Where to Eat in Vancouver: Pizzeria Ludica

On a snowy Sunday afternoon, no one in my family was feeling particularly patient. We had walked in the snow, had a hot chocolate, built a snowman – all the day before. We were a bit sick of our own board games. What’s better than not cooking a meal yourself, and having someone else recommend and explain how to play a new board game? That’s pretty much heaven in my book. The answer for where to eat in Vancouver was obvious.

HOW Many Tabletop Games?

Pizzeria Ludica is a new restaurant in International Village that offers pizzas and pasta, and critically, a 500+ library of tabletop games. Banish the idea of Monopoly and Sorry! – we’re talking much more entertaining games like Settlers of Catan (and it’s entertaining small person version Catan Jr.), Carcassone and Smallworld. These are fun games with neat pieces and boards filled with imaginative art, all sorted by difficulty.

One of the best features of Pizzeria Ludica is Darryl Boone, the owner. He patiently talks to you about what you like to play, and helps you select a game from the incredible wall of boxes. He will even help you set it up and teach you the basics. I’m a bit of a tabletop game nerd, and was pleased he picked out a couple of co-operative games I had been reading about already. He knows his stuff. In fact, 400 of those games in the library were already in his personal collection.

Does the Food Measure Up?

I had fallen in love with the concept of a tabletop game library plus pizza place, but I was a bit concerned the food wouldn’t make the grade for where to eat in Vancouver. I needn’t have worried. The restaurant had originally been an Italian place with a stone pizza oven, and the kitchen knows how to use it. We ordered a ham and pineapple pizza that arrived blistered around the edges, as it should be, and wonderfully chewy. My four-year-old son inhaled a good half of it. The plate of spaghetti Bolognese was meaty and comforting, just what I was hoping for on a winter day.

The two dishes satisfied the three of us for lunchtime, though dinner might require more. There’s a kid’s menu with a choice of pizza, milk or juice, and a gelato or sorbetto to follow too. Check their website for specials, at the moment you can get a pizza or pasta for $11 before 4:00pm. There are both gluten-free pasta and dairy-free cheese options as well.

Where to Eat in Vancouver for Older Kids

My son was not really focussing on the gameplay because it was a restaurant with a lot going on – so we had to dial down the complexity in the games we chose. A very patient three-year-old would have fun, but it’s not particularly geared towards toddlers and babies. It’s worth noting that there are no change tables in the washrooms, though the accessible one has a large area of (clean) floor you could spread out a change mat. There are two high chairs available, and a few booths that make it a bit easier with squirmy toddlers. Older kids who like tabletop games would have a blast.

Interestingly, out of the five tables of people eating when we left, four had picked out a game and were actively playing. And no one was on their phone.