Bill M.
Yelp
Five stars for the gaming experience, drinks, and other activities. But three stars for the food so curving in between.
When I first heard that Thirsty Dice was opening a larger gaming cafe across the street from me, I was all in and ready to give it a visit. Rather than do a Thirsty Dice 2.0 in a bigger space, they went all-in with even more additions to their usual game space, like a full dining room, a bar space, an upstairs lounge, an arcade console that plays upwards of 200+ games, a pong table, and skeeball!!!
Twenty-One Pips is aptly named for the number of dots that appear on a regular dice, and I do appreciate the amount of museum-grade gaming memorabilia and unique art that they added to the event space.
Toss in the usual gaming space, adult beverages, food, and cafe space that brews Herman's Coffee that Thirsty Dice is known for; and you have a welcome addition to Ardmore.
Gaming is the main attraction as always here, and $5 per person for access to all the board games that they have for a couple of hours is perfectly reasonable. Even more so when you factor in help from a game master, access to all the video games, and skeeball. But Twenty-One Pips has added in even more events like karaoke every Monday, a weekly happy hour, a youth D&D night, and occasional things like a Family Feud night.
The one thing that Twenty-One Pips really comes up short on is the food menu, not so much for the quality but because it comes up short compared to other bars and restaurants in the area. It's kind of hard to justify paying $17-18 for a smash burger when nearby spots like McCloskey's, Tired Hands, and Ripplewood offer up non-smashed burger patties with different toppings for either less or within a similar price point. The burger isn't the only item where this is an issue. Another flaw is outside of some of the snacks and shareables, there really isn't that much of a food menu that feels gaming-friendly.
But toss in a great cocktail menu alongside a better-than-decent rotating tap beer list on top of the gaming and events, and overall you have the perfect addition to Ardmore nightlife!