By Justine Chahal

People filter into There and Back Cafe after a long day of work and are greeted with noise as soon as they open the door. 

There’s the typical clink of cups and utensils. However, there’s also the dragging of chairs next to long wooden tables, the roll of plastic dice and the scribbling of pencil on paper. 

Laughter from adults can be heard even in the farthest corners of the cafe. The groups have set aside their worries and are having fun together although they just met each other that very evening. 

There and Back Cafe owners Ross and Heidi Rojek, who also own Capital Books on K Street, have created a space where people can spin fantastical stories and, most importantly, forge new friendships. 

“The idea is that anybody can come in here and play a game and probably find somebody,” Ross Rojek says. “If you’re bored and you set out your chess set, somebody’s going to come up and ask if you want me to play.” 

There and Back Cafe, which opened on 11th Street in Downtown Sacramento in February 2022, not only sells sweet treats, but provides an array of card and board games that people can play. The cafe also allows people to play tabletop role-playing games — also known as TTRPGs — the most popular one being Dungeons and Dragons. 

Ross says he first became interested in TTRPGs with the first edition Dungeon and Dragons box set and has played every major game system since then. Now, he wants to introduce others to whatever games are available, a common trait many TTRPG players share, he says. 

“There’s always somebody who wants to teach somebody else how to play a game. … ‘Now it’s your turn, teach 10 more people,’” Ross says. “That’s part of it. It’s a self-building group.”

Seasoned TTRPG players can continue playing their campaigns at the cafe and even reserve their own table before visiting with a required $5 minimum food or beverage purchase per person. Customers can also purchase additional table time if their game will last longer than two hours. The cafe also has a bulletin board where people can advertise their own games to ask for additional players, similar to other game stores Ross has been frequenting for years, he says. 

However, the cafe invites beginners to start playing through their events run by in-house dungeon masters — or DMs —who are in charge of running the roleplaying games. Many of these events, which people can buy tickets to participate in, are introductory “one-shot” games where beginners can jump right into a story.

Although it can be difficult to make new friends as an adult, DM Miranda Fedoronczuk says she considers D&D a social activity that helps mitigate this struggle. 

“As an adult, I feel like meeting new people and interacting with new people happens less and less the more years that go by, so it’s wonderful for that,” Fedoronczuk says. “I also just think it’s really fun to me. I love D&D and I love that I have a carved out time in my schedule where it’s going to happen.”

Fedoronczuk says the game also allows players to find something they have in common with another person, adding that the fun environment allows people to let their guard down to build a sense of camaraderie. 

Sarah Kiker, a DM who has been playing since 2016, says she uses the game to find friends in new places by asking if others would be interested in playing. Although it can be difficult to schedule time to spend with others, Kiker says playing D&D helps her stay connected with people. 

“I just like the social aspect,” Kiker says. “I feel like people who show up to a group of strangers to play D&D are pretty open and really ready to be in a weird and uncomfortable situation and be a little bit vulnerable and just have a good time.” 

Chase Mandeville, a DM who often runs games for children at the cafe, says he credits people’s growing interest in the game to what he calls a D&D “renaissance” spurred by TTRPG-focused media. This interest has enabled more people to begin playing, including one of Mandeville’s coworkers who he invited to play after seeing their tattoo dedicated to Critical Role, a D&D web series

The cafe also tries to create a space where everyone feels included through its “Gals & Nonbinary Pals” events which sell out quickly, Heidi Rojek says. 

Misogyny and gatekeeping has been an issue in game stores for years, Ross says. By creating a space where women and nonbinary people are highlighted, the cafe can affirm they will be welcome at There and Back, he added. 

Alex Linneas-Hernandez, who previously worked at the cafe as a barista before coming back to be a DM, says he has met most of his friends through role-playing games and finds these friendships incredibly important to him. He prioritizes creating a calm environment through his games where people new to the game can feel like they can come back and play again. 

“Allowing new people to come in, seeing the amount of fun that new people have together — and as strangers — it’s a sense of emotion I think all of us really deserve to feel,” Linneas-Hernandez says. “It’s really nice that I can see them a second time and a third time and really create a friendship among them.”

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.