Capes and Crepes Board Game Cafe Will Open in Portland

Capes and Crepes, a new board game cafe, will open in the old Green Zebra space on SE Division. Karim Soliman and Chelsea Hughes are the people behind the project and I was able to chat with them recently about what’s to come at Capes and Crepes.

The Origin of the Capes and Crepes Name

When I asked them about why they chose to name the place “Capes and Crepes,” Chelsea said, “I think we really wanted to capture kind of a spirit of adventure with the name. When I think of capes, I think of either a superhero or a knight going into battle or exploring. So we really wanted kind of that discovery aspect to be part of the name.”

She added, “And we also we love crepes, and we wanted food that would be easy to snack on if you’re playing games.” And they also wanted to add boba, because they love boba (Chelsea is not a coffee drinker, too). As for the game store side, they considered a variety of genre entertainment items: books, comics, video games, board games. But in the end, board games really spoke to them, and tabletop games will also be part of the mix.

“So now we have both capes and crepes:—the adventure and the food,” remarked Karim.

Previous Work in Food

I asked if Karim and Chelsea had been involved in hospitality/food and drink or anything like that prior to Capes and Crepes. They had part time jobs in food in their youth but nothing beyond that professionally. Chelsea is finishing up her PhD in molecular biology at PSU and Karim has been a CTO of a tech startup. He currently works at NY-based Trunk Tools, which handles issues of AI in the area of construction project management.

“I’m a machine learning engineer,” said Karim. “I’ve had the career for about ten years.” He really enjoys management of things in his field, but managing a cafe and/or game show is new to him, but it’s a new challenge he’s totally up for.

How They Found This Location for Capes and Crepes

They actually started out looking into spaces in Tualatin, closer to where they live, a couple of years ago. Long story short, they could not find a space to meet their needs and desires.

They have friends in the Mount Tabor area, and after spending time there they realized how nice the community is and now lively the area is. And then they learned about the nearby Green Zebra that had closed.

“We saw that it had been a year or so that they’d been out,” explained Karim. “So we just reached out to the people in charge of the property and said, ‘Can we just take a look at this place?’ And it started moving along from there.” The owers were excited about the idea of having them as tenants, and the no alcohol part was also encouraging because there are a lot of kids in the area.

The apartment buildings nearby started reaching out, too, curious to see what was happening with the space. They wanted to help spread the word of the future arrival of Capes and Crepes. And at 7,000 square feet, this will be one of the largest game stores in Portland. Comparatively, Guardian Games and Mox Boarding House are around 10,000 square feet each.

What You’ll Find at Capes and Crepes

At Capes and Crepes, there will be two parts: game store with a playing/tournament space, and the cafe. But paramount in this project is that they want to make this a family-friendly space.

“Portland’s got a bar scene,” he explained. “And so high school kids, or just families in general, don’t necessarily have that third space to hang out as much. And so that’s where this idea came for a board game store—like Mox or Guardian—but a little more more family friendly. Bright, colorful, you know?”

He continued, “The thing we used to say in the beginning is, ‘Think Christmas movie, the kid walking into a toy store, but without the chaos.'” They want to provide that magical feeling they miss—to recapture it for their customers and guests.

Food and Drink

As I mentioned earlier, boba is a big part of the menu. Look for milk teas, fruit teas, Thai ice teas, and some frozen blended drinks like mango smoothies. Tapioca balls will be standard, and they may also offer jelly and fun popping-boba, too.

They’ll also have coffee “for the people who are showing up on the weekend to work in the morning,” though that won’t be their main drink focus. However, they want to offer themed coffee and tea drinks like “Dragon’s Roast” and “Elven Tea.” They are working with Geek Grind Coffee and Tea for that.

They also plan to have themed-drinks for special days. Think, “Boba Fett” milk tea, for instance.

As for crepes, they’ll offer wheat crepes to start, based on a family recipe. Chelsea is originally from Maine and wants to bring her family tradition (they eat a lot of crepes) to the cafe.

They plan to have both sweet and savory crepes, with a menu they hope both kids and adults alike will enjoy. Savory crepe ideas include chicken pesto, grilled cheese, and pizza. Sweet crepes could be peanut butter and jelly, strawberry banana, mango, and Oreo. They’ll start with four or five options on each side of the flavor spectrum. “Nothing too complicated,” said Karim.

Presentation-wise, they liken their crepes to something like what you’d see at Mojo Crepes. There, you get them in a cardboard cup and they can be held in the hand. This configuration also makes crepes and their toppings easy to eat while gaming.

Inside the Cafe

In the cafe, they’ll have some window bar seating, and are conscious of installing enough outlets for people who want to come and do work there. “So if the high school kids want to show up, do their homework, and grab a boba or some food, they’re welcome to,” explained Karim. “But no one’s going to be be pressuring them to buy anything.”

They’ll have about 15 seats in the cafe, with the hope to seat more as time goes on. General seating tables could seat four to six people.

The Game Store

Karim and Chelsea have a penchant for thematic spaces—the tournament space will be a forested area, outside is going to be a castle. And the game store will be more like you’re in the clouds.

As far as how they will organize the games for sale, they want to group them by theme, like you might see in a bookstore, rather than “2-4 players,” or “miniature.” They believe this is more approachable for people.

“The idea being, if you don’t know a lot about board games, but you really like nature, you go to the nature section,” Chelsea explained. “And hopefully, you can find something that’s good for you, and it feels a little less intimidating than just walking past alphabetized rows of things. We’re hoping it’s a more friendly approach, especially for people who are maybe not in the hobby as much.”

They’ll also have demo tables. People can just touch the pieces, play around with them as they’re waiting. They will have a full library of about 500 games that will be free to use. Anyone can just walk into the library, grab a game, sit at a table, and play. “We want to give room for more people to join in this awesome hobby,” said Karim.

Game Store or Cafe Primarily?

I also asked them if the feel like they are more like a game store with food, or a cafe with gaming, or are they sort of equal to each other? “We would like them probably to be equal, but I think we’re a game store with a cafe,” said Karim.

However, they also acknowledged that as time goes on their clientele will eventually decide that for them “Because it’s not like you have to buy a game to come get boba or anything from the cafe,” said Chelsea.

And then there is the gaming area part of the retail side.

The Capes and Crepes Events and Gaming/Tournament Area

This tournament space can host up to 70 people. I imagine the folks who play Blood on the Clocktower in Portland will be happy to know this, and Karim recognized the need as well, in our conversation. They will also be working with local DMs to host some of the events at Capes and Crepes.

“We’re trying to set up just more regular things for new players,” explained Karim. “But if you already have a group and just want a place to hang out, there are open tables and those are great.” They’ll also have private rooms. And if they’re not hosting events, you’re welcome to use any space available.

Most of the tables at Capes and Crepes are in the big tournament area, in an enclosed area so people can let loose and really get into things during gaming nights and tournaments. They can also get food there.

They also have private rooms that will thematic via murals and decorations. “So depending on your campaign, you might have a cool room that matches up with that, and you can get food brought to you in there,” explained Chelsea.

They are also aiming to avoid a kind of dark, dungeon feel for the greater space. “We want lots of light,” said Karim. “That’s why if you’ve seen the location, there’s just windows all around. We want that inviting sort of feel. Especially as this hobby grows, we all win by bringing more people into the hobby.”

Why a Game-Cafe Combo?

I asked them why they wanted to to combine the world of games with a cafe? And why not just a cafe or just a game shop?

In short, “We we wanted a place that we wanted to go to,” said Karim. And Chelsea added, “We really wanted a friendly place where we could feel comfortable and browse for games however long we wanted.”

Chelsea continued, “And, also, if we were playing a game—because I also really love D&D—we wanted place where we would feel comfortable enough to meet up with friends, have snacks, and not have to rush to leave. So we asked ourselves, ‘What is a place that we would really want?’ And the more we thought about it, we felt like maybe some other people in the community might have that desire and need as well.”

They are aiming for a May 30 grand opening (Note: this is an update as of 5/14 from Karim). Originally they were going to open May 3 but city permitting paired with a change in schedule with their drywall people. But things are on track for this new date.

Best of luck to Karim and Chelsea as they get Capes and Crepes up and running!

Capes and Crepes [opening 2025]
4990 SE Divison Street, Portland
Capes and Crepes website | Instagram | Facebook

Updated June 2, 2025.