommend. As trivia filed out and she wrapped up some tasks she promptly grabbed 4 of her favorite recommended games and proceeded to give us the low down on each. (We picked Gloom a fantastic macabre game with fantastic art design). The staff was all incredibly accommodating and just friendly enough to make banter with newbies. Shout-out to the trivia peeps who ran as well. Can't wait to come back!