Harry Potter-themed speakeasy in California requires secret spell to enter
Behind a door labeled “electrical room” in The Twisted Pig Bar and Grill lies a portal to a secret room where magic (and liquor) awaits.
To mere muggles, the popular restaurant and bar may look standard, but what lies within is a chamber of secrets. Speakeasy 9¾ — a Harry Potter-themed bar — opened inside The Twisted Pig in late October.
The opening was perfectly timed with when fans commonly start their yearly rewatch of the Harry Potter movies — and that was by design, The Twisted Pig co-owner Thom Guerrero said.
“That’s what we do every year, we binge-watch,” he said. “That’s where the idea came.”
Guerrero and his business partner, Seth Bassett, have been talking about opening a speakeasy for two years. For them, it was a matter of when, not if.
The idea came to fruition when Guerrero was watching one of the movies last December with his son and a scene showed a statue of a pig in a storage area of Hogwarts. Pigs, being the mascot of sorts for his restaurant, are something Guerrero always looks for when it comes to decor.
He called Bassett at that moment and said, “We need to do something Harry Potter.”
How do you get in to Speakeasy 9¾?
Speakeasy 9¾ is not named that just because it’s in a hidden part of a restaurant. It also requires a spell to get in.
Every Monday on The Twisted Pig Bar and Grill’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, a spell is posted for the week. Once customers are seated in the restaurant, they can tell their server they have the spell for entry.
Customers will be admitted to the speakeasy based on capacity. On a regular night, around 40 people are admitted, but the room can fit more than that for private events.
General operating hours of Speakeasy 9¾ are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to midnight, but the schedule is posted each week with the spell. Sometimes, private parties will book the room, changing public operating hours.
The drinks at Speakeasy 9¾ fit the theme
The Harry Potter theme of Speakeasy 9¾ doesn’t stop at the name, the required entry spell or the decor. The music played and the drinks served also are fitting.
When I visited Thursday, Dec. 11, there were six magical cocktails on the menu (some of them complete with edible glitter to bring home the theme):
- Chocolate frog martini: vanilla vodka, pistachio liqueur, espresso and cream topped with whipped cream and a Dubai chocolate frog
- Unicorn blood: Empress gin, triple sec and lemon
- Butterbeer: Screwball whiskey, Butter Shots schnapps, allspice liqueur, butterscotch syrup and cream
- “I must not tell lies”: Four Roses bourbon, raspberry purée, fig and berry syrup, egg white and lemon
- The Chamber of Secrets: ginger beer, peach schnapps, Meyers dark rum and mint
- Horcrux shot: flaming Fernet Branca Menta
I was told, and shown, that there soon will be a change in the drink menu, with additions including a hot toddy-like drink called Luna Lovegood, the fruit-forward Love Potion, a twist on an old-fashioned, called Dark Mark, and the margarita-style Giggle Juice.
The speakeasy’s theme will change every so often, with plans for the next one being “Golden Girls.” But Harry Potter will be the theme until at least February and always will be in the theme rotation.
Next year, the frames on the walls will have moving portraits, much like the ones that adorn the walls of Hogwarts, Guerrero said.
With candles “floating” near the ceiling like at the Great Hall in the school of witchcraft and wizardry, Speakeasy 9 ¾ truly is magical.
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