Whatever your game, Heartside has a place for you

Whether you play with 20-sided dice or mini-golf putters, these Ionia Avenue bars will welcome you into their communities.

House Rules Lounge buzzed with the sound of game pieces clicking, cards shuffling and some light ‘90s music playing underneath a tumult of conversation strewn with board game jargon. Tuesday night — drop-in night, where anyone can come to play new board games with new people for free — is just one of the weekly community-building events House Rules offers.

“People were looking – especially during COVID and post-COVID — to get back in the community and go out and meet people again. And we’re just that place,” said House Rules co-owner Nathan Murray.  

Heartside has plenty of options for people to play together. GO HEARTSIDE spoke to two bars that cater to fun-seekers: one for those interested in a quick game of mini-golf, and another where patrons can reserve tables for three hours at a time to play board games — about how they cultivate opportunities for connection by making fun and games their business. 

Don’t be bored … Play a board game!

Wearing a blue T-shirt that reads “NERD,” Murray told GO HEARTSIDE all the event options at House Rules. “Wednesday is a Magic [the Gathering] night, so this whole side of the bar will be playing Magic. That’s like 70 to 80 people, and then we’ll be another 40 people over there just playing regular games.” Thursday is Euchre night, and “Monday, it alternates a little bit. We have a trivia that’s really popular, the first and third Monday, and then every second Monday, it’s cribbage,” Murray said. 

Murray opened up House Rules with co-owner Brian Beaucher in 2020. Beaucher was looking to convert his craft beer store — which had already attracted a contingent of Wednesday night game players — into a lounge focused on board games. 

After a slow start due to COVID, the business now welcomes around 1,200 customers a week. They open at noon every day, and close at 10 p.m. on Sunday, 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and midnight Friday and Saturday. 

Patrons can buy games online, but to receive suggestions, try food from the newly installed kitchen, or learn how to play a new game without having to read the rules, patrons can visit House Rules Lounge at 404 Ionia Ave. SW, Grand Rapids. 

“The hardest part about learning a game is reading the rules,” Murray said. “We’ll take that out of the equation for you and just teach you how to play it.”

 Hole in one, pour several more

Nick Jenkins is the co-owner of Big Mini Putt Club, Heartside’s brand-new mini golf bar.. He already owns two successful locations — running programs and competitive leagues — in Chicago. The Grand Rapids location will open soon. 

Jenkins decided to move to Grand Rapids after success in Chicago because of its reputation as “the active lifestyle city,” Jenkins told GO HEARTSIDE. “I think [for] Grand Rapidians … there’s a desire to go out and mingle with friends and meet people with an activity.”  People can sign up for a teetime in groups of up to four people.

He plans to start hosting leagues and implementing their community-building initiatives in the GR location as soon as possible. “We’ve had marriages start from our leagues … which is wild and awesome,” he told GO HEARTSIDE. 

He also is working to select local nonprofit organizations to sponsor on Charity Tuesdays at Big Mini Putt. Patron participation is “a great way for people to come in and give back,” Jenkins said. Each quarter culminates in a charity tournament.

The space is set to open in the next few weeks at 70 Ionia Ave. SW, and will feature 10 golf-themed cocktails and 10 draft beers with an emphasis on local flavors alongside their unique, custom holes. 

A warm welcome to all

Jenkins said he chose mini golf for the bar concept because “mini golf is one of those games you can make as intense and challenging as you want it to be.” Whether  it’s someone’s first time ever playing mini golf, or their 40th, they can have a good time at the Big Mini, Jenkins told GOHEARTSIDE. 

And even if people are “concentrating on how good [their] drink is instead of how good [their] swing is,” there is enough “silliness” baked into mini golf to still have fun on the course, according to Jenkins.

Big Mini Putt is kid- and family-friendly in the afternoon, though their later evening hours are reserved for those 21 and up. 

House Rules’ co-owners intentionally curate a space for everyone to feel welcome as well. House Rules is often frequented by queer patrons, and for introverts the structure of a board game can provide a more comfortable scenario in which to interact with new people, according to Murray. 

Board or card games can also be enjoyed across generations. “It can be kind of tough to find something for everybody, but we definitely can do that here for sure. You can come in and play kids’ games there all the way up to big games, and we make lots of suggestions,” Murray told GO HEARTSIDE.

While both bars pride themselves on their carefully curated and largely local drink choices, these places are more than a place to have a drink. They are places to play games and build community, either as one stop on your night out or as the only one, Murray and Jenkins told said. 

“You can go to a sports bar if you want to watch sports, but we’re doing something different here,” Murray said, “I think that resonates with some people.”