DC's New Mahjong Bar Goes Big
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 23 May, 2025

GoldSea visited the brand new restaurant, cocktail bar, and Mahjong speakeasy during its grand opening on Wednesday. It was, in a word, badass.

On Wednesday, May 21 at 4pm, the doors to Washington DC’s “Lucky Danger” opened for the first time. I walked through them at 5:30pm.

Lucky Danger is a lot of things: A Chinese restaurant. A cocktail bar. A speakeasy with a freakin’ Mahjong bar hidden in the back! But more than anything, it’s an unabashed celebration of how cool Chinese culture is.

While Lucky Danger has technically existed since 2020, their new operation is practically unrecognizable. They started as a popup kitchen during the pandemic. Since then, they have bopped around the DC area from Mt. Vernon Triangle to Arlington, Virginia to even the Nationals Baseball stadium.

Now, at their permanent home at 709 D St. NW in DC’s Penn Quarter, the heart of Chinatown, they have finally achieved their dream of going big.

The food menu boasts some of the classics that you might expect at any solid Chinese American restaurant like crab rangoon, pork wontons and a whole peking duck. But then there’s the bone marrow dumplings, the cured sea scallop, and Maryland blue crab lo mein.

The cocktail menu goes just as hard, offering handcrafted libations like a Mandarin Mule, Oolong Old-Fashioned, and Szechuan D’Lite, which features chili-infused tequila. Just 90 minutes into their existence, they were still working on getting some offerings like their Singapore Sling up and running. 

The ambiance was, simply put, badass: The wall of red lanterns. The golden dragon mural. The glowing Chinese characters that spelled out a saying loosely translated to “let the cocktails and champagne fly, let the good times roll.” At a time when AAPI culture has become the subject of bigotry -- a recent poll showed that a majority of Americans see Chinese people as a threat -- Lucky Danger does not seem to concern itself with the opinions of the closed-minded.

Mahjong

Despite the innovative cocktails, delicious-looking menu, and vibrant atmosphere, Lucky’s Danger’s crown jewel is, in my opinion, the Mahjong bar hidden in the backroom. Everything about the main restaurant and bar seemed to say “everyone is welcome here.” But, to me, the Mahjong backroom proudly and firmly states “This space is for us.” There were no schlocky rules on the wall for how to play Mahjong. Rather, if you know, you know. 

While GoldSea took a literal peak behind the curtains, it was still about an hour before that part of the restaurant would be opened to the public. Two staffers at the bar folding menus and making final preparations. We got one of the final looks at the pristine felt on the Mahjong tables that will eventually become worn down from years of play. 

When the restaurant was first announced last year, Chef Ma told Axios "My elders take mahjong very seriously. They won't play with us kids because we're not good enough." 

Many non-Asians got their first introduction to Mahjong in the films like Rush Hour or Crazy Rich Asians, the climax of which is centered around a dramatic Mahjong match between the protagonist and her soon to be mother in law. 

For $45, you can book one of the automatic tables for an hour. Both Chef Ma and his father will be offering Mahjong lessons.

Should Lucky Danger become even half as popular as it’s poised to be, I should schedule my lessons right now for the next time I’m in