A lot of our regulars treat AI DARTS as their hangout spot in Taipei: three or four friends show up, grab a beer, take turns at the boards, and somehow end up staying the whole night without ever planning to. Here's what a night here usually looks like, from the point of view of a place to hang out.
A hangout spot tucked into the alleys
The address is No.1, Aly. 15, Ln. 345, Sec. 4, Ren'ai Rd, Da'an District, Taipei 106, a short walk from the Bannan Line between Zhongxiao Dunhua and Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall stations, but you have to turn off the main road into the lanes to actually find it. It's less a storefront you stumble into and more a place friends bring friends. Once you know where it is, it's easy to treat like your own living room.
Grab a beer first, then sit down
You don't have to head straight for a board the second you walk in, sitting down first is the normal move here. Beer is NT$100 a bottle, your pick of Taiwan Beer, Budweiser or Heineken, buy 3 get 1 on Thursday Darts Night and buy 5 get 1 the rest of the week. The Hotdogray hot dog counter inside serves Tuesday to Friday, 8 pm until around midnight, plus every other Saturday, so pick one of those nights if you want food with your chat; the final word is on-site or on LINE. Have a drink, catch up, no rush to start playing.
Take turns, no experience needed
It's a full set of Phoenix electronic dartboards, and with a group, taking turns keeps everyone in the game instead of standing around. Count-Up is the easy one: add up your total score over a set number of rounds, good for a first-timer. Cricket has more strategy if you want it. Never thrown a dart before? Just ask the staff, or read our guide to Cricket and 501 rules first.
Rest, chat, order more when you get hungry
A few rounds in, your arm gets tired, and sitting back down to keep talking is completely normal, nobody rushes you back to the board. On kitchen nights, if you get hungry, add fries at NT$50 or nuggets at NT$55 for the middle of the table, or hot dogs from NT$50 up to the signature Seared Cheese Chili at NT$100; for something different to drink, a sparkling drink is NT$65. For what a table usually orders with beer, Hotdogray's site has a post on darts, hot dogs and making friends. Full prices are on the menu.
No rush, no minimum spend
AI DARTS has no minimum spend, weekday or weekend, so nobody nudges you to order more just because you've been sitting a while or came with a bigger group. The boards run 24 hours, every day of the year, so stay as late as you want. You can also bring your own drinks if you'd rather not stick to what's behind the bar.
When you can't figure out where to go after dinner, or just want somewhere to settle in for the night, this is that kind of place: no rush, stay as long as you want, darts and beer, and a hot dog on Hotdogray nights.