In January, Terrianne Grant traveled to Charleston for her 60th birthday with her daughters, daughters-in-law and a future daughter-in-law. The group played mahjong at a studio called Holy Mahj. In TribLive's August report, Grant remembered the moment they walked in: "literally all of us at the same time said, 'We can do this, but we can do it better,' and we wanted to bring it to Sewickley."
The result sits at 348 Beaver Street, in a storefront that used to be a candy shop. Grant told TribLive what she hoped it would add to the business district: "something different than another boutique, another hair salon, another bank." Two blocks away, the owner of the holiday pop-up Bar Noel is building a restaurant around the same idea. Both places charge mainly for time spent sitting down with other people, and both open just as the village calendar fills up for the holidays.
The Old Candy Shop Now Sells Two-Hour Seats
Dot Dot Darling calls itself a "mahjong maison." The tagline came from the family, and the name came from Grant's youngest daughter, Arabella, who borrowed it from the "dot" tile suit. Grant co-owns the business with her daughter Chelsianna Noone, who brought the game into the family the summer before.
The room is small. At the July 14 conditional-use hearing, the family's attorney described it as about 750 square feet. Council approved the application that evening, and no one spoke against it. TribLive's August story said the room would hold up to 32 players. The Dot Dot Darling website now lists eight tables of four, which fills that capacity exactly. The August plan called for six or seven tables and a September opening. October became the soft opening instead, and CBS Pittsburgh covered the studio as open on October 14.
Most of the space goes to play. Each open-play session gives your group a table for two hours. Every visit includes the tile bar, a rotating shelf of mahjong sets you can carry to your table and swap out next time. Noone told TribLive that part of the appeal is the tiles themselves, which come in themed sets: "My sister has a western set. I have a Paris set because Paris is my favorite city." The club is BYOB and provides free light refreshments.
What a Seat Costs, and When It Pays to Commit
The membership tiers show how the business expects to be used. These are the prices posted on its website:
| Tier | Price | Sessions | Cost per two-hour session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl | $40 a visit | 1 | $40 |
| Jade | $160 a month | 5 | $32 |
| Diamond | $240 a month | 8 | $30 |
The math favors regular players. If you play twice a month, paying per visit costs $80, which is less than Jade. At five sessions, Jade costs $40 less than paying each time. Diamond adds a guest pass and a bottle of rosé for your birthday, and Jade includes a birthday drink. Each membership covers one player. Prepaying six or twelve months lowers the rate.
Newcomers start with a class called Mahjong 101. The room also hosts private events such as birthdays, showers and team nights. The posted hours are Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. Street parking is on Beaver Street, and the club asks players to arrive about 15 minutes early to pick a set.
Borough Manager Donna Kaib welcomed the idea in July. She told TribLive that a mahjong club "is a great idea for a smaller town where people are looking for new social activities."
On Walnut Street, a December Pop-Up Gets a Permanent Room
Anthony Roppa has tested this idea every holiday season. His Bar Noel is a craft cocktail piano bar that has popped up in borrowed space. Its first season was in 2023 inside the former Sewickley Tavern. Made in PGH reported that it opened the night before Thanksgiving and ran through New Year's Eve. In 2025 it moved inside Mi Cita at 418 Beaver Street, working with Mi Cita owner Julio Peraza. TribLive's December 2025 coverage listed hours of 6 p.m. to midnight, Wednesday through Saturday, from December 3 to December 27, with no cover. That season ran just over three weeks. The trees came from Robinson's Home & Garden in Sewickley, and the guest pianists included performers from Piano Maniacs.
Roppa is now building a year-round version at the former 424 Walnut restaurant. TribLive reported in September that the building had been gutted except for part of the kitchen. The plans call for a sliding wall on the street side so the dining room opens onto Walnut Street, all-new mechanical systems, and a lighting design developed with Sewickley-based Custom Connection Systems. The piano moves over from Bar Noel too. Roppa plans to give it its own seating and to host live concerts.
The scale is a big step up from a three-week pop-up. The restaurant covers about 3,500 square feet, with about 90 seats on the main floor and a private wine-tasting room in the cellar. Plans include 16 wines by the glass, hand-pressed juices and about 17 full-time staff. The kitchen will partner with more than 30 local farms and producers and make everything it can in house, "down to the pickles." Roppa explained his reasoning to TribLive: "While the way people eat is changing, the desire to gather remains timeless."
The approvals moved quickly. Council voted unanimously on August 11 to approve a liquor license transfer to Roppa's Sewickley Hospitality Group, and construction permits followed on August 27. County records show the building sold in May for $1.444 million, and the total investment is expected to top $2 million. You can look up the property record on the Allegheny County Real Estate site.
The address has a history. Roppa's father, Dominic "Big D" Roppa, and the Munizza family ran an ice business at the site, and later a beer distributor, from the 1940s until the 1990s. "They sold ice to the country clubs and they sold ice to the big homes in Sewickley," Roppa told TribLive.
As of the September report, the restaurant had no name and opening was planned for "sometime in November." Treat that as a target, not a reservation date. The Bar Noel website says it is partnering with Mi Cita but does not list dates for this season. Watch the restaurant's own announcements before you plan a December evening around either one.
Where the New Rooms Fall on the Holiday Calendar
The village's confirmed dates run from Thanksgiving weekend through December 5, and Dot Dot Darling's posted hours line up with several of them:
| Date | Event | Where | Dot Dot Darling hours that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 27 – Sat, Nov 28 | Shop Small Sewickley | Beaver Street | 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. both days |
| Fri, Dec 4, 5 – 9 p.m. | Light Up Night | Sewickley Village | 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5, morning | Santa Parade, then Santa at the Wolcott Park gazebo until 1 p.m. | Beaver Street | 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5, after the parade | Village Garden Club Greens & Goodies Sale | St. Stephen's Henning House, 327 Broad St. | 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
The Santa Parade start time differs between sources. The Sewickley Valley Chamber of Commerce lists 10:30 a.m. and names the Rotary Club of Quaker Valley as sponsor. The borough calendar lists 9:30 a.m. Check closer to the day before you stake out a curb.
The first weekend of December puts Light Up Night, the Santa Parade and the Greens & Goodies Sale on back-to-back days. Light Up Night and Dot Dot Darling's Friday hours both end at 9 p.m., and a two-hour session booked ahead gives a group a set place to sit during the evening. Private events cover birthdays, showers and team nights, so the room also works for a holiday gathering if you reserve early.
The Monica Sample Group works from Sewickley and watches storefronts like 348 Beaver and 424 Walnut change hands and come back to life. Some of our clients are weighing whether to update an older home before listing or sell it as it is, and the planning behind these two openings will feel familiar to them. If you'd like to know what a thoughtful renovation might add to your own place, Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk through it with you over coffee in the village.
