Desolate Highway Cafe

387 W Armitage Street

The closest equivalent to a headquarters for Arkham's tiny demimonde, University intellectuals, emigres, the smart set, and bohemians with money like the tasty French country-style cooking. The owners, Reid Vandervelden and his partner Josh occasionally sponsor exhibits or readings, but the attraction here is conversation, posturing, and flirting. Criminals will be bored. The food is of good quality for a price only slightly higher than your average diner- you are charged by the cup for coffee, however. (Huth, Chris, et al. "The Arkham Gazette, Issue 1." Edited by Ian Maclean et al., Sentinel Hill Press, Nov. 2013.)
There is a chessboard available, though none but immigrants play the game. The wide selection of current newspapers is of more interest. (Herber, Keith, et al. “H.P Lovecraft's Arkham.” Chaosium , Jan. 2003)