Can’t get the kids off of their devices long enough for a family dinner? Farm + Feed says if you can’t beat them, join them.
Farm + Feed is named after two gaming terms that seem food-related to normies (non-gamers), the restaurant combines video games and family dinner with over 30 booths fit with a Nintendo Switch and an XBOX Series X or a PS5. The restaurant also has over 30 custom-built gaming PCs to choose from.
Families, friends and business partners are free to come in, choose a gaming system and play their favorite multiplayer games while dining on gaming-inspired concoctions.
Max Steel, the owner and brains behind the concept, created Farm + Feed last year to fill a need he saw in an already expansive gaming community.
“What got me into restaurants was this notion of bringing people together, obviously over food or drink,” Steel says. “Farm + Feed really came to a head where something I’ve always been passionate about is geek culture, video games and board games. … It’s a great way to get people out together and to have a place where you can celebrate geek culture or celebrate gaming where you’re always welcome no matter what walk of life you’re coming from.”
The DFW area and Plano already have a thriving video gaming community. Plano is home to game developers like Robot Entertainment and Stray Kite Studios. Gearbox Software, Dreamhack Dallas, many Twitch streamers and specialized gaming stores are also nearby.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is how big of a gaming community is in the area,” Steel says. “The gaming industry has taken note by having a lot of their studios move down to the Dallas or Austin area. … You have this huge network and you have a lot of colleges and young people that want to play board games and whatnot and are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.”
Of course, with a restaurant, there’s much more than video games to consider. Steel brought in Riot Games/ISS Guckenheimer Executive Chef Matt Yuen to create the first menu. Farm + Feed Executive Chef Lindsey Rush took that menu and expanded it, which Steel and the team are constantly adjusting.
“We worked on a simple menu of gaming treats but with nuanced flavors and flavor profiles,” Steel says. “We learned early on that that was too limiting, so we’ve been constantly every quarter iterating on our menu and either expanding items or taking items that aren’t selling well and moving them to specials.”
Farm + Feed’s current menu features their twist on typical appetizers and handhelds. Many of the dishes are inspired by Asian cuisine, a nod to the origin of the biggest PvP (player versus player) games and characters. Rather than plain french fries, one appetizer is kimchi sweet potato cheese fries, which are loaded with kimchi, gochujang nacho cheese, yum yum sauce, green onions and black sesame seeds.
Many popular dishes also have nods to popular games, like Boawsers, which are 24-hour beef brisket, spicy hoisin mayo, cilantro, jalapeño, pickled carrots and daikon-filled fried bao buns. The Rush Hour features raw tuna and salmon, rice paper crackers, diced mango, diced cucumber, avocado, edamame, chili aioli, green onion, cilantro and black sesame.
“We want to have one or two items that focus on the major cultures that are in gaming and geek culture and have those be represented in our menu,” Steel says. “Our menu is in constant flux, but we’ve had that core foundation and we constantly interact with both our guests as well as our staff. … That is something that we focus on tremendously.”
Guests can choose from hundreds of gaming options across board games, PC, PS5, Switch or XBOX Series X. Booths for more than three people are $20 weekdays and after 10 p.m. or $30 on the weekend. Booths range from $15-$30 and PCs range from $5-$7 depending on time and number of participants. PCs are $5 on weekdays and after 10 p.m. and $7 on the weekend. Reservations are not required, but are suggested to ensure that guests get the console and games that they prefer at their booth.
“They [the staff] are all gamers themselves and that is what makes us very unique,” Steel says. “You’ll have our serving staff and waitstaff sit with you and try to get you past that hard level or show hints of how to get by things. Or if you don’t know how to play, they will sit there and curate that experience for you.”
Farm + Feed’s walls are also full of Easter eggs, with the original League of Legends server and World of Warcraft server blades signed by the development team. Farm + Feed is open 4 p.m.-12 a.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11-12 a.m. Thursday and Sunday, and 11-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
Farm + Feed, The Shops at Legacy North, 7401 Lone Star Drive, 432.356.3467
