WASHINGTON, D.C. — Searches for mahjong clubs and lessons increased by more than 4,000% in the year leading up to May 2026, according to review site Yelp, reflecting surging interest in the game across the Washington, D.C. area. Mahjong parlors and studios in the region have seen rising demand as new players seek instruction and social play.
Lucky Danger, a restaurant in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown that features a dedicated mahjong room, has been at the center of this trend. Owner Tim Ma said the mahjong room was initially created for himself and friends to play with a bottle of bourbon, but it soon began receiving more reservations than the restaurant itself. “Even though my older generation family members don't consider American mahjong, mahjong, it's still mahjong. And it's still from our cultures.”
Ma, whose parents immigrated from China, described mahjong as a Sunday family ritual that included making dumplings and eating together. He noted the emotional resonance of seeing a once-private cultural practice gain broader recognition. “Seeing something that was like in our back rooms, only in our living rooms and our culture now become just like this almost like global phenomenon is just nice to see, because it comes from your culture and you're proud of it.”
In Falls Church, Virginia, Talk Tiles to Me has emerged as a hub for newcomers to the game. Owner Tori Rittinger, who began teaching mahjong during the pandemic, starts every class with a lesson on the game’s origins in 19th-century China and its evolution into the American version in the 1930s. “It's really important that people know where it came from, how it started and how it's changed, because it changed in the 1930s, the American version was born, and it's grown so much.”
Nicole Wong, author of “Mahjong: House Rules From Across the Asian Diaspora,” offered a nuanced perspective on the trend. “Mahjong really makes people think about certain family members or a physical place, so, like, their grandparents House or going to their Lola's house in the Philippines.” She added, “I think there's a lot of people, like me, who kind of were aware of the game, but maybe didn't fully actually learn how to play as kids.” Wong also cautioned against narratives that frame traditional versions as outdated. “If it's accompanied with a framing of like, oh, there's so much better now or they have been refreshed or they have been modernized, like, that's where it gets inappropriate, I would say.”