A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Dec. 15 to formally introduce the arrival of a new and gamer-friendly St. Albans eatery, The Grind.
The Grind, which opened to the public on Dec. 7, is located at 1481 MacCorkle Ave. in St. Albans, at the site of the former Mayberry Restaurant in the St. Albans Mall.
The American bistro features a menu of salads, sandwiches, burgers, soups, pasta dishes and a variety of entrees such as grilled sirloin steak, grilled chicken and chicken tenders. The selection of side dishes includes garlic mashed red potatoes, steamed vegetables, macaroni and cheese, home-style cole slaw, beer-battered French fries, green beans and rice Pilaf.
Appetizer choices include items such as mac and cheese bites, fried green tomatoes, crispy mushrooms and crispy cheese bites.
The Grind offers a tempting, tremendous ice cream and dessert menu, too, along with a full espresso and specialty coffee and tea menu and a kids’ menu.
The Grind also contains a large seating area where players can meet and compete in rounds of tabletop games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering and Warhammer, among others.
“In the last four years, I’d been involved in going to some gaming conventions,” owner Nathan Davis explained. “It had always been an interest of mine. One of the things I was hearing about from a lot of people was that at a lot of the typical comic book shops that hosted gaming events, people would have to bring their own food or leave to get something to eat and come back and take down their gaming boards while they did that.
“My original idea was to open a coffee shop that would support gaming,” Davis said. “In looking around the area, there were a few locations that were available that really didn’t fit the space we had in mind very well.”
When the Mayberry’s site became available, he said, he had some reservations about opening in a venue that large for solely a coffee shop/cafe.
“I had always wanted to have a restaurant,” the St. Albans resident said, “and, with this space having already been a restaurant, it was kind of a ready-made building for us. We set up here without a substantial amount of remodeling. It gave us kind of a head start.”
Davis said he intends for the restaurant to be inviting and “social-centric” for its gaming customers.
“The idea is that the gaming happens in conjunction with the restaurant,” he explained. “I wanted to have a destination for spending the day gaming. We have encouraged our staff and even looked for staff with a gaming interest, who are conscious of gamers’ needs, like not interrupting during a critical part of the game.
“The idea is to have a section in our main dining room for gaming, both organized and casual. We’re going to be hosting events, and we encourage people if they want to bring a game to come and bring their friends.
“It centers more around ‘social-centric’ games. We’re not doing video games at all — just board games, card games, role-playing games. It’s people actually talking to other people in person rather than looking at a computer screen and talking over a microphone. I think it’s a re-emerging experience, since video games have taken away some of that in-person interaction,” Davis said.
He added that The Grind’s burgers have become an early favorite among customers, but other culinary items are in the works.
“We have some amazing burgers on our menu,” Davis said. “Burgers and steaks are our central focus and we have full dinner entrees. We’re encouraging our staff to try out new recipes and come up with creative items. So the kitchen staff has some ownership of what they’re making. I’ve tried to hire some creative people. We’ve tried some new dessert recipes already; there was some experimental baking going on in the kitchen a couple of nights ago.
“We’re going to be phasing that in more and more and make a lot more things in-house,” he said.
Other plans as The Grind establishes itself include opening a party room to host 20-person groups, with a secondary area near the front of The Grind for large groups, as well.
Through the holidays, Davis said, The Grind is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information about The Grind, call 304-721-9007 or visit The Grind’s Facebook page.