Critical Grind Board Game Cafe

03/31/2026

Critical Grind in Shorewood Illinois, is a locally-owned, community-oriented board game coffee shop and events company.

Join us for board games, role-playing games, trading card games, craft meetups, and delicious drinks and toasts.

Open 7 days a week at 9am.

03/31/2026

Have you seen our updated menu?
Here it is!

Aside from out very popular monthly specials, Critical Grind prides our business on being a community space, and our menu being extremely customizable to suite the needs of our community.

Filled with great options for everyone, our Cafe uses loose leaf teas, culinary grade matcha (best to use in lattes) and that is coffee locally roasted; all provided by Two Brothers Coffee Roasters and Smartfruit refreshers and smoothies.

We have unique food options with sweet and savory toasts (bread made local by Milano Bakery) as well as CHAOS TOAST where the dice gods decide the fate of your bites.

Sugar free, dairy free, and gluten free options for select items are available at request.

03/30/2026

The Weekly Grind Newsletter is out now! Check out our upcoming events and April Specials

UPDATES((thinking of making these permanent... what do we think??))LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:Not a lot to post about last week. It was kinda slow for being Shorewood's Spring Break. We're hoping this week will be a little busier while some of the other schools are on Spring Break this week. As a remind...

03/30/2026

We are so honored to be nominated for the Plainfield Shorewood Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber Awards in the Food & Beverage category with so many other wonderful businesses.
This is something other chamber members will be voting on and we find out at the Awards Night in May.

Wish us luck!!

📢Huge thank you to everyone that nominated our chamber members! Here is a list of all the nominees (that were eligible) to be voted on. VOTING STARTS MONDAY, APRIL 6TH!
*Nominees, please look at your emails soon- there is a form you will need to fill out prior to awards night.

03/28/2026

We are now taking Preorders for Magic The Gathering: Secrets Of Strixhaven!

Place orders in store before 4/13/2026 as quantities are limited, and no additional stock is guaranteed after release.

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03/27/2026

Had some Chaos Toast rolls today. Wanna guess what this one is? What toppings do you see?

03/25/2026

Couple visitors in the parking lot this morning. So cute! 🦆🦆

03/23/2026

Check out this week's Weekly Grind Newsletter!

UPDATES((thinking of making these permanent... what do we think??))LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:T.B. Sweet Creations came in and did a Cake Decorating class with us. We had some people drop in for our Coloring Meetup (3rd Mondays)! Our TCG Night was busy with Lorcana and our Magic the Gathering Two-Headed...

03/23/2026

March Mini-Painting Contest Submissions! React and Comment to vote for your favorite! Voting ends Sunday, March 29th.

03/23/2026

Hot Sakura Matcha Video incoming!

Dont forget, tonight is Fabulous Bingo with Portia Lynn Snaps; $10 per card.

This month is Sponsored by Equal Love Strikes and is Benefiting Brave Space Alliance

03/22/2026

Making a White Mocha Oat Milk latte with Ginger Cold Foam to start your day 🫶☕️❄️🧊

03/21/2026

Silly Shenanigans at Critical Grind