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Photograph by The Sintoses

Recently, I had a friend, her mother, and my mother over to my house to play mahjong—a four-person game where players draw and discard tiles, building sets and pairs until someone completes a winning hand. Originating in 19th-century China, this game has crossed continents and cultures and, lately, gained mainstream popularity. (According to Yelp, U.S. searches for mahjong clubs shot up 4,500 percent in 2025.)

When I began playing last year, I initially saw mahjong as merely a game (with a seemingly endless number of rules). But the more I played, the more I realized that mahjong’s greatest appeal wasn’t just the game itself, but everything happening around it. Today’s mahjong tiles, each less than two inches long, feature bright colors and decorative details that set them apart from more traditional sets. Just as important, they create a rhythm around the table—conversation, pausing, snacking, sipping—and an easy kind of connection that may help explain why people keep coming back, especially at a time when so many of us are craving a digital detox.

That sense of togetherness has moved well beyond private homes and lesson tables in Atlanta. Across the city, restaurants are folding mahjong into the dining experience, where cocktails, shareable bites, and even full dinners now accompany the game.

Courtesy of Vino Venue

Take Vino Venue, for example. The wine bar tucked into an unassuming Dunwoody shopping center offers weekly open mahjong nights on Tuesdays. Players are welcome to BYOB (bring your own board) or use one of the three in-house sets. The wine bar serves food that owner Emily Mendyka calls “easy eats”—laid-back shareables that suit an evening of mahjong (like cheese and charcuterie boxes layered with red pepper hot jalapeño jam from north Georgia).

Also popular with the mahjong set? Vino Venue’s 50-plus wines by the glass, including Fournier Sancerre from France’s Loire Valley and Lange pinot noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, plus cocktails like a limoncello spritz and a classic French 75. All feel especially fitting for a game that cues players to raise a glass when the first bamboo-suit tile appears—a moment some celebrate by calling out “Bird Bam!”

Brookhaven resident Jessica Conway first stopped by Vino Venue on a weeknight out of curiosity. “I just showed up, and this group of women invited me in,” she says. “Now I play with them every Tuesday.”

In downtown Chamblee, Hopstix—a brewpub blending Asian flavors with craft beer and cocktails—offers Mahjong Mondays (bring your own board). Held in the restaurant’s private room, the gatherings invite guests to learn how mahjong is played in different parts of the world, from American mahjong to Chinese-style play. The intimate setting allows for a little rule-swapping over drinks like the Red Carpet, made with Roku Japanese gin and hibiscus tea, or the Gold Fashion, a lemongrass twist on the classic bourbon cocktail.

Photograph by The Sintoses

Across town in the Westside Provisions District, Ormsby’s has long been known for its neighborhood tavern vibe and affinity for games, making it a natural fit for mahjong’s growing social scene. Its mahjong nights are hosted by My Magnolia Mahjongg and held every other month on Wednesdays. These mini tournaments require advanced registration to play over three weeks. Guests can snack on roasted red pepper hummus and braised beef barbacoa empanadas during play, washing the food down with espresso martinis served on draft. Owner Michael Goot says playing mahjong at a restaurant eliminates the stress of hosting people at your home and cleaning up afterward. The attraction, he says, is simple: “It’s not in your living room.”

On Dresden Drive in Brookhaven, The Ashford—an upscale, buzzy bistro—hosts quarterly mahjong happy hours led by the Mahjong Ma’ams, a group that teaches, guides play, and provides boards. Food and drinks are central to the game-night experience, with discounted happy hour offerings designed for grazing between rounds.

At JenChan’s, mahjong gets a lively backdrop. The eclectic Carroll Street restaurant in Cabbagetown is known for its creative mashup of Italian and Chinese food, and Monday evening games seem as playful as the menu itself. “It started by buying a few sets of tiles,” chef and co-owner Emily Chan says. “[Our mahjong nights] were selling out, so then we bought some tables and started expanding to the patio.”

The night is structured with staff guiding play as games unfold indoors and out. “You’ll hear someone declare ‘Mahjong!’ across the restaurant,” Chan says, referring to the call that signals a winning hand. “Sometimes it gets loud.”

JenChan’s also uses mahjong nights as a testing ground for new dishes, including small dim sum plates designed for sharing. Among the tested items that became permanent: miso honey-roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto, topped with sunflower seeds.

Drinks have become part of the draw, too, especially the restaurant’s signature Ginger Margarita Slushie, a bright mix of lime, ginger, and tequila that’s well worth the inevitable brain freeze. “That’s the number one drink, no matter the time of year,” says Chan.

Chan says she’s seen plenty of people bond at her restaurant over margs and mahj. “A lot of times people book with strangers, then come back the next week together,” she says. “They exchange numbers and stay in touch, and we’d like to assume they become dear friends.”

This article appears in our July 2026 issue.