Three friends with zero restaurant experience are opening their first café business together in Houston. But if they're worried about success, they're not showing it; they know how to play the game.

Games, rather. Hundreds of them.

The partners in Tea + Victory, opening April 10 at 2030 E. T.C. Jester Blvd. in the Shady Acres neighborhood near the Heights, are bringing their love for board games to a project that is quite unique in Houston. A board game café, Tea + Victory is a place where customers can indulge in Monopoly, Risk, Battleship and beyond, including the newest and most challenging games on the market. The café offers 500 board games that have been personally curated by owners Jason Bush, Vanessa Briceño and Meghan Rega, who hope to connect with a community as enthusiastic about board games as they are.

While the main menu is a wealth of games of chance, strategy and knowledge, there's also a food menu of British-inspired nibbles and contemporary takes on childhood comfort foods. And yes, tea -- pots of tea and good coffee.

Board game cafes are trending and can be found in most major U.S. cities, Bush said. Texas has such cafes in Austin and Galveston. And even Houston, already: Coral Sword Game Café opened in February at 1318 Telephone offering a diverse lineup of games with quality coffee and tea.

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Tea + Victory is on a larger scale, a 3,300-square-foot enterprise designed by Houston restaurant designer Erin Hicks to showcase the vast inventory of games as well as the tea, coffee, beer and wine options. The café also employs a staff of Game Guides who are avid gamers eager to help customers choose a game and explain the rules. Like working with a restaurant sommelier, customers can explain their interests and a guide can suggest games that would appeal to them with plenty of encouraging gusto.

The café's owners come from diverse backgrounds: Bush is a computer programmer, Briceño a lawyer turned game designer, and Rega a graphic designer. While all bring a formidable passion for board games to the playing table, Briceño upped her game by receiving a master of fine arts in game design from New York University Game Center department of game design.

Briceño said most games can be broken into simple categories: classic (the board games most families probably have in their home), gateway (games that introduce non-gamers into more advanced, modern gaming) and hobby games (more complicated gaming).

The partners tested the local market with about 30 pop-ups, deciding that there's a growing appreciation for board games. "There's an untapped market of people who want to get into modern board gaming," Briceño said.

Indeed, even before they were ready to open gamers have been in touch wanting to set up game dates and group gaming activities. And game publishers have reached out to ask that their games be stocked. Of the thousands of board games on the market, the partners have selected about 500 games, most of which take anywhere from half an hour to two hours to play. The cover charge for playing games is $5 per person.

And while gamers are deep into Carcassonne, Catan or Sagrada, they can enjoy something to eat and drink at Tea + Victory.

Consulting chef Ben McPherson has created an inaugural menu that begins with simple snacks such as deviled eggs with smoked salmon, fried mozzarella curds with green goddess sauce, "cows in a blanket" (smoked jalapeno beef sausage in puff pastry), chicken nuggets, and a meat and cheese platter. There's a selection of English pasties – pastries filled with steak and potato, meatball and mozzarella, butternut squash and Parmesan, or roasted chicken and tomato confit with olives. A throwback sandwich such as grilled cheese with tomato soup plays against a modern interpretation of a fried bologna sandwich which here employs mortadella and cheddar on toasted sourdough.

Even more of a British bent comes from the selection of tea sandwiches served on a proper tiered etagere. Perfect with a pot of tea.

And for more substantial appetites there's a wedge salad, cottage pie, chicken tikka masala, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and a clever take on canned ravioli: Chef Boyar-Ben's four-cheese ravioli in tomato sauce served in a tin can. Chef Benjamin Alexander will run the kitchen operations when the café opens.

The taps run with 14 draft beers, four wines and a nitro coffee.

Tea + Victory, 2030 E. T.C. Jester, 713-824-0755; teaandvictory.com. Will be open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.,, Friday from 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.