On a recent evening in Chicago, the loud clacking of shuffling mahjong tiles didn’t come from a Chinatown home or senior center. Instead, the game traditionally associated with Chinese elders was being played by younger patrons at Dovetail Brewery’s taproom in North Center.
It’s part of a growing trend of events focused on granny-inspired activities such as mahjong, knitting and baking across the U.S., especially among younger people who seek hands-on, screen-free interaction, according to Eventbrite. The online invitation company said mahjong and baking events in Chicago grew especially robustly last year.
Gen Z is “finding meaning in the analog world their grandparents inhabited — learning valuable skills and discovering the profound satisfaction of creating something with their hands,” Eventbrite said in a blog post this month.
“This shift goes beyond simple nostalgia — it’s about building connections through shared, in-person experiences,” Roseli Ilano, Eventbrite’s trends expert, said in the blog.
Granny-inspired activities on Eventbrite include traditional gatherings such as knitting circles and baking classes. But the company is also seeing “mahjong nights in cocktail bars, embroidery circles in coffee shops and sourdough workshops that feel more like social events than cooking classes,” Ilano said.
‘Mahjong is booming in Chicago’
Nationwide, searches for mahjong were up 365% on Eventbrite in 2024, compared to the previous year. In Chicago, the number of Eventbrite’s 2024 mahjong events rocketed 233% year over year. That growth ranked Chicago second in the U.S. compared to Houston (867%) and San Francisco (146%), which ranked first and third respectively. In Chicago, the number of Eventbrite’s baking events jumped 119%, behind Miami and Houston, which showed growth of 750% and 207%, respectively.
Across the U.S., needlework events are also popular. They grew 239% in Washington, D.C., and 76% in Los Angeles last year. Eventbrite doesn’t disclose the number of events, only their growth.
Jenny Pfafflin, brewer and marketing manager at Dovetail Brewery, began holding mahjong events this winter in collaboration with the Mahjong Society, which teaches the game in Chicago.
“Being a taproom in January is tough — people are stretched thin from the holidays,” she said. Cold weather also keeps them indoors, so Dovetail launched learning-based events.
This year, Dovetail, at 1800 W. Belle Plaine Ave., has held three mahjong events, including one June 18, a Wednesday night.
Pfafflin played mahjong as a child with her sister but had thought of it as a game for older women until she recently noticed friends in their 30s and 40s playing in Chicago.
“It made sense. It’s a low-key and fun way to socialize, and you get to learn a new game. And it’s kind of aesthetic. I think after the [pandemic] shutdown, people were looking for ways to reconnect,” Pfafflin said.
Alyssa Gross, 33, founded the Mahjong Society in 2023. The group has taught nearly 1,500 people at bars, restaurants, birthday and bachelorette parties. It has an event Wednesday at Pilates studio Namastate of Mind, near Lincoln Park.
Players are not just Gen Z, but range in age from late-20s to mid-60s, Gross said. The majority are not Asian.
“Mahjong is booming in Chicago,” Gross said. “The slow-paced, screen-free, nostalgic nature is a big part of the appeal.”
She hadn’t planned to start a mahjong business, but requests kept pouring in. Now, the Mahjong Society has four instructors and is hiring more.
“We constantly hear people referring to the mahjong scene in ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’” said Gross, referring to the 2018 movie based on Kevin Kwan’s novel. “The tiles drew them in. In a world where many of us have computer-based jobs, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that many of us have an itch to get hands-on with something.”
Mahjong originated in China in the mid-1800s and became popular among Jewish American women in the 1950s. Tiles are engraved with Chinese characters, flowers, dragons and bamboo. The small blocks are aesthetically pleasing. Traditional green tiles are reminiscent of jade; some high-end sets are made of the gem.
Lake View resident Karen Cornelius, 44, first played the game with the Mahjong Society in January and regularly attends its meetups.
“Mahjong is the perfect mix of social and game play,” she said. It “has been a great addition to my life because it makes me feel like a kid again, having a fun activity to look forward to.”
Cornelius added, “I think of 2025 as the year of the hobby — everyone is looking to add more to their lives, whether it’s mahjong, needlepoint or pickleball. It’s a great option for a girls’ night or a way to expand one’s community. Mahjong is the new book club.”
Nostalgia brings comfort in stressful times
Jessica Woodburn, founder of Round Two Upcycled Craft Parties, hosted a class last week on needle felting at Old Irving Brewing, near Mayfair. She taught students how to make wool cactus-shaped scent diffusers.
She focuses on eco-friendly crafts and also teaches at Eco Flamingo, a zero-waste general store near Ravenswood.
Woodburn started Round Two in 2019 and taught at arts centers in Chicago. In 2023, she expanded to Old Irving Brewing to reach people who don’t normally craft.
Attendees are typically women ages 25 to 65.
“Some are crafters, but most say they haven’t made anything with their hands in years,” Woodburn said. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“People often say ‘I am not creative, but this was so fun!’” Woodburn said. “I am a firm believer that everyone is creative, and we should all be using our creativity more often.”
She noted rising interest in throwback activities, such as her classes to make Shrinky Dinks out of recycled plastic.
“I am a millennial, and we grew up in a time of huge shifts in cultural norms. Many of us are drawn to nostalgia because it makes us feel more comfortable and brings us back to a time before life was complicated,” Woodburn said.
“There is very little that we collectively have control over in the current state of our country. Being able to focus on something that is tied to a time before we felt that sense of helplessness distracts from the stress and sorrow that comes with living in modern times,” she said.
Kristin Hoffman is owner and head chef instructor of Bettie’s Chicago, a recreational cooking school in River North that looks like a 1950s diner.
She held her first class in 2018 out of her home kitchen and expanded after a strong response.
“Business has been strong, especially with people looking for more meaningful social experiences that don’t revolve around just sitting and watching,” Hoffman said. The nostalgic diner setting “makes people feel more like you’re baking in a friend’s kitchen than taking a formal class.”
For Bettie’s Chicago, the biggest draw for attendees “is definitely the hands-on experience,” said Hoffman. “People are eager to learn something and walk away with a new skill. It gives a huge sense of empowerment.”
