"Basically every line cook and metal band drummer on Capitol Hill is a gamer," said Raygun Lounge owner Eric Logan, "but nobody knows it!" He pointed out a few surprising regulars as they walked by his new tabletop games playroom. Indeed, the Raygun clientele I have observed when passing by the spacious, well-lit lounge would have looked at home at the Cha Cha, though they were holding Magic cards and plastic dragons instead of beers. Soon, when Raygun begins serving beer and wine, they can have both.

Eric told me that in an effort to make Raygun inviting to non-nerds and closet gamers, he modeled the place after a high-end shoe store. Eric has been playing D&D since he was 8. He has an MA in media studies and was making two documentaries, one about punk drag cabaret Pho Bang and one about Super 8 racing, when he met a race car driver and service station owner whose lifestyle inspired him to open a business.

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