The smell of sautéed prawns wafted through the event hall behind Hot Shot Coffee in Denver, in the US state of Colorado. Cody Peeler, stood behind a rice cooker and a hotplate, worried the aroma would offend the cafe’s clientele.

But to the dozens who had gathered on a Saturday morning in January to play mahjong, it was a most welcoming sign. It meant Peeler’s mapo tofu gumbo station was open.

Food is a central component of the free monthly meet-up, the Honour Tile Society. Peeler and his partner, the club’s founder, Tiffany Leong, are both chefs and now run the food pop-up, Magnolion, at their mahjong events. The club’s first meeting was in March last year. Leong said she can count on 40 to 60 people to attend each month.

“Games move really quickly,” Leong said. “You do have to front-load a lot of rules into your brain, but once you get going, it’s really fast-paced and it’s not like some long, arduous tabletop game.”

The game’s rise to popularity

The game of mahjong – where players draw, stack and discard tiles carved with Chinese symbols or characters – has exploded in popularity across the US in recent years. In Denver, neighbourhood or pay-to-play organisations have given players new outlets, although there are plenty of old ones as well, depending on what rules they follow.