“Customers wanted more than what we had offered at the time because the menu when we first opened was very, very limited,” said Sharla Ives, wife of co-owner Charles Ives. When Go Play with Your Food opened in early 2023, their main focus was on being a family board game and tap room. They wanted to invite people to come around with friends and family for drinks and to play games without the distractions of cell phones.
It has become known for fun theme nights such as the sell-out Harry Potter trivia nights and for supporting the local tabletop gaming convention . The restaurant even has hosted celebrities, such as '80s icon Diane Franklin , in town while on movie and TV shoots. But as their customer base grew, their focus on the menu shifted.
“Mark (Shaw, one of the co-owners) was very emphatic that he was not going into the restaurant business, that he was in fact, going to put the primary focus on...
the board games,” Ives said. The upgrade to the kitchen now signifies the full shift Go Play With Your Food is making to be more balanced between game room and tavern. Co-owner Mark Shaw said in a text that the city needs places that are open year round and create fun for the families year-round.
"We are always looking for feedback on how to be what our customers want their experience to be," Mark Shaw said in a text from North Carolina. "In this case, we heard loud and clear they wanted a full bar, and they wanted burgers and other foods that only a larger kitchen woul.