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Maybe it was the great pause that was the pandemic that caused less of a yearning for nightlife. Maybe it's that younger people are increasingly looking for places to gather that don’t solely revolve around flashing lights and alcohol. And maybe, just maybe, it's because we are all a little over only using phones as a means for connecting. Whatever the reason, droves of people are trading nights out at the club for nights in at the chess club.
Yes, New York is fully in its board games era. Over the past few years, crowds of Gen Zers and Millennials have brought back the art and fun of table games, selling out pop-up chess nights in Dimes Square, playing backgammon at the same place they knock back a glass of wine and trading tokens won at shiny Japanese arcades for special-edition Labubus. And with the success of D&D’s sold-out show at MSG last year, UNO-themed social clubs rolling out in the U.S. this month and Chuck E. Cheese opening a chain of adults-only arcades (hopefully, minus the animatronics, unless it's this one), it seems that the trend of gaming is here to stay. But beyond just wine bars and barcades getting in on the fun, restaurants are also inviting us to game on.
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Silvia Barban’s Crown Heights restaurant, Briscola Trattoria, keeps a simple motto: “Come for the food, stay for a Briscola card game.” And she means it. Because if you happen to book the last seating on Tuesdays and Wednesday nights, you can digest your meal of sweetbread pastas and sweets plucked off the dessert cart while learning how to play the Italian card game the restaurant was named for (it is also a slang word for hangover, truly a triple word score). For Barban, the card game was just another way of sharing her heritage with her clientele.
“Every time there is a holiday or after you eat, you will play cards,” said Barban, reminiscing about days playing the game at the beach or with her family at home. “It's one of those moments where you sit around the table and connect and just have fun with each other.”
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Earlier this spring, my sister and I got in on the tradition as our server and restaurant partner, Federico Cesi, taught us how to play on a calm Tuesday night. While the rules were spelled out on the large chalkboard in the overflow dining room, Cesi was quick to join our table, serving as a welcome backseat driver as I played my hand, granting me my first victory. As we left, Cesi gifted us the cards, something Barban notes is a common occurrence.
“Every week, I will come to Briscola and be like, ‘Federico, why do we only have two decks?’ And he’ll be like, “The other day these guys came and they wanted to learn how to play, so I just gave it to them. They're gonna bring it back another time.’” And he’s right, as several card carriers have since returned to the trattoria's table. In this way, Barban is able to solidify her restaurant as a place to connect over more than just food.
“We don't want to be just the restaurant where you just go. We wanted to be part of our community,” said Barban.
As Barban uses cards to reconnect to her longstanding familial traditions, Randi Lee, owner of Leland Eating and Drinking House, uses gaming to discover his. You see, every month, the back dining room of the Prospect Heights eatery becomes a hotbed for mahjong, where a certified master teaches newbies and seasoned pros alike. Yet Lee admits he was never taught how to play, intentionally so.
“There was a generation that was skipped—none of my elders play,” said Lee. “I think part of that was post-war. That generation of Asian Americans really didn't want to embrace their heritage, and I think that those traditions were kind of lost.”
By happenstance, the idea of a mahjong-based game night sprouted back in 2021 as Lee and his team, including his wife and creative director Jeanette Zinno and executive chef Delfin Jaranilla, were drumming up ideas of what to do for Lunar New Year. They decided to include a mahjong class as part of the celebrations. The following year, they brought it back and slowly started incorporating it here and there, fulfilling requests for private events and hosting pop-up nights during AAPI Month. But after each game-fueled night, diners kept asking, “When’s the next one?”
Realizing they had an idea on their hands, the team tapped their social media looking for a mahjong master. Lenny An of Green Tile Social Club answered the call, and now he comes to the eatery every month to impart on guests the history of the game, its various styles, from Hong Kong to Taiwanese rules, and, of course, lessons on how to play. During the two-hour ticketed event, priced at $50, Leland also does what it does best: feeding gamers glossy dumplings plump with pork and duck, shumai dumplings, and warm cups of jook—all while tiles are reshuffled and hands are played.
Once players learned the basics, Lee reasoned, what else can keep the game going? And so, during the restaurant’s Vinyl Hour, from 1 to 4pm on Wednesday, Lee invited the community for free play. On their first go, seven players showed up, including an individual from Hawaii looking to play a few rounds. The implementation of game night is just the ethos of Leland, Lee says, as listening to the community helps make the restaurant a destination that the neighborhood deserves.
“Third space is new to me, so I don't really know if there's a definition besides having something for the community that’s an extension of your own home,” he said. “Everything that we do, we really think of the community first and what people are asking for.”
Listening to their community is exactly what chef and co-owner of Kings Co Imperial, Josh Grinker, did to bring their game night to life. At his 10-year-old restaurant in Williamsburg, the restaurant's back room, named the Imperial Room, had already become a hub for experiential events, including their popular dumpling-making class. It was in this room that mahjong player Theresa Hong of Dragons Den Mahjong saw an opportunity and reached out to the team via social media about the possibility of hosting a game night. Since the first event in March, the restaurant has hosted two more, and is making the class a monthly occurrence where people can learn the basics or play with seasoned pros, while eating a buffet of the restaurant’s popular eats, including the Many Mushroom Beijing Street Noodle, eggrolls and dumplings. Grinker reasons that a lean into experiential dining, gaming included in the mix, is not only good for the community but good for business.
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“Something experiential involving food is always something that's sought after,” he said. “People want to eat dinner, but they also want to learn how to make some dumplings or play a game. It sort of adds to the fun of having more than just a meal.”
In a time where diners are in a perpetual state of looking for more, bonding over a good game and good food seems to be a winning combo.