Select your individual journey at this Dungeons & Dragons-inspired pub hidden in downtown L.A.

Carlos Leon discovered himself in a depressed state — a private relationship was stalling and his profession appeared directionless.

What he craved was an escape, one impressed by the fantasy worlds he devoured as a toddler and continued to devour into maturity. Assume these impressed by “The Lord of the Rings” and Dungeons & Dragons, fantastical areas stuffed with wizardry, wild creatures and, most of all, tales of journey.

Missing any real-life dragons to slay, Leon started attacking metaphorical demons by disappearing into these imagined universes. He discovered consolation, eventually, by reworking his condo bed room right into a Medieval bar for his roommates and buddies. With restricted financial assets, he started scouring on-line marketplaces to encompass his Murphy mattress with an inexpensive wood desk, a funds chandelier, battery-powered candles and modest wall sconces.

And thus, the primary iteration of what would turn out to be Squirrelor’s Tavern was born.

“I used to be craving an environment of heat, coziness, camaraderie and meals and beverage,” Leon says. His childhood nickname? Squirrelor, which he additionally makes use of as his gaming title.

“And I used to be looking for it in all places,” he provides. “The closest factor I acquired was an Irish pub. However I spotted what I used to be actually after was a tavern that you simply see in fantasy tales — a Prancing Pony, or any run-of-the-mill Dungeons & Dragons tavern.”

In the present day Squirrelor’s Tavern is a extra polished affair, though it nonetheless maintains a do-it-yourself allure. To step into the pop-up fantasy pub — hidden in an upstairs room of a downtown Los Angeles sports activities bar — is to be welcomed by pretend cobblestone flooring, flickering digital candles, old-timey, barely Gaelic music, and partitions and shelving stuffed with odd ephemera, together with skulls, plastic animal skeletons and a bevy of squirrel-related artwork.

And puzzles. They’re in all places. Wood packing containers and mini chests sit locked on bookshelves, the place one will immediately spy scrolls hidden in bottles or books that look like concealing veiled messages. And don’t be shocked if that image is cloaking one thing behind its body.

The primary time I set foot in Squirrelor’s Tavern, it was immediately acquainted, a lot so I felt as if I had already visited it. In a approach, I had. Raised on fantasy video games and Dungeons & Dragons novels, I too had longed to enterprise right into a fantastical pub, the type of place the place strangers immediately turn out to be buddies over a pint and exaggerated tales, and the place swords and shields dot the partitions. Perhaps, in case you’re fortunate, you’ll uncover an journey to embark upon, or maybe your night will merely be stuffed with consuming shanties.

Carlos Leon, heart, behind bar, as Squirrelor, the proprietor of a fantasy-themed pub in downtown.

(Landon Donoho / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

Such is the vibe of the tavern, which faucets into our renewed curiosity in fantasy. Working since March and prolonged by means of a minimum of the top of October, Squirrelor’s Tavern has arrived throughout the fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, and when tv collection comparable to “Home of the Dragon” and “The Legend of Vox Machina” proceed to convey sword-and-sorcery tales to new audiences. Additionally, “Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern” has turn out to be a theatrical hit in New York, and can start a touring manufacturing in 2025.

Squirrelor’s Tavern has extra humble ambitions. This can be a gathering spot for puzzles and a light-weight, escape room-inspired narrative with some immersive theater trappings — nevertheless it understands that drink, meals and video games, in addition to heroic, mysterious myths, are timeless.

“It strips away all of the stimuli expertise that you’re drowning in once you go to a bar,” Leon says.

The house, as a substitute, is basically an invite to play. An evening on the bar runs $150 per individual and accommodates a few three-hour narrative. As you’re seated, you be taught, by way of the menu, that Squirrelor’s Tavern sits within the midst of a kingdom that has been thrown into disarray, with the peaceable elves shedding energy amid a number of warring factions. You’re invited to lean in, in case you like, and in case you do you’ll uncover that all through the tavern are hidden clues for these looking for to hitch the riot.

In any case, no Dungeons & Dragons-inspired bar can be full with no quest. The pub is filled with narratives. A coat hanging on a wall hook seems to be one which was left there in haste, with notes between distant lovers nonetheless residing within the pockets. I went to Squirrelor’s Tavern solo and was invited, at instances, to hitch others in mild social video games — a bartender could hand out syrupy photographs if members can uncover the likes and dislikes of a stranger — however principally centered on the bar’s underlying story as an area sympathetic to these combating for the nice of the dominion.

Puzzles might be present in menus and scrolls at Squirrelor’s Tavern, a fantasy-themed pub in downtown Los Angeles.

(Tara Pixley / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

Right here, a visitor guide could also be something however, and cipher puzzles could reside in knickknacks whereas shields could grow to be extra than simply ornament. To uncover the key narrative of Squirrelor’s Tavern ought to take you about half the night time, relying, after all, on how a lot consuming and socializing you partake in. You can too decide to easily work together with the forged, or clear up an assortment of puzzles divorced from the primary story. There’s additionally a three-course meal of straightforward pub fare — suppose pretzels, wings and sausage plates.

Along with Leon, now basic supervisor of downtown’s First Draft Taproom & Kitchen, the place Squirrelor’s Tavern resides in an upstairs nook, the fantasy pub was the creation of Taylor Frost and Alicia Minette, who convey expertise in occasion manufacturing and tv and theatrical fabrication. The staff, ranging in age from their mid-30s to early 40s, bonded over a love of immersive leisure and commenced growing the concept of a full-blown Squirrelor’s Tavern throughout the 2023 Hollywood strikes when work started drying up.

All through Squirrelor’s Tavern are puzzles and chests, every awaiting to be solved or opened.

(Landon Donoho / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

Frost led the design of many of the puzzles, having additionally contributed to the narrative improvement of quite a few live-action role-playing video games.

“The escape rooms I really like probably the most aren’t those which have the toughest puzzles,” Frost says. “They’re those which are probably the most immersive and story-driven. With the tavern, we wished to provide it a choose-your-own-adventure vibe.”

There at the moment are two core storylines working concurrently at Squirrelor’s Tavern, the second geared towards returning friends who need to additional develop the narrative. If all goes based on plan, the staff hopes to create a 3rd, and to sometime achieve success sufficient to run the tavern as a hangout house when it’s not internet hosting its major ticketed occasion. For now, Frost says the bar is breaking even, necessitating an one-day-at-a-time method.

However Leon believes the idea appeals far past these conversant in a 20-sided die. “Each single person who I communicate to that has seen the tavern or I present the tavern to has stated, ‘I need to go there.’ It’s a human yearning for an immersive escape that’s centered round interplay. Sure, there are puzzles and storylines, however personally my favourite half is simply sitting and dwelling within the house. You overlook you’re within the second ground of this little sports activities bar in downtown L.A.”

The spell is barely damaged when the night time ends, not with an out-of-control orc or goblin however with one thing much more mundane: a invoice.