AFK Elixirs & Eatery

This is the only bar I go to close to home located in the Renton/​Kent area. I was skeptical at first because it’s a «nerd bar» where you come to get drinks and play board games. I like board games but I’m not really into that scene. I like this bar because it isn’t rowdy and crowded like other bars and it’s a good place to meet up with friends. The food is overpriced but which establishment doesn’t overprice their food? I come here solely for the unique drinks. Although they are a bit pricer ranging from $ 8-​$ 12 they have the largest variety of drinks with cool names like «Teenage Mutant Turtles» or «Water Bender». The drinks are worth the price because they’re usually strong. I’m going to miss AFK so much. I will need to find a new bar in Renton now.

Amazing food, super friendly wait staff, fun atmosphere. Sad to see this amazing place be taken over by another stupid landlord.

The staff is rude and the prices are way too high for the food quality. The AFK in Everett is a much better place and with much better staff.

I was having a drink and singing and playing the video game Rock Band with my friends. Then I was told by the management I had to leave the establishment.
I was threatened to be punched in the groin weeks earlier by a staff member and I posted what happened in a Unilocal review. So now I’m being politely asked to leave. Thank you AFK. I hope you succeed in all your future endeavors.
Here is the video when I was threatened to be punched in the dick by the AFK staff. It happens at the very beginning of the footage. If you watch the rest of my video performances from that night, I was whispering «Battle Rock Seattle»

Okayyy so this review is for the drinks and the awesome fact that there is a nerd bar where I can go and play whatever the heck I want with my friends. There is parking on site too, which is nice. The service was a slow, but their HUGE variety of cocktails all named after nerd-​related things made me giddy. I had a variety of drinks, but my favorite was the queen of blades because it’s less crazy sweet than some of the cocktails. I didn’t have the food, but from what I saw the food looked good. I definitely wished I lived closer, so I could have another cards against humanity with my friends.
I do however wish 1. there were pinball machines or game consoles, 2. there were like some low tables with bean bag type chairs (what can I say. I’m a college kid), and 3. different lighting (it was either very bright or very dark at the table).
Anyways, definitely will be coming back with my bestie next time I’m in Washington. P. S. you should totally open one in LA!

I’ve been here a few times now, and haven’t had the desire to return. The root beer is overly sweet, the menus are incredibly huge and food selection is overwhelming and the service is rather slow. The food is mediocre at best and the selection of games is alright.
Great concept, but could be improved on many levels.

On November 6^th I got to meet with one of the owners from AFK Elixirs & Eatery and I would like to say the meeting was very wonderful. We discussed of what happened in detail, and ways to improve and handle those situations. The manager that I encountered he formally apologized, and we shook on it.
I understand stress can be hell of a thing, but the over all we talked about what happened and where to improve. I am happy to say they are on their way on working hard on improving communication, service, and quality of their establishment. They have a lot to do though. Alot of damage has been done to myself, but not only the community I can see. Based on the comments people have left me.
Afk has alot of growing to do, and I can see they want to improve. So I very much express to the community I so much love an I am apart of. Help them learn. Help them get past these growing pains, but be honest and blunt with them.
Lets see what they have to bring us in 2016.
Until then I have hope. I will continue to give them business, but I know I will still keep a watch, and if the community wishes of it I will still report these improvements.
Remember…The hardest experience to earn to level up is life experience. A dear friend old me that, and I have to agree with it 100%

The Orc Burger
Orc Burger Burger Aficionado8oz all beef burger with 4 pieces of bacon, slice of ham, salami, choice of cheese, and mayo.
While this burger is missing all the fancy toppings and sound simple it packs great flavor. My biggest fear with this burger was that all the meat and seasoning would over salt the meat, however the burger was lightly seasoned and left up to the ham and salami to enhance the flavor. Everything about this burger was tasty and filling, designed for the hungry meat eaters. Toped off with 10 pints of Guinness and I strutted away happy.
Read more burger reviews at

I waver between a 4 and a star review.
Five stars for service, friendliness, quality of the food and drinks, and atmosphere. If you’re into gaming, then this is a great venue to chill out and relax with your friends in a restaurant /​pub that is gaming themed.
The 4.5 stars is due to the feeling of it being a bit stark. It has all the right things in the right places, but it just felt a little stark. It’s really a minor nit, and it doesn’t take away, really, from the enjoyment of the place or the food.

Another review I should have written a while ago.
The larger sibling of AFK Tavern in Everett, E&E has been a good place to meet at and socialize. The good has been quite good for the most part, and overall I like it. Portions aren’t quite as generous as the Tavern, but not bad either.
The problem is that it’s also had quite a few teething pains, and I think it may have tried to grow too big too fast. Service used to be REALLY SLOW, but has gotten somewhat better in the last year. (One server I keep running into there is seriously made of awesome, and she’s been delightful to deal with.) There’s still some bobbles, but over all it’s been an improvement.
A kids menu would be nice, and there is still room for improvement with the speed of the food. I think before they expand further, they’ll want to work the bugs completely out though.

This place is not great. The bad: the food is horrible. All is greasy or covered in sauce. Typical nerd food but sometimes I just want a fruit plate. Staff has always been kind to me but service is always slow and getting seating for groups larger than 8 causes them to balk at times, even if we don’t need to be at the same table.
The idea is wonderful though and I’d like to make a couple of suggestions. First: Better food. Please? Second, take out the wooden booths and do tables. Every area should be configurable. Third, hire more cooks or wait staff. The speed is so slow, and it doesn’t have to be. I’d gladly pay slightly higher prices if these changes were made.
I’m willing to give them a chance if they at least attempt to make some changes, but if not, go to the whistle stop.

This is a rather different type of place, the atmosphere feels super nerdy being surrounded by posters of games and being able to check out a board game while dining here. It’s awesome, you can literally sit here for hours going at it with all these games. The food here is decent, not bad, but nothing significant either to be worth remembering and craving for. It’s your typical bar/​pub food, I think they maybe have a kitchen just for people to have something to snack on. The drinks however are rather creative with their oddly named alcoholic drinks that you probably can’t get anywhere else, the presentation is cute, they all look like glasses with some sort of magic potion in it. On top of that, they have like 20 choices in energy drinks for the non-​alcoholics like myself.
Bonus points for being open super late even on weekdays when nowhere is open. I’m not sure how busy it gets on weekends, but this is a pretty big establishment so on weekdays, it doesn’t feel like you are busy rushed at all since there is no hustle & bustle to worry about since all the occupied tables are spread out far apart.

I come here occasionally with friends when we wanna grab something to eat, drink, and play some games. This place is perfect for geeks and gamers, but everyone is more than welcome to dine here also. This location is way bigger than the one in Everett and it is conveniently close to where I live (across from the East Valley movie theater)! The staff is super friendly and they won’t kick anyone out. I don’t remember if I’ve been here in a weekend but I do suggest coming in early since it could get crowded and you’ll have to wait (based on my experience in Everett). Sometimes service can be slow due to high volume, but there was one night where i was really hungry and really wanted my tots but it took a while for it to get to me.
I love how their drinks are referenced to popular shows and video games such as the Mana potion from practically any RPGs (always my go to!), Lon Lon Milk from the Zelda series, the Sorting Hat shots from Harry Potter, etc. Their food is also referenced the same way! Last night I ordered the Battle Sliders with tots. The sliders had bacon, cream cheese and garlic sauce. It was very delicious but since I am still a little bit sick I couldn’t finish it): But these are my leftovers for lunch hehe.
They have a variety of games to choose from such as Cards Against Humanity, Battleship, Kittens in A Blender, etc. I’m not sure if they have Exploding Kittens but I would be extremely happy if they did! To borrow a game, you will have to go by the kitchen (it’s hard to miss where the board games are) and hand your ID. Some games you can play with 1 or 2 other person (s) but it’s more fun if you bring a big group. I also brought my 3DS here before to play Super Smash Bros with friends and I’m sure you can find other people to play with.
Overall a really fun restaurant where everyone feels welcomed!

My boyfriend and I have been here twice now, and I wanted to give it a second chance before I reviewed it. I really wanted to like this place more because the concept seem good, but the only thing I enjoyed was the fact that I could play some board games.
Everything else basically sucked. The servers were super nice but slow and never really seem to fully know what is going on. The décor is basically is just random posters hung on the wall and everything was either dirty or greasy.
The worst part was the food. It was way overpriced and not very appetizing. I think they are hoping that you get too drunk/​preoccupied with the games to actually notice what you are eating; that is if the servers actually are able to get your food to your table!
All in all its a decent nerd bar to hang out and sip cocktails, but I wouldn’t go beyond that.

Been here three times and always a pleasure!!! Awesome, awesome food! Usually go when they first open so it’s not crowded.
Hilarious menu descriptions — Muggle Burgers, shots like the Sorting Hat, cocktails Fluttershy and Grootbeer. It’s a gamer’s hangout for sure! They open for lunch at 11:00 on Fridays, so that’s the only time I can go at work. I’m so there!!!

Eh…
So I work down the street and have been invited to grab drinks at this place on numerous occasions. From what I had already heard about AFK, it seemed worth checking out.
Super. Nerd. Bar.
There is nothing wrong with being a nerd or a gamer. In fact, I admire those with enough grit to shamelessly be passionate about whatever game/​movie catches their interests without concern about how other people perceive them. But wow there were a lot of people with ears/​tails/​elf make up/​Magic the gathering decks/​rainbow hair. I was not expecting that. I felt out of place lol.
Aside from that, it was trivia night and way too packed for my liking. The drinks were cleverly named (I think? I didn’t catch all of the references honestly) but I was over reading the very wordy drink menu after the second page. The drinks aren’t cheap. Neither is the food which was disappointing because it wasn’t amazing food and I felt I paid too much for what I got. I suppose they have to make money somehow because they have a policy to not ask customers to leave because of the whole «come and play games» environment.
I liked our server. Enjoyed my experience enough that I’ll come back and maybe just get a drink with friends. Probably won’t suggest coming here though. I’d have to be invited.

I don’t know if we were just lucky or it all depends on the day, but my experience here with my fiancé and my friends was fantastic. My friend and I celebrated our birthday together yesterday and decided it would be fun to spend time at AFK. We had never been to this location, nor the other one, and definitely wanted to try it out.
We ordered: Mozzarella «joysticks» for an appetizer, three cocktails (Soul Stone, Still A Better Love Story Than Twilight, and the Obi Wan Kenobi — Padawan style), one lavender and honey mead, a diet coke, the shire burger with a side salad, penne pesto and mushroom pasta with the side of soup (green chili and corn bisque), tortellini pesto and bacon pasta with a side salad, tortellini «firebat» (spicy sauce *1−5) with bacon and a side salad. The three pasta dinners also came with a side of battle bread each.
Pros:
Service: Very friendly and accommodating. The waitress made sure to check up on us numerous times and always refilled our water. She wasn’t irritating and came back just enough! She was also very nice and helpful.
Food: First of all, the mozzarella joysticks were amazing. They were large and I think they give you six or seven, I can’t remember. Either way, the breading on the outside was deliciously crispy and the side of marinara sauce was fresh and looked more like it was homemade with fresh herbs rather than the usual you get at pizza places.
The cocktails were pretty fantastic, a tad strong on the Soul Stone, even though I asked for less alcohol (I don’t want to know what it would have been like with the full amount of alcohol if they truly gave me less!). But it was pretty tasty nonetheless. I loved the pear flavor! The lavender honey mead was incredible and I’ve never been a fan of mead or beer/​cider, etc, but that was amazing and my friend loved it. The SABLSTT cocktail was delicious as well, sweet and not overly strong. The sugar on the rim was a great touch. My fiancé loved the Obi Wan Kenobi drink. It was very blue and tasted a little like bubble gum! It was fun and the options were great.
The pasta was amazing. The pesto sauce and the «firebat» sauce were very creamy and delicious. They certainly didn’t skimp on the bacon or mushrooms, so it was very much worth the price. If you’re not into something super spicy but want a tad of heat, I advise asking for the firebat sauce to be a 1. I got a 2 and it tasted like it would have been more like a 3 or 4. The salads were fresh, the lettuce was not wilted, very tasty and not covered in dressing or anything like that.
The burger was cooked as requested at medium and my friend said it was pretty delicious. She liked her salad and agreed that it was well made and fresh tasting.
And lastly, the battle bread. Oh sweet lovely battle bread! The deliciousness of this bread cannot be expressed in words. Please try it, you won’t be disappointed!
Cons:
My ONLY complaint is the seating. The booth we sat at would rock forward no matter what your weight was and no matter how many people were on it. and the chairs are not the best for people that are a bit larger and up. I don’t think anything was remodeled and changed after they took over after The Keg went out of business. So I’m assuming everything is old and used from that. I kind of hope that, if AFK stays in business, they put some money into better seats and booths (but keep the moveable tables!) Other than that, I have zero complaints. :)
After everything, and after playing Cards Against Humanity, we really enjoyed ourselves and will be coming back. At a total of $ 111.08, I definitely can’t argue. Especially when we got good food, good service, and a lot of laughs in. Thanks AFK!

I was originally supposed to go here for to write a GrubHub food review last year but the cards didn’t align. Fast forward a year later and I wanted to check out the place anyways since I just moved to Washington.
I really wanted to like this place but I felt like an outsider. The second I walked in, I was given a monologue from the maitre’d about how this is a nerd exclusive place and I should know what I’m walking into. «It’s all right if you want to find somewhere else to eat,» he said, standing there with his arms crossed.
Well… you know, I kind of came here for that reason. Because I consider myself a nerd. I work on videogames and before then, reported on the industry. I don’t necessarily broadcast that information ²⁴⁄₇ because I consider myself a 3-​Dimensional person.
The food? Meh. From coming here, I quickly found out that it’s basically a free play game area and the food is just a side thing. I had a chicken BLT for about $ 12 with mushy fries. The bread was stale, the bacon tasted like it was dipped in some sort of rub, and the chicken was dry. Basically, the ingredients for a terrible sandwich.
The plastic drink cups are smaller than ones you’d find at a college or high school cafeteria. I had to ask for a refill probably 8 times.
As I was walking out, I took my time leaving to listen to the Maitre’d give a new set of patrons the spiel. I wanted to know if it was just me. They two said they never came here before. The Maitre’d smiled and gave the couple with pink and blue hair the restaurant specials and seated them at their table. I guess if I ever want to come back here to be accepted, I have to dye my hair neon?

What better way to spend an afternoon watching a rock band competition while drinking a Kirby… A Kirby? Or was it a Zelda? Do they even have a Zelda drink? I guess it doesn’t matter considering their drinks, and not just their names, are all pretty awesome. Drop in, order some fun named burgers, surround yourself in nerdy posters and geek out over board games and hopefully a menagerie of people who don’t mind geeking out with you.
**portions are in the «very giving» area
**if you’re not into the spicy thing, tell your waitress; they like their chili flakes in the marinara sauces

I have visited several times to this location on special event days, Halloween, weekends, and normal weekdays.
I actually am a fan of the food here. The prices are average and the quality is pretty ok overall. Tasty and creative.
At all times, I have only been at the bar area. I have had great service from the waitresses so far. The bar service has been consistently poor. All on the amount of knowledge, effort, friendliness, speed, and attentiveness. Why is the wait staff so good and the bar so bad when the bar should be generating most of the income at restaurants? The ROI is high when selling liquor.
The bar tender is unable to keep up with demand. . and I have seen one bar tender handle much higher loads at the other AFK in Everett. The Renton one is not as fast or energetic. Also, he favors the regulars that don’t mind cutting right in front of you as you don’t even exist. Not a great atmosphere for true geeks and nerds.. . unless you give us a sword or wand to fight with. OR you bring your own large group of friends — we fight well in a group. Otherwise, I felt that there has been very strong developed clicks that now bully their way at the bar which makes it rather hostile for normal people like me to visit.
I will be going back today to hang out and try to give AFK E&E another chance with a different gamers atmosphere as I am meeting to play some games this time instead of just visiting the bar area. So far, I’m not a fan and am very disappointed that this had happened to one of the rare, cool, geeky places that a nerd like me could call home.
To Note: This could explain why the bar area is always dead and not even close to the fun that can be had at AFK in Everett. Not friendly clientele in Renton.
Update after going there again last night: The prices are rather high for what you get I guess. I had the steak which was described to be not rubbery tough or tastes like burnt grill. Stick to the pasta if you want food here. The drink prices seem to be rather high compared to a standard night out at AFK Everett. I have a feeling that this place will start having issues filling up the restaurant since Mox opened up closer to geeks in the east side as well as having much better food options and service.