As if going out to dinner wasn’t fun enough, Mr. Mike’s restaurant in Langley has upped its game, literally.
Since late September, Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse on 200 Street has offered board games of all types, from Jenga to Scrabble, to customers while they wait for their food to arrive.
General manager Devin Deening said it’s been lots of fun to watch families, friends and people on first dates switch off their technology and break out a board game.
“Kids love Jenga and checkers,” Deening said.
“We have some regulars that come for Thursday’s beer night and who ever loses the crib game pays the tab.”
The games, which include Trivial Pursuit, Battleship, checkers, Balderdash, crib, chess and more, are offered in the urbanLodge portion of the large restaurant.
The urbanLodge is set up like an adult rec room, but kids are welcome too.
Toni Bellwood, kitchen manager, said she’s seen more and more people ordering appies and playing a game, and having fun.
“There’s been some excitement around the board games for sure,” said Bellwood, who is partial to Jenga.
Like other Mr. Mike’s restaurants, they have noticed that certain personalities are drawn to certain games.
People who choose Jenga are usually extraverts, a little bit louder, and younger crowd.
Those who are choosing Scrabble are ‘quite intellectual and competitive,” Deening said.
“They’ve invested the time to win.”
He’s also seen a couple first dates play a board game to keep the mood light and fun.
Work Christmas parties at Mr. Mike’s will likely involve a rousing game of Apples to Apples, they said.
Mr. Mike’s has been around in B.C. for 55 years, with many people’s memories of the iconic restaurant offering their famous classic burgers and salad bar.
While they no longer offer the salad bar, their classic burgers are still one of their number one sellers, said Bellwood.
She claims their steaks are ‘second to none.’
Both Deening and Bellwood have worked at Mr. Mike’s for around five years, explaining that it is one of the best places to be employed and it feels like family.
“Part of the Mr. Mike’s DNA is community involvement. That’s what makes it great to work here too,’ said Bellwood.
They partner with many charities including KidSport and host a toy drive at Christmas, a car show this summer with funds raised going to God’s Little Acres Farm. They provided food at the sold out Fraser Valley Wine Festival this month. They also do a work experience program in the kitchen with people with disabilities and have employed two from that program.
One of those people is Special Olympics medalist Josh Lowe who has worked there for one year and is ‘an awesome person to work with,’ said Bellwood.
For the third consecutive holiday season, Mr. Mike’s is paying it forward through their “Deeds Well Done” community program.
On now until Dec. 31, guests will be encouraged to nominate fellow community members’ good deeds.
A nominated “good deed doer” will be selected from Langley and will receive $1,000 from Mr. Mike’s to donate to a charity of their choice. In total, Mr. Mike’s will donate $10,000 in 10 communities across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba this season.
What game you choose says a lot about you, says Mr. Mike’s staff.
• The Winner: Trivial Pursuit — Competitive in nature.
• The Wordsmith: Scrabble — Likes to highlight their knowledge and skill to others
• The Social Butterfly: Apples to Apples — Thrives during activity based games with many different people and lots of human interaction.
• The Clock-Watcher: Jenga — Easily distracted. Cannot spend more than 30 minutes playing a game.
• The Big Kid: Battleship — Whether young or young at heart, this player loves games from their childhood.
• The Traditionalist: Backgammon — Would rather play classic games with an element of nostalgia.
• The Strategist: Chess and checkers — Likes to put on their thinking hat. Is reluctant to leave games to luck.
• The Bluffer: Balderdash — Not easily fooled. Maintains a steady disposition throughout.
