While growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s, Max Seel said going to arcades made gaming a social experience. However, in the last 10 years, he has noticed gaming has become isolating.

“Games have gotten better and better, but because of consoles, games have been relegated to our home environment. ... It is always played online,” he said. “I was missing that human connection.”

He opened Farm + Feed in February 2022. Seel felt his restaurant had to exist because, “We wanted to bring everybody’s inner gamer out.”

Seel describes this business as an “eatertainment” concept.

“We are a restaurant focused on food and beverage, but we’re a place where we have entertainment,” Seel said. “Our entertainment is video games and board games.”

He feels the words “intergalactic” and “post-apocalyptic” portray the ambiance.

“It was inspired by Planet Endor from Star Wars with a lot of plants and nature interspersed with technology,” Seel said. “We like the idea of tech being alive and nature being alive and bringing the two together.”

Keeping to the theme, he also calls the menu “intergalactic.”

“We call it gaming classics,” Seel said. “Elevated pub food that has a specific Asian flavor profile.”

Four items to try from the Farm + Feed menu:

• Hummus + Seasonal Vegetables ($12.25).
• The Hot Fish Sando, served on a Brioche bun with fries ($15.75).
• Farm + Feed's Baowser Sliders feature beef brisket and several toppings ($11.75).
• Three different Cannoli options are available including ube/coconut, pandan/sesame, and passionfruit/kiwi boba ($12 for three or $4.50 each).

When Seel conceptualized the business, he thought his target market was people like him—men who were gamers.

“What has been shocking is that [demographic] is maybe 20% of the business,” Seel said. “The vast majority has been families, dates, groups of women and men playing together. Some just come to eat.”

Seel added it has been fun to watch people connect over gaming, including one instance watching a grandmother interact with her granddaughter.

“Here is this person taking something they knew their grandkid was passionate about, even though they probably had no experience with it at all,” Seel said. “It’s been a neat experience to see games being social again.”

Business information:

Farm + Feed, 7401 Lone Star Drive, Ste. B120, Plano

432-356-3467. https://farmandfeed.com.

Hours: Mon., Tue. closed, Wed.-Thu., Sun. 11 a.m.-midnight, Fri.-Sat. 11-2 a.m.