Restaurant Review: Good Move Cafe
Where: Provo, Utah
How to find it: http://goodmovecafe.com/
Okay, let's just get this out of the way. Yes, after only one review in Champaign Illinois, I have moved back to Provo Utah with my family. No, it wasn't because the food was awful, it was actually quite delicious, I just didn't have a chance to write about it. I'm a programmer, and this is where I got a job.
Last night we went to the "Good Move Cafe". We saw this place under construction before we left and were really excited to try it out. "Good Move Cafe" is this really interesting blend of hangout spot and restaurant. The food is varied, more on that later, but what you will immediately notice upon walking in is that there are literally walls upon walls of board games and card games. You can play any of the games for as long as you want for a small $5 fee per person, and if you order food, that price starts going down.
We were a little hesitant about this setup at first because we have an 18 month old with us. Fortunately they have games for all ages, and we were able to distract him with "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" and "Let's go Fishin' board game". For this gaming aspect alone I recommend it as a date night, family night out, or let's-get-away-from-the-family-with-a-group-of-friends night.
On the topic of the food, it was all delicious! Christina had the gnocchi with a cobb salad. This was my first introduction to gnocchi and I could not be happier! It was homemade and served with homemade cream cheese and fried apples. It was seasoned with earthy herbs, which balanced out the potential overbearing sweetness of the apples and did a good job of tying the whole dish together. I had the Rueben sandwich with a side of salad. The Rueben was a little to salty and the sauce was a little bland, or maybe just overpowered by the corned beef. It was still delicious and probably the best Rueben I've ever had. But it illustrates the one problem I had with the food. In general, it is a little too under seasoned. Everything was cooked to perfection, the ingredients tasted fresh, it was just a little bland for my tastes.
One last point to consider is the general atmosphere. Usually, board/tapletop game shops are kind of sketchy and filled with twelve year olds who think they need to prove themselves by dropping f-bombs every other sentence. And don't even get me started on the college aged dudes who hang out all day. What I'm trying to say is that places like Good Move Cafe usually aren't very classy. However, that was not the case with our experience last night. There were lots of families, we didn't feel judged for having an 18 month old, and it was very bright and spacious.
In closing, the food was above average, the atmosphere was great, and they have a ton of awesome games for all ages. It's reasonably priced and I definitely recommend going, just don't go alone.
Parker Monson
