Live out your Dungeons & Dragons dreams at a downtown Los Angeles bar

Carlos Leon was depressed. His relationships were failing and his career seemed directionless. What he craved was an escape, an escape inspired by the fantasy worlds that he had been obsessed with as a child and continued to obsess with as an adult. Think worlds inspired by The Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons: fantastical spaces filled with magic, wild creatures, and above all, adventure stories. With no real dragons to slay, Leon began attacking his metaphorical demons by disappearing into these imaginary worlds. He finally found solace in converting his apartment bedroom into a medieval bar for his roommates and friends. With limited financial resources, he scoured online marketplaces and began populating his Murphy bed with cheap wooden tables, cheap chandeliers, battery-operated candles, and modest wall sconces. Thus, the first iteration of what would become Squirrel’s Tavern was born. “I was craving an atmosphere with warmth, coziness, camaraderie, and food and drink,” Leon says. His childhood nickname? Squire, which he also uses as his game name. Squire’s Tavern is filled with hidden puzzles and not-so-secret storylines, the latter of which guests can discover through objects scattered around the bar. (Landon Donoho / Squire’s Tavern) “And I looked everywhere for it,” he adds. “The closest I got was an Irish pub, but I realized what I really wanted was a watering hole from a fantasy story—a Prancing Pony, a run-of-the-mill Dungeons & Dragons watering hole.” Today, Squire’s Tavern retains its DIY charm but with a more sophisticated feel. Step into this sudden fantasy pub, tucked away on the second floor of a downtown Los Angeles sports bar, and you’re greeted with fake cobblestone floors, flickering electronic candles, old-fashioned, slightly Gaelic-sounding music, and walls and shelves filled with strange ephemera. Among them are skulls, plastic animal skeletons, and squirrel-related artwork. And puzzles. Puzzles are everywhere. Crates and little boxes are locked away on bookshelves, and you’ll soon find scrolls hidden inside jars and books, which seem to contain hidden messages. And don’t be surprised if the pictures hide something behind their frames. When I first stepped into Squire’s Tavern, the place immediately felt familiar, so much so that I felt like I’d been there before. In a way, I had. Having grown up playing fantasy games and reading Dungeons & Dragons novels, I longed to step into a fantasy pub myself. It’s the kind of place where strangers quickly become friends over beers and big stories, and swords and shields hang on the walls. If you’re lucky, you might be sent on an adventure, or just shanty yourself into the night. Carlos Leon, center behind the bar, plays Squaller, the owner of a fantasy-themed pub in downtown. (Landon Donoho / Squaller’s Tavern) It’s the kind of vibe at this tavern that’s fueling our renewed interest in fantasy. Squaller’s Tavern, which opened in March and is now open through at least the end of October, comes at a time when Dungeons & Dragons is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and TV series like House of the Dragon and Legend of Vox Machina continue to bring tales of swords and sorcery to new audiences. Dungeons & Dragons: Twenty-Faced Tavern also had a hit theatrical release in New York and will begin a touring run in 2025. Squirrels Tavern has more modest ambitions. It’s a gathering place for puzzles, escape room-esque light storytelling, and immersive theater tricks, but it understands that drinks, food, games, and heroic and mystical myths are timeless. “We’re removing all the technological stimulation that you get immersed in when you go to a bar,” says Leon. Instead, the space is primarily an invitation to play. A night at the bar costs $150 per person and includes about three hours of storytelling. Once seated, you learn from the menu that Squirrels Tavern is in the middle of a kingdom in turmoil, with peaceful elves losing power among multiple warring factions. If you’re up for it, go in. If you do, you’ll notice that clues for those looking to join the rebels are hidden throughout the tavern. After all, a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired bar needs quests. This pub is full of stories. The coat hanging on a hook on the wall was one he’d left behind in a hurry, and his pocket still contained letters from a long-distance relationship. I went to Squirellers Tavern alone, but occasionally I was invited to join others in light social games. Sometimes the bartender would hand out syrupy shots as participants worked out strangers’ likes and dislikes. But the main focus was on the bar’s underlying story as a space to empathize with those fighting for their kingdom. Puzzles are found on the menus and scrolls at Squirellers Tavern, a fantasy-themed pub in downtown Los Angeles. (Tara Pixley / Squirellers Tavern) Here, the guestbook may not be, cipher puzzles may be hidden among the knickknacks, and the shields may turn out to be more than just decoration. Unravelling the secret story of Squirellers Tavern would take about half the night, depending of course on how much you drink and socialize. You could also simply interact with the cast and solve various puzzles that are detached from the main story. There will also be a three-course meal of simple pub fare, including pretzels, wings and sausage plates. In addition to Leon, who is currently the general manager of First Draft Taproom & Kitchen downtown, the fantasy pub was founded by Taylor Frost and Alicia Minnette, who have experience in event production and television and theater production. The team, in their mid-30s to early 40s, bonded over their love of immersive entertainment and began envisioning a full-scale Squire’s Tavern during the 2023 Hollywood strike when work began to dwindle. Throughout Squire’s Tavern, there are puzzles and treasure chests waiting to be solved or opened. (Landon Donoho / Squire’s Tavern) Frost led the design of most of the puzzles and also contributed to the story development of numerous live-action role-playing games. “The escape games I like the most are not the ones with the most difficult puzzles,” Frost says. “It’s the most immersive, story-driven game there is. We wanted the tavern to have a choose-your-own-adventure feel.” Currently, Squirrels Tavern has two core storylines running simultaneously, with a second one for returning customers who want to expand the story further. If all goes as planned, the team hopes to create a third storyline and one day become successful enough to run the tavern as a hangout spot when they’re not hosting the main ticketed events. For now, Frost says the bar is breaking even, so it’s a day-by-day effort. But Leon thinks the concept will appeal to more than just those familiar with 20-sided dice. “Everyone who’s seen the bar or who I’ve talked to who I’ve shown the bar to says, ‘I want to go there.’ It’s a human thirst for immersive escapism that’s centered around interaction. Sure, there are puzzles and story, but what I personally love most is just sitting and being in the space. “You forget you’re on the second floor of a little sports bar in downtown LA.” The spell is only broken when night falls, not by uncontrollable orcs and goblins, but by something more mundane: a bill.