Lifelong love of board games leads to new hangout in Manassas

MANASSAS — One of the newest spots in Downtown Manassas is a board game lover’s dream.

Crossroads Tabletop Tavern opened a month ago, and business has been booming ever since. The restaurant has 1,435 games in-house that patrons can play, with some also available for purchase. The tavern is decorated with artwork from the games.

The restaurant and game hub is a vision that owner John Hornberger has had for decades. His love for board games began when he was a child growing up in a small town in Illinois.

“I grew up playing games with my brothers and sister,” Hornberger explained.

Some of the family favorites included Balderdash and Pictionary.

When Hornberger  joined the Navy, he quickly became known as the “game guy.” He bought Trivial Pursuit- the first game in his collection — and would bring cards to play with his fellow sailors.

He then spent years pursuing academia and studying in graduate school, where he threw game night parties for his friends. He was studying psychology and neurobiology, but his heart was set on board games. He dreamed of one day opening a board game and bookstore, he said.

Before Hornberger started his board game paradise, he spent the last 20 years in retail working toward this dream. He moved to Prince William with his wife, Dr. Allison Redlich, Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society, at George Mason University. Their two children, Isaac, 17, and Lucy, 14, a freshman, both attend Charles J. Colgan, Sr. High School.

While searching for locations, Hornberger said Manassas was so welcoming and helpful that they made the decision easy.

“The City of Manassas acted like they wanted me here and were very proactive,” Hornberger said. “They’ve invested in downtown development and I was awarded a grant through them. I found every individual I worked with to be pleasant and supportive.”

Hornberger likens picking his favorite board game to “like picking a favorite child,” he said.

But he does have one.  It’s “History of the World,” he said. This game features a map of the world that is actually painted on the wall upstairs on the second floor of his restaurant.

“Humans have been playing board games forever,” Hornberger said. “I’m just bringing them back.”

Hornberger has made games from his private collection open for everyone at the restaurant to use, and he keeps adding more.

“I either had a problem – or I had to call myself a collector.” Hornberger joked.

He hopes to do a March Madness of games, where patrons and employees can do brackets of games and decide which games get to stay and which get to go.

Hornberger said that weekends and nights have been very busy, but daytime is slower. Large workgroups will come in, have meetings, and then play games as a sort of an icebreaker. They are also working with churches and reaching out to senior facilities to engage more members of the community who might enjoy the board games and camaraderie.

“I think games are maligned by ‘adults,’” John said.

If you want to go, the Crossroads Tabletop Tavern is located at 9412 Main Street in Manassas. The restaurant and game room is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to midnight, and 10 a.m. to midnight weekends.