COVINGTON, Ky. — A new bar opening in Covington is not only offering a slew of cocktails and drinks but also hundreds of board games for guests to dive into and enjoy.
Dice on Draft, located at 20 E Fifth Street near Madison Avenue, is set to open Friday, Feb. 13.
The board game bar is owned and operated by McKenzie Crist, who decided to open her first bar after previously working at a bar herself and seeing several family members, including her husband, work in the service industry.
"We just really like the community that places like this bring in, and we really missed places like this when, like, The Rook closed, and then felt like there was a gap for more niche concepts like this," Crist said.
Crist told me that when deciding to open a bar, it seemed obvious to make it board game-themed, reflecting her own love of games and hosting game nights with friends. She also said it was a no-brainer to choose to open in Covington because the city and neighborhood are so small-business friendly.
"I love that like niche things ... can survive (in Covington), like there is a market for stuff like that," she said.
Crist said there are over 200 board games at Dice on Draft, but the selection started with roughly 75 of them from her and her husband's own collection. With the variety of games to choose from, she said there's an added level for those who don't just want to sit and drink and bide their time.
"(We) have a place for people to congregate that want to play games, who maybe see a game on their list that they want to try, and they can come over and play it and try it out," Crist said.
Inside Dice on Draft, guests are met with a colorful Covington mural painted by Crist's sister, a large bar with ample seating, a variety of tables for game play and shelves upon shelves of board games to choose from.
She said the shelves are organized by game type, with options for players of all skill levels, as well as those new to board games. The various shelves include smaller, compact games like Coup or Avalon, traditional games like chess and dominoes, popular, well-known games like Monopoly, Wingspan or Apples to Apples and more intense and strategic games. In the bar's large private room, which is available to rent out, there are longer RPG games, such as Gloomhaven and dice for Dungeons & Dragons.
Outside of table-top board games, the bar also has a massive Killer Queen arcade cabinet. Crist said she and her husband played the game at Sharonville's Arcade Legacy and were addicted to it.
"It's a 10-person, so you can get a lot of bang for your buck playing it, and it's really easy to learn," she said. "It's just like another thing to kind of build more community behind too, because you have to have at least four players to play it, and you can have like tournaments on it, and there's all kinds of features on it that really drive community and playing together."
You can click here to see Dice on Draft's full collection of games and to suggest games for the bar to add.
Outside of games, Dice on Draft also has a full-service bar with craft cocktails, beer, wine and other drinks. Crist said that almost all of the bar's signature cocktails can also be made non-alcoholic.
"We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome here, and that's an option for them," she said.
Of the bar's signature cocktails, many are riffs on the classics and named after popular board games, such as the "Don't Explode" named for "Quacks of Quedlinburg," which is a riff on a cherry bomb, or the "Mars Reviver" for "Terraforming Mars." The bar also has its charity list cocktails, such as Ginger's Kentucky Mule or Gigi's Gin Fizz, that are named after Crist's pets, and $1 from each of those cocktails will go toward the different animal rescues all the pets were adopted from.
Crist also said they hope to evolve the cocktail list over time, as well as host happy hours during the week, an industry night on Mondays and more. She said they also plan to eventually have recurring events such as learn how to play certain games, test plays and more.
Dice on Draft will be open six days a week. Here are Dice on Draft's hours:
- Monday — 4 p.m. to midnight
- Tuesday — 4 p.m. to midnight
- Wednesday — CLOSED
- Thursday — 4 p.m. to midnight
- Friday — 11 a.m. to midnight
- Saturday — 11 a.m. to midnight
- Sunday — 11 a.m. to midnight
You can click here to learn more about Dice on Draft and stay up to date with the bar.
If you know of any restaurants or bars opening in your neighborhood, let Molly know. You can email her at molly.schramm@wcpo.com
