Stepping into The Board Room in Arlington, you hear competitive cheers and laughter, the clink of glasses. You smell someone’s adobo mint-grilled lamb chops and mint yogurt on its way to a table. Patrons wander the floor and gather around games, rolling up their sleeves for friendly competition.

The Board Room in Clarendon wants you to come have a drink, share a plate, put your smart phone away, and play a game with friends or soon-to-be friends. In this video, Drew Carpenter of the Keri Shull Team takes us inside Board Room.

Owner Mark Handwerger has been in the restaurant business in the area of Ballston and Clarendon for over 22 years. According to Mark, the clientele in Arlington is “Intelligent folks looking to go out and do something fun that they can’t get anywhere else.”

Note that although their Dupont Circle location in D.C. is a hangout where you can take your own food and drink, the Board Room in Clarendon has its own full kitchen with a long, mouthwatering menu. The Board Room in Clarendon cannot allow outside food and drink, so plan to eat there.

When the now-closed Sehkraft Brewery left this space they also left behind their distilling equipment, which is why Board Room can offer their own “Board Room Brews.”

Borrow from the game library

Have a warm salted pretzel with your game of Carcassone, or try a spicy black bean burger while waiting for your turn in Settlers of Catan. Test your coordination with a game of Jenga. Have a laugh with a drink and a round of Cards Against Humanity. The Board Room also stocks staple classics like checkers, chess, Risk, and Monopoly, of course. You can also play towering, oversized games of Connect 4 and Jenga.

At the Board Room you can get cozy with nostalgic childhood board games, or get competitive with complex grown-up board games that will test your strategic mettle.

In all, Board Room’s Arlington location offers a game library of over 100 board games. Most cost $2 to rent. If the Board Room doesn’t have your favorite game — if you’re a Cones of Dunshire connoisseur, for example — feel free to bring your own box from home.

If during the evening you want a change of pace to celebrate defeating your friends at Scrabble, Ms. Peacock’s Champagne Lounge, attached, has a very elegant atmosphere, a separate menu, and a rotating list of cocktails involving sparkling wine. It’s the kind of place so beautiful that it’ll make you feel underdressed.

Put down your smartphone and interact.

Only at the Board Room could you experience this kind of Monday night: pull up an easel for Paint Nite, head to the bar for Monday Night Football, or gather around a TV for Mario Kart Monday in the gallery. Happy Hour is from 4:00pm to 8:00pm every weekday. Board game rentals are free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Games make perfect icebreakers, cozy rainy day escapes, and great date nights. Stop in at Board Room’s Arlington location any night for great food, delicious cocktails, a warm social atmosphere, and constant entertainment.