Closing 'Chinatown' Room

'Chinatown' was the third escape room that Greg and I built.  When we first opened in 2016, we had scrambled to build The Speakeasy and The Diner, working day and night on our first two rooms.  At that time, we greeted each customer and ran each game ourselves.  Eventually, we hired some awesome game guides to help run games so we could have more time to build "the third room" as we called it for the longest time.  The Speakeasy was set in the 1920s. The Diner was set in the 1950s. So we decided this third room would take place in the 1970s, in a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.  My mom's family is Chinese, and my grandparents owned and worked at a Chinese restaurant. Several of the props used in the game are from their restaurant, and the photo of the two owners on the wall is an actual photo of my grandparents. I must note there is no evidence that they moved drugs through their restaurant. Nonetheless, they were an inspiration for this room and 'Chinatown' will always be special to me.

Another reason 'Chinatown' has significant meaning to Greg and me is because it is the room we were working on when we started our family.  We were working on it until the day I went into labor with our first daughter, Violet. We brought her into work many days while finishing this room. She has taken many naps in her pack 'n play looking up at the red lanterns and eaten many meals while I sat on the little black restaurant chairs.  A few months later, 'Chinatown' was open for business. Now Violet is almost 8 and learning Mandarin at an immersion elementary school down the street from Quicksand. It's been so cool to hear her and her sister come into the room and read the Chinese characters in the game. ​

Alas, it is time to close our beloved "third room".  Thank you so much to all our customers who have played it and loved it.  'Chinatown' takes place during a Chinese New Year celebration, and today we celebrate Chinese New Year.  It is always bittersweet to close a room, but we are excited for what this new year of the snake brings, as we work on a new room for you all!  

谢谢你，新年快乐.
(Thank you and Happy Chinese New Year!)
​
Love,
​Jenny