When downtown restaurant and games center RPG (Restaurant, Pub & Games) announced plans to close at the end of this month, Korie Ashburn, who worked as front of the house manager, decided — along with the rest of the staff — to stay on to the very end.
“I loved RPG with all my heart,” said Ashburn, who has worked at RPG since January. “The staff there had become my family and that building had become my home even in a few short months.”
RPG, where patrons could eat and drink while playing anything from Dungeons and Dragons to Uno, will mark its closing with a farewell party from noon to midnight Friday, June 30. There will be no board fees for playing games during the farewell party, and drink offerings will be discounted.
Since opening four years ago, RPG has centered on engagement with a devoted group of customers, offering weekly trivia games, murder mystery nights, drag bingo and cocktail-laden game nights. It also had a private event space called The Boardroom that emanated speakeasy vibes.
When Lyd Low moved to Lawrence in 2021, they were attracted to RPG’s diverse, welcoming community.
“The inherently nerdy culture drew in a lot of individuals who struggled to find places they belonged,” Low said. “There were a lot of queer and neurodivergent team members, (and) people who shared similar traumas. It’s been one of the most validating and respectful work environments I’ve ever been a part of.”
For the past couple of years Low has worked at the restaurant, most recently as its event coordinator. But now, Low is looking forward to seeing some regulars at Friday’s party, catching snatches of game play and feeling the warmth one more time.
Other RPG veterans agree.
“We had a longing to be a part of a community, a desire to build community,” said Elizabeth Pool, who launched RPG in 2019 with her husband Matt and friends Nate and Meghan Morsches. “It’s so bittersweet for that business to come to an end. We did succeed in facilitating a business where community came together, but really it is our amazing staff that caught the vision and made it come to life.”
Like so many other businesses, RPG found itself upended a few months after launch by the COVID pandemic. Its model of bringing people together over board games and food and drink was particularly fraught.
When the owners analyzed the business’s numbers in early 2020, they expected to reach profitability within a few months. But with COVID’s spread that spring, it was game over.
“We never regularly reached pre-COVID revenue consistently again,” Matt Pool said. The owners decided to close the restaurant a few weeks ago.
RPG, 724 Massachusetts St., will be selling what’s left of its inventory at a discount. And RPG’s owners have worked with staff members to polish resumes, provide and take headshots and write reference letters to help them find future employment.
“I’m so disappointed we have to close this business,” Elizabeth Pool said. “But I really am … hopeful that the spirit of RPG will continue — the spirit of people coming together and being their authentic, true self.”
“RPG was my dream job,” Ashburn said. “I’ll be the last person to clock out forever and on Friday for our farewell party I’m expecting nothing but a great last shift.”
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Chansi Long (she/her) reported for The Lawrence Times from July 2022 through August 2023. Read more of her work for the Times here.
