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Local gaming shops are good options if you're in an urban/suburban area. Many run regular events for TableTop Role Playing Games like Pathfinder and DnD, Warhammer, board game tournaments, etc.. Many also host discord servers so folks can make "LFG" (Looking For Game) type posts.
Obviously its going to depend where you are, but I've found it to be a great place to socialize when I'm bored.
Are they typically welcoming to people who have never played tabletop games?
I've never met a public-facing tabletop group that wasn't enthusiastic to introduce new people to it. I think honestly my worst experience was when some dude brought his insanely broken D&D 3.5 character to play in a level one 5E game. The DM handled it very well; much better than I would have, I think.
My experience is that they generally are, but if they're not they'll be very friendly in suggesting that they're not the right venue for you.
If that sounds weird, go (or phone) and ask them. If they say "Well we've got a pretty hardcore community here," then that's a sign that maybe it's not where you should start. But gamers, on the whole, LOVE sharing their passion with new people.
Or look for sign up sheets for a campaign. It can literally be signing up for your new gang of friends.
In my experience, it totally depends on the shop and what kind if environment the owners are trying to cultivate. I've been to super competitive shops that are crazy anal about sticking to game rules, rude to newcomers, etc, and I've been to others (like my current shop) that realize we're a bunch of middle aged fucks playing with toys (40k is my shit).
More often than not, though, the vibe is going to be a welcoming one. As others have said, its more people to play games with! Especially in the plastic crack community, where there's certainly a 30 year Warhammer veteran just waiting for a newbie to dump their lore knowledge into.
It really depends, but mostly yes because people always want more people to play stuff with. You don't need to go to a games store to find tabletop games though, hit up roll20 and search their LFG section, they've got a filter on their LFG search for games that welcome new players, you can sort by what time you want to play, etc. It's mostly D&D, but there's a ton of other stuff in there too if you know what you want to play.
I appreciate all the responses!
I've heard of them having newbie games scheduled on certain days. I don't know how welcoming general games would be to a complete beginner, though.
The doorknobs are made of the skulls from those who dared to enter, but did not already know the game. Lol
Jokes aside, while I haven't been to one myself I know people who play and they're always welcoming of new people. I'm sure the attitude is "more people to play with!"
Yes, even non profit clubs need a constant influx of newcomers, whose member due will pay the rent when the ancient will leave. And for game shop it's even worse. It's a hobby where a 50 € book can entertain 4 adults for year, so you need new comer to keep selling.
My local rpg club runs monthly discovery session and many GM gladly take beginners at their table. (most) RPG have relatively straightforward basic rules, any semi decent GM can give you a 30 minutes briefing with enough information to play. Most of these hugs books aren't rules but story, and special abilities (e.g. Magic spells and potions) so you don't need to read them before playing.
Usually, I advise to look for one shots session to start it allows to discover a game and test the alchemy with other players without signing up for a 2 years campaign.
The tabletop game meetup I know of (in New York) is explicitly friendly to new players. One of the hosts said their first game ever was at the meetup many years ago.