NOTICED: Game Night

At restaurants across the city, mahjong, backgammon and more are served.

Leland Eating and Drinking in Prospect Heights offers Mahjong lessons and dim sum.

Restaurants are hubs of community, and hospitality is the special sauce, the lure that draws you out for a night of fine food and drink. But these days you might be getting a game of mahjong with your glass of natural wine.

Recently, I’ve played backgammon at Sofreh Café, Mahjong at Leland Eating and Drinking and been part of competitive literary trivia and crossword nights at Liz’s Book Bar. And when the Times reported this weekend that a free, monthly B.Y.O.B. (bring your own board game) night in an office building food court had 500 people in attendance, I realized people want to play. And increasingly, restaurants are answering the call.

The trend is one that builds on Ping Pong bars like Spin, Pickleball spots like Pklyn, and Shuffleboard clubs like Royal Palms – the idea is to bring folks together to do something, to create a connection that’s a bit more interactive than just sitting down to dinner. What if you could do something fun — harness the thrill of friedly competition and the joy of childhood play — with your craft beer and smashburger or hand-rolled pasta and Negroni?

At Leland Eating & Drinking House owner Randi Lee and Chef/Partner Delfin Jaranilla wanted to share their culture and fond childhood memories of mahjong and dim sum. "We started offering mahjong lessons to create a space where people could connect and share more than just a mea,” said Lee. “Mahjong brings people together—just like good food—and it felt like the perfect way to build community around our tables."

Back in March, they debuted a dim sum lunch with a mahjong master Lee Ann ($50, reserve on Resy) that includes a Dim Sum menu of duck bun, pork shumai and a cup of chicken jook porridge. The class was so successful they’re now hosting them regularly; the next one is May 7th at 1pm, and will begin with lessons around one table and then break off into three tables of four people. In addition to formal lessons, they’re now also hosting Mahjong Open Plays Wednesday-Friday from 1-4 pm, with three sets available and lunch from their regular Vinyl Hour lunch menu is served. While mahjong is happening in their back room, they're spinning records in our front room and have a fun, casual lunch; bring your dogs, babies and laptops!

At Sofreh Café, the casual sibling of the wonderful Persian restaurant in Park Slope, the owners have hosted several nights of “Backgammon and Bites.” (The next one is set for sometime in May; email events@sofrehnyc.com or follow them on Instagram to learn about future backgammon nights.) The game is common in Persian households; I grew up playing with my Bibi — she was an ace and she never let me win. It was our regular tradition after dinner, along with hot glasses of tea with lump sugar and skateboard-sized platters of fresh fruit cut up like a still life might be painted any moment.

Backgammon and Bites at Sofreh Café

At the café, James Beard nominated chef Nasim Alikhani, her husband Akis and her brother Amir regularly host a light-hearted backgammon tournament with prizes (gift certificates to the restaurants, a copy of the cookbook) for the top players. The game is a great way to bring in new guests and an extension of their family's culture.

Held on Monday nights when the café is typically closed, the Backgammon and Bites has a warm almost familial vibe; I walked in with my kids and felt like I was back in my Bibi’s living room with her plastic covered furniture and Merit 100s burning in ashtrays. The place was packed with players, all previous strangers now chatting between rounds over Sofreh's small plates menu – Koukou Sabzi, a fried egg and herb fritatta with walnuts, and Koukou morgh – another frittata this one with lemony chicken and potatoes, as well as big fluffy homemade breads and savory stuffed hand pies – Piroshki Goosht filled with braised beef, raisins, cumin, or Piroshki Giahi with feta, mushrooms and kale, washed down with wine and beer or an Albaloo, an amazing Sour Cherry Cooler. By the end of the night, my son Sam — the youngest player there — made it to the quarter finals. Bibi would have been proud.

Liz’s Book Bar has created a community in Carroll Gardens with its game nights and literary lectures served alongside wine and cheese.

Liz’s Book Bar, one of my favorite places to read and write, serves coffee and cardamom danish in the mornings, and organic wine and cheese boards in the evening, alongside shelves of beautiful books and games curated by owner and novelist Maura Cheeks. Her monthly events calendar always includes Live Puzzling with Black Crossword as well as a Trivia Night and intimate lectures about books and the craft of writing. Chances are if you pop over in the evening, something’s going on that will leave you feeling connected and (gasp) educated in some new way. It’s pretty great.

That restaurateurs are planning game nights as often as wine tastings makes a lot of sense in this moment we are in. There’s a strong need to huddle together amongst friends both old and new; to play a game, to connect over a night of nostalgia, to build a temporary buffer against the insanity and brutality of the current administration.

And for operators, increasingly stressed by rising costs of labor and rent and the looming threat of astronomical tariffs, these game nights offer a way to bring in a new set of diners and create a buzz, sharing their menu and their cocktails in a more relaxed setting. I feel like this is a trend that we’ll find popping up in more and more neighborhood restaurants, third places that feel like home, and with a Mahjong board, or a backgammon set, even moreso.