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Personally, I shop at the previously mentioned Dragon's Lair in Austin, TX. Apart from being the only REAL gaming shop in Austin (there are a few others, but not even remotely up to snuff), its a solid shop with an amazingly knowledgeable staff (that from what I can guess, ALL play D20) and they carry virtually every gaming supply you can ever need, including imported minitures. The downside of course is that there is no real discounts except on merchandise that doesn't sell, and they're a bit far to get to from where I live. But I literally can spend hours wandering the place. I love it.

However, as far as best game store EVER, my vote goes to the sadly defunct CASTLE COMICS in San Antonio, TX. While doing really well business wise (they did over $180,000 worth of sales in their first year if I remember correctly) the partnership of the 3 owners broke up and they closed up 2 or 3 years into it.

Castle Comics was the geek place to be in San Antonio back then. Opening just after the onset of Magic:The Gathering, this was THE place for magic addicts to hang out. Aside from being your typical sized, well stocked game store, there was a door in back that led to what, I assume, was supposed to be a storage area 3 times the size of the store. This was the Gaming room. For $1 for 4 hours or a yearly fee of $15 (which included a 10% discount on all purchases) you could play at one of the dozen tables, chill on one of the couches, watch movies, ext. There were ALWAYS magic players around and nightly pick up games of 2nd ed D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Vampire, or whatever the flavor of the day was.

And here's the kicker. the store was opened to the public from 10am till 9pm. But the gaming room was opened till midnight every night. From Friday morning till Monday night, they were open 24-7. You could spend all weekend playing, crash on the couch (which was somewhat frowned upon if you did it with such freqency that it was believed you had no place to go) and continue to play once you woke up.

They had a Fridge stocked with sodas and candy (50 cents a pop) and there were several fast food restraunts in the same parking lot (which they allowed you to eat in the gaming room). The only thing you couldn't do there, really, was shower (Castles only real downside...occasional unwashed geek smell). And while the storefront closed at 9pm, they kept the register open for gamers who needed another pack of cards, dice, modules or miniatures.

But whenever a new expansion of M:TG came out, this place was magical. Boxes being ripped open like it was Christmas. Pack wrappers everywhere. People rapidly assembling decks out of the new cards or shuffling in some fun new cards into established decks. There was a sense of community to the place. A sense of family. When the first Card Dealers appeared, purchasing or trading cards for their sale value rather than playing with them, they were frowned upon, often mistreated. Cards were for playing or completing collections, not for selling to the highest bidder. In fact, any monetary transaction was required to happen out in back of the store. Money never changed hands between patrons inside of Castle.

Every day the few privledged geeks with internet access (this was 1994-96 or 97) would come in with new rulings from wizards and post the card lists assembled by newsgroups. It was an AMAZING place. A place, that simply, I have never found it's equal.

One day, if ever I have the fortune enough to do so, I will build my own castle. Hopefully, if I do so, I'll be able to capture the magic that was the original Castle Comics.