The Splintered Wand

Tucked away in the bustling town that is Ballard a new restaurant just opened up in late November of 2021. This restaurant had something a little extra to it as it was a theme restaurant which you would find in Universal Studios or Disney land. The Splintered Wand would be the first Harry Potter bar and restaurant in the Seattle area.

The Splintered wand had great food, and the best theming I have seen since being at a theme park. Usually when someone opens a theme restaurant there are some legal hoops to jump through and it usually ends up being just a normal restaurant that just has someone’s personal collection on display. Well the Splintered Wand goes well above and beyond that. Here you won’t find movie or books specific items on display instead you feel like you have entered the world of Harry Potter but with out specifically referencing the movies or the books. They have done such a great job that they have avoided any legal issues and have remained completely booked since they opened. We had to book our reservation 2 months in advance just to get a table on a Sunday night.

This is the Menu, the backside of this a muggle friendly version is a bit easier to read.

The Splintered Wand is a mix of ambiance and fine dining, you won’t hamburgers or pizzas on this menu, but you will find liver mousse, short ribs, market fish and other high end dinning experiences which all tasted great. From food to drinks there is something special about how its been prepared or how it is presented. From smoky demon essence being poured into your Balrog old fashion, to the deviled eggs being died in various colors, they hit the mark in immersing you in the fantasy world.

Other unique things about this bar is that it has a wand making station on the second floor, where while you wait for your table or your food a specialist will walk you through building your own wand that will effect different things at the wand bar as you are instructed to swish and flick your wand.

wand station

The only negative is that the space is very small and tight. This restaurant is located in a small space that has to use it verticality to add more dinning rooms, as for the main floor there are very few tables for people to sit at and the basement bar really only has 3 tables to sit at since they installed some fake trees to add to the style and immersion.

Like most restaurants now days they are suffering from not having enough staff in just about every section. The bartenders are stuck waiting and entertaining their 3 tables and making all the drinks for the restaurant, so drinks are great but will come up slowly. The kitchen is fairly quick with your food so just when we were finishing our starters our main courses came out.

The wand bar is the one cool thing but also somewhat questionable. We saw a family of 3 come in right before us and their little girl was really excited to be there and wanted to make her own wand, so they sat down, ordered their food and drinks, and it ended up being a night where the father ate and drank alone because the mother and daughter spend the whole time getting a wand made. Their food came out waiting for them and was probably not as hot as it should have been by the time they came down and started eating. The father was already done with his meal. So the wand making may take a bit to long. And since this place is booked full every day most walk ins are turned away with a 1.5 to 2 hour wait if they want to try and get a table.

Verdict:

The food here was really good the miss steps in service weren’t huge and they nailed the aesthetic they were going for. If you plan on visiting Seattle and are a Harry Potter fan or just fantasy fan you will enjoy your meal here.

Where it fails really is just its size and location. I really hope this place is very successful so they can move to a bigger space, or branch out and create more locations around Seattle. Seattle really needs more themed places like this to really live up to the reputation of nerd culture that it has. The Splintered Wand is a nice addition to the Viking theme bars and the table top bars that we have, its just tucked away in a hard to get to neighborhood with very limited street parking.

Check out their Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/the.splintered.wand/