Games, beer score points at Mount Prospect's Tokens & Tankards

At one table, a family played Jenga while eating dinner. The next table over, young men enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons with beer and appetizers. Others lingered with a drink around the pinball machines and arcade games.

Games are a big part of the experience at Tokens & Tankards, the bar and restaurant that opened in February in the space previously occupied by Ye Olde Town Inn in downtown Mount Prospect.

It's a fun concept. You can bring your own game — or choose one from their large armoire — or play one of 30 pinball machines and arcade games.

The impressive drink menu packed with local craft brews outshines the kitchen, which shows promise but is still ironing out some kinks. Still, Tokens & Tankards' excellent service makes up for any shortcomings with the food, making it well-worth a visit.

Motif: The decor still largely resembles Ye Olde Town Inn — a darkened, wooden room and tavern with older tables and chairs. The style mixes English pub and fantasy gamer themes, with decor that includes gargoyles, heavy metal posters and comic book designs. In the arcade, most of the games have unfamiliar names. But there's an awesome pinball machine, The Hobbit, which shows movie clips and can have four balls going at once.

Crowd: A mixed crowd packed the place on a recent Saturday night. During dinner hour — when kids are still allowed in (no kids after 9 p.m.) — there were families, young gamers and a middle-aged party crowd that hung out in the arcade area. Most customers were in their 20s and 30s, and there were more men than women. It's a little loud, with music playing (everything from pop to hard rock) and occasional cheers from different tables as customers played their games. The vibe is fun and friendly.

Food: Tokens & Tankards bills itself as a gastrocade — a mashup between a British gastropub and a vintage American arcade — but the kitchen is still a work in progress. The menu features traditional English and Belgian pub fare like Bangers and Mash and Spiced Shepherd's Pie. The food offers a nice departure from traditional bar fare, and the portions are generous (note to parents: one $7 kids entree can feed two kids). During our visit, however, two items we ordered were badly undercooked. The owner and the waiter both apologized profusely, gave us some free tokens and took one of the items off our bill. It's an appreciated response, but a sign that the kitchen of this three-month-old restaurant is still getting up to speed.

Owner Vince Scalabrino said the menu is evolving, and will emphasize more seasonal, locally grown and farm-to-table items. Plus they're bringing back their popular lamb sliders.

You won't go wrong with the T&T Specialties. One is the Tankard Burger ($13), served open-faced on a thick piece of sourdough bread, topped with melted havarti cheese and a flavorful brown onion gravy. It's served with fries and fresh green beans. But the appetizers and desserts scored the highest with our group. We liked the Two Player Potato Pinball — fried mashed potato balls served with two dipping sauces, including a delicious malt vinegar aioli. A unique appetizer is the Dragon Egg, a soft boiled egg covered in sausage and deep fried, served on top of a bed of arugula. It was sort of like a breakfast salad. For dessert, we dove into Homer's Favorite — warm, deep-fried, beer-infused cake doughnuts, sprinkled with sugar and served with a chocolate ganache dipping sauce.

Liquid consumption: Locally brewed craft beers dominate the drink menu here, with many of them served on tap. They have well-known craft brands, like Two Brothers and Half Acre, plus lesser-known labels like Arcade Brewery and Pig Minds. They'll give you free little samples, or you can build your own flight for $3 per beer.

“We consider ourselves a craft beer destination,” Scalabrino said. “We try to focus more on the up-and-coming. It's all about local stuff for us. We try to trumpet the smaller guys.”

Service: Scalabrino and his staff are extremely friendly and nice, always smiling and asking what you need. The staff was also helpful in the arcade area.

Overall: Tokens & Tankards offers a fun concept, attentive service, a promising menu and a good place to go if you like to play pinball or board games with drinks and appetizers. It'd make a fun date night spot in the suburbs.

Tokens & Tankards

18 W. Busse Ave., Mount Prospect, (847) 873-1190, <a href="http://tokensandtankards.com/">tokensandtankards.com/</a>

<b>Hours:</b> 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday