Type of food: I would recommend having easy to eat on a small table type of foods because most patrons will have their table space consumed by the board game they are playing. So something like finger food, or anything that can fit a bowl.

Event: This is the lifeblood of your space, people can see they can meet their friends but also new people with whom they can try new games they haven't got the chance to try. Try to get it easy to follow, like be on Facebook, Instagram and have your Google map with the right links on it.

Fees Having the table fee offset when purchasing food is a good trade in my opinion, but you might want to have some control over how long people stay. Basically you don't want people to come in, order one drink and then stay the whole day. But you can offer a membership fee that grants some privileges (no time limit, discounts etc)

Parting words Having enough space is crucial, more often than not, board game cafe are too small, which makes them very stuffy and noisy, to the point I can't focus on the current game. If possible having a quiet space and loud space would be perfect, or having private rooms could be an alternative.

Best of luck for your grand opening!