Turquoise Goat Board Game Cafe is Looking for Game Steward/Server Full Time

Love board games? Enjoy cool and unique snacks? Want to be part of a fun, empowering, and inclusive work environment where playing games is part of your every day? We’re seeking kind, outgoing, and self-starting individuals to be part of our Game Steward team, recommending and teaching board and card games to groups of all sizes at Turquoise Goat – Vancouver’s newest board game cafe experience.

500% Cooler than your average Vancouver-sized living room, Turquoise Goat is a warm and welcoming cafe-style gathering space, serving colourful bites, Saturday-morning-cartoon-realness, and hundreds of the latest and greatest board and card games from around the world.

Inspired by the many board game cafes popping up across North America, Turquoise Goat aims to offer a first-of-its-kind experience in Vancouver, blending traditional board game cafe offerings with colourful, quirky, and alternative decor, people-centred business practices, innovative culinary creations, and a splash of retro nostalgia.

2SLGBTQQIA+ / Queer owned and operated, diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity, are integral values at Turquoise Goat, where we’re striving to build an inclusive and welcoming space for people of all genders, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, abilities, ages, and walks of life to work, gather, socialize, and celebrate the everyday.

Daily Tasks and Responsibilities – Game Stewards/Servers

– Greet incoming guests in a warm and welcoming manner
– Use an iPad to check guests in for reservations and manage seating waitlists, to respond to guest questions and to take food and beverage orders efficiently and accurately
– Get to know guests’ interests and gaming experience through friendly conversation
– Suggest and teach guests board games to guests clearly and concisely
– Suggest food and drink choices to guests, promoting seasonal or special items when instructed
– Consistently anticipate and attend to guest needs, including answering questions about game rules (it’s okay to look things up if you need to), as well as refilling beverages, replacing dropped cutlery etc.
– Quickly and safely navigate dining and kitchen areas while transporting food, beverage and board games
– Occasionally walk downstairs to retrieve specialty board games from storage and/or assist with online order fulfillment duties
– Learn & keep up with new games regularly
– Handle cash, make change, and process card payments
– Clear dirty dishes, and wipe tables and seating between guests
– Assist fellow team members in completing front-of-house serving & cleaning duties
– Perform other general duties as needed including organizing games inventory during off hours

Essential Requirements

– Quickly, and efficiently communicate with customers and team members in English
– Read and understand written documents, printed labels, signage, food packaging, and board game instructions
– Be hardworking, self-starting, and driven to complete tasks to the best of your ability
– Be honest, receptive to feedback, and a clear communicator
– Be kind, respectful, accepting of others, and excited to be part of a positive and inclusive work environment
– Have a strong interest in/knowledge of board and card games

Necessary Qualifications

– A strong foundation in boardgame knowledge
– Strong conversational skills and an outgoing personality
– Ability to learn new information quickly and retain important details
– Confidence in navigating computers and mobile technology
– Ability to work for up to 5 hours between breaks

Bonus Qualifications

– Experience working in a board game cafe
– Experience working in toy and game retail
– Self-identified board game or trading card game (TCG) nerd
– Knowledgeable about board and card gaming terminology
– Fluent in a language other than English

(Super Bonus Qualifications)

– Certified judge in Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Warhammer or other TCG
– Can do cool yo-yo tricks (and are willing to demonstrate this)
– Have actually seen a real live turquoise goat
– Something else really cool

Salary & Benefits

As part of our ethos at Turquoise Goat, we respectfully choose to opt out of tip-dependent wage culture.

Rooted in racist policy, tipping pushes the onus of paying service staff onto the customer – a practice that disproportionately disadvantages women and people of colour and unfairly compensates employees who work in non-customer-facing positions.

Instead, at Turquoise Goat, we believe that all restaurant employees deserve to earn a fair wage in the city where they work, regardless of their position.

To support this, all positions at Turquoise Goat start at $21 an hour, and increase based on experience.

In addition to above-standard wages, we offer extended health and dental benefits, flexible and creative professional development opportunities, meaningful raises, and management promotions from within.

Other perks include complimentary staff meals and unlimited non-alcoholic beverages on every shift, cool uniforms, discounts at the cafe, and access to retail board games at seriously discounted prices.

The success and well-being of our team are at the core of what we do, and as we thrive, we want you to thrive too.

At this time, we are hiring for either a part-time or full-time Game Steward/Server.

Location & Hours

Turquoise Goat is situated on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples at 122 W Hastings Street in the lively Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver, BC.

Our location is centrally located, just a 5-minute walk from Stadium/Chinatown Skytrain station, 10 min walk from Waterfront Skytrain station, and a few steps from several major bus routes, including the N19, N15, and N29 Night Buses that run until 3am.

We provide secure, indoor bike and scooter storage for staff who wish to ride to work, and are surrounded by a Mobi Bike station, the Vancouver Evo car-sharing home zone, and plentiful parking options for those who drive.

We’re situated just 3-15 minutes by foot from SFU, VFS and UBC, in addition to over a dozen other universities and colleges in the downtown core.

Open Monday through Thursday 11am – 11pm, Friday 11am – 2am, Saturday 10am – 2am, and Sunday, 10am – 12am, we have shifts available for early risers, night owls, and everyone in between.

*How to Apply*

We welcome people of all backgrounds to apply and ask you to let us know if we can accommodate or support you in any way through the application and hiring process.

Submit your application via this site. For any questions about accessibility, or other matters please contact us at [email protected]

If you see this posting up, we’re still hiring – and we can’t wait to see you at the cafe!

*Apply now*

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: $21.00-$22.00 per hour