Esports Club’s Night Out @ Gamers Heaven

Members of the Santa Clara University Gaming and Esports Club coalesce in the back of Gamers Heaven, playing on the Switch, dealing cards and chatting. (Joshua Nola/The Santa Clara)

Members of Santa Clara University’s Gaming and Esports Club held a social at the local café Gamers Heaven on Nov. 20, 2025, complete with free board games and rounds of Mario Kart. 

Gamers Heaven, an eight-minute walk from campus, is a gaming-themed café offering specialty drinks and food that opened its first location in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania in 2015 before expanding to the Bay Area with a new store on Aug. 24.

The space also features a retail section selling anime figurines, vinyl records, snacks, Beyblades, and assorted anime and gaming memorabilia, some sourced directly from Japan.

“The hope is that by surrounding ourselves with art, games, pop culture, and general interests within our community, it will foster creativity and positive discussion among our customers, and create a space where everyone can be themselves,” said Dennis Yu, owner of the Bay Area location.

The café even offers a wide selection of board games for customers to play with friends as they enjoy food and drinks, as well as a shelf full of manga readily available to read.

Once there, club members received a 10% discount and access to the back area, including use of the café’s TV. Club officers brought a Nintendo Switch 2, giving members the chance to play Mario Kart.

Historically, the space has been very accommodating to University students—hosting a buy-one-get-one drink sale in September and partnering with various clubs for events.

“Prior to this event I met up with Gamers Heaven because I saw they were a brand new business tailored to our community and worked with them to host this event,” said Timothy Le ’27, President of the Esports Club. “I’m glad they gave us this space to use.” 

Members seemed to enjoy the event, with many choosing to try themed drinks such as the Unova Mocha, a nod to the Pokémon games on the Nintendo DS.

Additionally, classic and contemporary card games Uno and Exploding Kittens were just as popular as the Nintendo Switch 2.

“It brings out the inner nerd for a lot of us, and that's all it needs to do,” stated Justin Ying ’27, board-member-in-training for the club.

Santa Clara University students can follow @gamersheaven.bayarea on Instagram for information on future events.