Former firefighter and household remodel previous Biloxi restaurant into gaming tavern

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – After a fireplace pressured the closure of Hana Sushi in Biloxi, one trio has poured their efforts into reworking the area into an thrilling new venue designed for avid gamers to assemble and forge epic new legends.

“I know it’s gonna be tough, but it is going to be worth it in the end when we get to the final product,” co-owner April King stated.

Chad Leitenberger, a former firefighter, and his household have spent two years revitalizing the constructing into The Adventurer’s Tavern.

“We could do this. We could have food there, have drinks there, and then I found out my daughter played Magic [The Gathering], so I just kind of roped her up and said, ‘Come with me, we’re gonna build a tavern.’ And then April got involved in my life, thankfully, and the three of us, it’s been our dream for two or three years to get this place open and have something unique and amazing,” owner Chad Leitenberger said.

Despite all the hurdles, one thing stood out.

“While all this was going on, people were still coming in, and he was talking to them and he was explaining the vision,” King stated. “I don’t know whether or not they saw it, but I know every time he looked over there where those two tables are, he already had it in his mind exactly how everything was gonna look.”

“People come by and see it for the first time, see it on Facebook and they wanna know more about it. It’s every day that people come in here, and it is very humbling,” Leitenberger said.

With visitors already immersing themselves in board games and consoles during the soft opening, the culmination of their efforts has been a dream come true for the family.

“When we had people come in with their kids and watching them bond together and enjoy their time, it was truly amazing,” Leitenberger’s daughter, Shanice Leger said. “I didn’t think I’d be that amazing to be able to just have people come in with their kids and sit down and play games and it’s like, it’s heartwarming. That’s what we want. We want more of that to come in.”

“It’s a geek tavern. It’s a place people can be themselves. They can come in here and play games, they can enjoy good food; if they drink, they can enjoy great drinks. It’s a tavern,” Leitenberger said.

The tavern, located at 2667 Pass Road, will be soft-opened each night from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. until the grand opening on Friday, November 7, at 3 p.m.

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.

Copyright 2025 WLOX. All rights reserved.