Changes at Tower District billiards spot. New bar, owner + ‘everyone’s welcomed’
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- Lisa Tackett bought the bar in January and renamed it The Enchanted Pour.
- The Enchanted Pour held a June 6 grand opening with Pride events and a $15 cover.
- The Enchanted Pour will shut down for a week in July to redecorate and upgrade plumbing.
For years, Detention Billiards had an intentional presence in the Tower District. Even the upstairs speakeasy, The Library at Detention, which could be accessed through a door hidden by a row of lockers towards the back of the main room, was designed around 1920s mobsters, with mug shots of smugglers lining the wall.
Lisa Tackett, who worked as a bartender at Detention for several years, bought the bar in January and has been making changes to it since.
The first changes were the names: Detention Billiards is now The Enchanted Pour, and the Library at Detention is now The Sin ‘n Satin. The Enchanted Pour had its grand opening on June 6, the first Saturday of June — and the day of Fresno Pride.
That was on purpose.
“I love love. I’m so in love with love,” Tackett said. “I always tell my kids to love who you’re going to love.”
To celebrate both the grand opening and Fresno Pride, The Enchanted Pour held drag shows, drink specials and burlesque shows throughout the day. The front windows had Pride flags hanging out front, and the bar collected a $15 cover at the door.
That cover went entirely to Fresno Rainbow Pride.
So does the money Tackett raises from an fundraising pool party she hosts at her house every year. She hires drag queens, supplies the alcohol, brings in a DJ and charges an entrance fee, but she doesn’t pass the costs for any of it on to Fresno Rainbow Pride.
“We pay for everything out of our own pocket,” Tackett said.
It comes from a very personal place. Tackett has LGBTQ+ children, and the Enchanted Pour has several members of staff who are part of the community as well.
“I bought the bar for them,” Tackett said.
She intentionally fosters a very family-focused environment at the bar, as several members of her immediate family can be found in the building at any given time. Her husband, Will, is helping to redecorate the place, hanging crimson curtains from the rafters, and her daughter, Brooke, does back-of-house management for the bar.
If she knows someone long enough, though, there’s a good chance she’ll call them family anyway. Gabe Mercado, one of the bartenders at The Enchanted Pour, has known Tackett for eight years, and Tackett calls him one of her kids.
Said Brooke: “She brings everyone under her wing.”
Tackett is a familiar face in the Fresno bar scene. Her family owns Livingstone’s, also in the Tower District, and she also manages Lancer’s Bar and Grill.
“It’s the only thing I know how to do,” Tackett said.
Some of the bar’s changes have already started appearing, like the mural of a witch holding a steaming potion by the front door, but more are on the way. The bar is planning to shut down for a week in July to redecorate and update some aspects of the business, including improving the main bar downstairs, which is getting a new bar top and upgraded plumbing.
Additionally, the upstairs speakeasy area is getting gutted. The changes will open up the space, allowing more people to be up there, but they’ll also reflect the new burlesque theme.
Cookie Marquez, the manager of the Sin ‘n Satin, has been working at the place for three years and managing for a year and a half. She says when the updates are done, the place will have a New Orleans witchy atmosphere, and will host a variety of events, including taste testings for upcoming menu items and more performers.
“I’m really excited to get in more performers,” Marquez said.
The changes are more than cosmetic. The Enchanted Pour closes 40 minutes before every other bar in the district, and Tackett attributed that to recent crimes that have left her concerned for the safety of her patrons and her staff.
