Primarily open during the day for breakfast and lunch, One Room Escapes and Coffee is best known for its drinks, baked goods, and seemingly endless amount of board games available for patrons to play. All three of those offerings are about to extend into occasional evening hours at the Lompoc venue, along with a new addition to the list.
Husband and wife John and Hether Frias first opened One Room in 2018, but 2022 will mark the debut of a concept the pair has always hoped to incorporate within their business: an escape room.
“We’ve always had it in our design to combine the food element and the escape room and see how those two play out, because I don’t know a lot of places that have that combination,” said John, who added that the final touches on the room—set to open at the end of April—are underway.
The entrance to the magic-themed escape room—titled The Sorcerer’s Sanctum—is located in the middle of the cafe, with a large, mysterious, sealed doorway situated between shelves of tea pots and other decor at the shop.
The only way to find out what’s on the other side of that wall is to play the escape room, or wait for someone else to play and force the details out of them.
What John can reveal about the room is that wands and spell casting are definitely involved.
“We have put some really unique, quote-unquote ‘magical’ things that I don’t think you’re going to see anywhere else. … Some really spectacular effects,” said John, who added that his former career as a software engineer has given him a “leg up” in terms of designing an escape room from scratch.
Upon filling out a reservation for the escape room online, an official synopsis reads: “An evil sorcerer has taken up residence in our cafe and we need your help. … Search his lair and learn as much as you can about him.”
John said he’s excited to see how people react to the escape room and hopes to open a second room—perhaps with a Western theme—in the near future, if the Sorcerer’s Sanctum proves to be a success.
“We’ll see where it goes,” said John, who added that the venue’s current game selection includes a handful of modern escape-room-in-a-box style board games.
Another new game-related promotion at One Room is Game Night, a dinner and game service held every Friday and Saturday night by reservation only between 6 and 9:30 p.m. Guests are able to keep their reserved tables for the entire duration of the service, which includes an appetizer, dinner, drink, and dessert for each attendee.
On some nights, each party can have their pick of the venue’s board game assortment. There will be nights where a reservation indicates a designated game or puzzle for all tables to play—and compete against one another.
“Everything that we do is about connecting with people,” said John, who added that One Room will offer a discount to parties that agree to check in their phones before dinner, to encourage face-to-face, in-the-moment gameplay without texting-related distractions.
“The idea is to get you to reconnect with your family and reconnect with friends when you come here,” the owner continued.
Dinner options at Game Night will include pizza, “Dragon Stew” (a beef and vegetable stew served with mashed potatoes), and other new items separate from One Room’s established daytime menu. The eatery offers a wide selection of breakfast and lunch sandwiches (made with freshly baked bread) during the day, and several sweet options (including cookies, muffins, and scones), fit to pair with any of the venue’s hot or iced coffee and tea drinks.
“What we especially—for the last couple years—have been known for is our baked goods. And those are all handmade every single day,” John said. “Our cinnamon rolls are probably by far the single most popular baked goods.
“The coffee shop has grown tremendously,” he added, reflecting on the many hats—cafe, bakery, gaming lounge, family hangout—One Room has worn over the years. “We have a really nice customer base—a lot of return customers, and new customers all the time.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood recommends One Room’s chicken salad sandwich. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 21-28, 2022.