The Midnight Oil, a Trans-Owned, Queer Run Café

In the town of Lancaster, PA, there is a small cafe called The Midnight Oil. This is a trans-owned, queer run café that aims to create a safe environment for people to make friends and play games while getting a sweet treat!

When you walk in, you are met with the bar, where you can order from their large menu of drinks and snacks, and if you want to try your fate, you can even roll some dice to decide your drink at a discount! It costs 10$ to get access to their plentiful collection of board games that you can play with anyone you would like, and it is only 5$ if you’re a student, teacher, or librarian!

Once you are in the main part of the café, you can play anything from their large selection of games, and they have anything from board games, roleplaying games, to even art supplies! The café is very close to the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, and as such, has frequent events for students from PCAD and just in general.

The Midnight Oil is owned by Evan Farbo(she/they). She is the owner of the local business called Farbo Co, which is a board game, hobby, Japanese imports, blind box, and kind of everything store. Staff alongside Farbo refer to it as General Nerdery, but while she focuses on their retail shop, October Valentine, or Toby (they/he) and their sibling Zoe Skylar (she/they) run it on her behalf. They place a heavy emphasis on proudly supporting the queer community, especially the trans community, in an area where that is not as normalized as it should be. If you are ever in Lancaster, I highly recommend stopping by and spending a night playing games and making friends. You can learn more on their Instagram or the Farbo Co website.

Photos courtesy of The Midnight Oil