An Arlington Mahjong pop-up planned for three months is still dealing in June

Montahj Social opened on Friday, February 20, 2026, in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, as a pop-up Mahjong studio and social club planned to run for three months, according to Arlington Magazine. It set up at the Ballston Exchange, in part of the space belonging to the restaurant El Rey Ballston.

As of this writing, the club's own site still says it is open in Arlington, gives the address as 4201 Wilson Blvd, between El Rey and Hawkers, and carries a June calendar of American Mahjong lessons and league play that runs through Friday, June 26.

A veteran, a lawyer and a standing game

The founder is Dana Moss. On the club's about page, she writes that she was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Minnesota. She graduated from the Air Force Academy and served in the Air Force, then became an attorney, a partner at a law firm, and later general counsel and chief legal officer at several biotech companies. Many of her most formative childhood memories, she writes, are of sitting at a table playing games with her grandparents.

She took up the game as the isolation of the pandemic lifted, and Arlington Magazine reported that she then had trouble finding places to play. Her regular group had more than 20 players who met most weeks, with an email list of over 100, the magazine said.

The name came from home. Her son, who was 9 at the time, suggested the word montage, per Arlington Magazine, and Moss changed the spelling so it would rhyme with the game without using its name. A montage brings different pieces together, which she felt suited a game about joining tiles into patterns. Her 11-year-old helped with the colors and logos.

“I really believe that's how relationships form, when people show up and meet regularly.”Dana Moss, founder, to Arlington Magazine

Tables by the two hours

The setup Arlington Magazine described is built for both newcomers and experienced players: lessons and guided games, tables that can be reserved for up to two hours, and walk-ins welcome. The room holds roughly 24 players in each two-hour block. The magazine listed $25 for a two-hour session and $35 for a weekly pass that allows one two-hour session every day. Food and drink come from El Rey's menu, including a Mahjong menu of shareable plates and cocktails such as the Montahj Margarita and the Fire Horse Paloma, a nod to the year's Lunar New Year animal.

The focus is American Mahjong, the magazine noted, and the club helps players looking for Korean, Chinese or Japanese games find one another. In April, the club's location page listed open play at $25 for two hours with all materials, and an American Mahjong 101 clinic at $65 with a welcome drink and snacks, taught in what the club calls the Montahj Method.

A permanent spot, if it goes well

Moss told Arlington Magazine in February that she would run the pop-up for three months and, if it went well, look for a permanent spot. That was the plan on opening day. Three months from February 20 ran to about May 20, and the calendar on the club's site has kept going.

Still to come on that calendar, as of this writing: American Mahjong 102, Strategy Development, on Thursday, June 18, from 6 to 9 PM; American Mahjong 103, Guided Play, on Sunday, June 21, from noon to 3 PM, and again on Wednesday, June 24, from 6 to 9 PM; and American Mahjong Social League games at midday on Wednesday, June 17, Friday, June 19, and Friday, June 26. Each listing has its own RSVP link. The club also books private lessons, private and corporate events, and office gatherings it calls Montahj at Work.

The about page calls Montahj a female-founded, veteran-owned brand, and it speaks of honoring the game's heritage, from its Chinese roots to its Jewish American stewardship. Order of the Tile is not affiliated with Montahj Social and does not sell sets.

Prim's view

A pop-up that is still on the calendar weeks past its three-month mark is a pop-up that found its people. I would have guessed it the moment I read about a 20-player standing game that struggled to find a room. Groups like that do not dissolve. They look for a room, and when the room appears, they bring their friends.

I am also taken with how this club was named. A nine-year-old offered montage, an eleven-year-old helped with the colors, and a grown woman with a law degree had the good sense to say yes to both. That is a family that knows a table is for everyone. Wherever the club lands next, I hope it keeps the two-hour block and the Fire Horse Paloma.