The Lockhart

I was super excited to go here! I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, this place was really cool. They decorated it well, the drinks were good and had creative names. The service was very good for being so busy. I didn’t try any food but it looked very tasty!

OH MY GOD this bar is every Potterhead’s dream! It’s very small (only about 4 – 5 tables) so get here early or on an off-​night. My friends and I came on a Sunday night so it was pretty much empty except for two couples. Our bartender was very friendly and talked us through the drinks menu.
I was really sad that they didn’t have any Better Beer that day (they were out of the «secret ingredient»). Instead we got a Befuddlement Draft to share, which was still pretty cool and delicious. I also wanted to try the Dementor’s Kiss, a shot of ghost pepper infused tequila. I thought I knew what I was getting into — the bartender even made sure that I knew how spicy it would be before serving it — but wow I was NOT prepared for that. The shot was fine going down but then continued to burn my mouth, my throat, my stomach in the minutes after. Thankfully, my table had ordered a plate of baked brie and bread so I stuffed 3 slices of cheese bread down my throat to try to counteract the spiciness. Roughly 30 minutes later, I finally felt normal again but be warned! This shot is NOT for the lighthearted!
The décor of the place was so cute. They have drawings and quotes written all over the walls and one of the shelves have the Harry Potter Funko Pop! dolls all lined up.
Keep in mind though that this is not strictly a Harry Potter bar. It’s just a normal bar with Harry Potter decorations and themed drinks. Don’t expect to walk into the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks — you can get that at Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World. But for a place that’s not officially associated with Harry Potter, this bar is awesome. I’d definitely come back again to try their other drinks!

Lovely staff, delicious drink and wonderfully nerdy! Would love to go back :)

Love this place! Such a nice neighborhood bar. My sister and I took out younger brother here because he is 19 and allowed to drink in Canada. The drinks were delicious and I love the Harry potter theme. While it’s not like Harry Potter land at Universal Studios, it’s still a neat and fun place.

Came back here to bring my sister and her husband — both huge harry potter fans. We had a great time. They’ve amped up the décor from my last visit in November!
For first timers — the place is small, there’s some standing room and seats by the bar, as well as 4 – 5 tables. They have a fantastic variety of drinks, and about 10 items on the menu, tapas style.
I definitely recommend the Better Beer — a bit sweet, but citrusy too. Perfect. They didn’t have this last time! They have a tea-​based cocktail as well, but now they only have a peach base (before they had a raspberry base too). It’s still really good.
Food-​wise, I still recommend the zucchini crostini and the polenta fries. We ordered 5 – 6 items for the 4 of us, and we were pretty full. However, if you’re a serious meat eater, this might not be the place for you as only 2 of their items feature meat.
Came here on Friday around 7pm and there was no wait.

Fantastic service between the male bartender we had and the blonde girl who was a runner for several tables and triple checked on us after we were told we couldn’t grab a table… she took care of us for sure and we had a great time. I really liked the drinks and thought it was so cool how they were prepped. I got a sweater to remember my visit and they gave me an awesome poster. I’m glad to have visited from the states and will return soon! I may also add that they took very good care of our friend who doesn’t drink alcohol with some really fun and creative mocktails. Oh, the HP charm also reminds me of my home but cooler. So that’s a plus.

Same as a lot of reviews here. my expectation for this place was way too high.
I guess I was almost expecting a Harry Potter themed park??? Lol… none of that happened obviously. that’s okay I should’ve done my reserch.
Old fashioned was terrible… the burbon didn’t taste right… and it was way too sweet and thick for my liking. The Margarita was A-​ok.
The space is smaller than I expected. not a lot of seatings and please do come early coz there will be a giant lineup!
This place is more like a one time visit kinda thing and I probably wouldn’t come back. There are lots of cocktail places around the neighbourhood that serve better drinks.

The infamous ‘Harry Potter’ bat. Before I talk about anything, I would like to clarify its NOT exactly a Harry Potter themed bar. It’s a bar with a few Harry Potter themed drinks (e.g. Gin Weasley) and some HP decorations. I am saying this because I have heard die hard HP fans travelling here from another country just to check this place out and get disappointed. They should be going to Harry Potter World instead of this!
I decided to check this place out still since i was in town and a few friends wanted to check it out so why not? (Im Harry Potter fan anyways). We went on a saturday and I thought the wait would be pretty bad (from reading other Unilocal reviews) but somehow we got lucky and there was 1 table left for us! As we were there, a few groups showed up and left realizing it was full.
As I mentioned before, they got a few HP themed drinks. I myself got the Gin Weasley. As the name suggests, it’s gin. But what’s ‘Weasley’ about it? It has a hint of orange! It wasn’t anything too special. My friends got the Befuddlement draft. It was cool cause it was a big jar with 2 shot glasses atttached together in the drink where the top shot glass was lit up. We had to blow out the flames, detach the 2 shot glasses and pour the drinks in and stir like we are stiring potions. It was one of those sweet cocktails with blue curacao that’s easy to drink. I liked it cause I’m a fan of blue curacao. My friend also got this shot called The Dementor’s Kiss. Sounds deadly eh? It is. Cause it’s literally ghost pepper infused tequila. I took a tiny zip and it immediately burned my whole mouth and throat. But I applaud their efforts in depicting who a Dementor’s kiss would be like!
Food wise, they have a daily special popcorn everyday. When we were there it was rosemary butter popcorn with colorado trail mix. Was not a big fan of the trail mix but really enjoyed the rosemary butter. It was like syrup and we ate it non stop.
Overall, twas a nice experience there. I think people would enjoy this place regardless if they are HP fans or not. Their drinks are definitely unique and creative and they were all pretty good. The only thing is that they are located 10+ streetcar stops west of Eatons centre which is in the middle of nowhere. I would definitely go back again if it was in a better location.

My expectations were very high… too high. I did not read the reviews prior to know what to expect.
By pure chance, we chose around 4pm on a Saturday to attend, it doesn’t open until 5pm which initially we were bummed about waiting an hour. However, as the line started to form behind I realized how very lucky we were! We got one of the 5 tables in the place :).
At first, I was disappointed by the tiny menu both in drinks and food. We were starving from shopping all day, so we ordered almost half the menu. We got Polenta fries (B+), baked brie (A-​), Zuccini Crostini (A-​) and Tempura Vegtables (B-​). Most of the food came in baskets, very casual and in a timely manner. I had the drink of the day The Pink Lady (A+) (needs to be on the regular menu for sure!) My friend had the Butter Beer (A+). The glasses were all beautiful, great presentation. My friend is Vegetarian, so I was happy they had yummy options we could both enjoy. I understand (for trademark reasons) that this place can’t be super harry potter-​y. I enjoyed that it wasn’t cheesy. Our waiters were pleasant and helpful but seemed kinda over it. They didn’t give us plates for our food, or water for the table (not deal breakers but when you order food you kind of expect it.).
We didn’t get the Befuddlement Draft (which seems to be the star of the show) but everyone around us did. It was fun watching them light it on fire, and watching people try to figure out how to mix it and drink it. I love that they offer cheap mocktails (5 $), and complimentary juice and soda. That is a really nice touch!
The atmosphere was good, but the music was NELLY! We were joking that it felt like a surreal dream that didn’t quite make sense. In a harry potter bar, listening and dancing to nelly… all I needed to complete the dream was a high school teacher popping in. The speakers were terrible with lots of feedback.
Overall, our entire experience was only 1 hr (other people were asking for our seat before we even got the bill.) Was it fun? Yes. Would I recommend it? Meh. If you’re a super fan it’s not harry pottery enough. If you’re not a super fan, it’s not really worth the trek to Little Portugal. If you happen to be in the area, sure. it’s cute.

My friend invited me to the «Harry Potter» bar (say what?!) as her cousin wanted to celebrate her birthday here — being a massive HP fan. Because I’m really out of it I’d never heard of this bar but was curious to see what the hype was (and seriously who turns down a birthday invite?! Tres tacky).
A few things — it’s tiny. Really tiny. Like maybe 20 people can fit comfortably inside. There is a bouncer. Yes… I kid you not. And he will bounce you out if you try to sneak in. There is always a line. We went around 11:30pm and still had to wait for about 20 or so minutes as we were a large group. I would suggest that if you want to check it out try going with a smaller group and maybe on a weekday.
It’s dark inside with a homage to all things Potter inside. Now I’ve watched all the movies but in no way would I say I’m a fan so I really couldn’t tell you how closely this came to playing off things in the movies. I did see the 9 ¾ sign and of course they have a wall of potions/​elixirs.
There are a few tables for groups and then a few stand up tables and then the bar. The server was really nice and made recommendations when some people in our group were not sure what to drink. She had a lot of energy and never made us feel rushed which was nice and took her time explaining the menu.
I just had the Royal-​Tea which was a nice blend of peach vodka with a bunch of other liquors/​flavours and with base notes of tea. You could really taste the tea which I appreciate. It was light and refreshing. A few others ordered this and all found it to be delightful. I believe it was about $ 10 which isn’t bad but I didn’t feel any magic after drinking it. Someone ordered the «better beer» which basically looked like a milkshake with a toasted marshmallow on top… but since he had 3 I will assume he liked it!
No one ordered food so I can’t comment on that but I did look at the food menu online and it looked interesting. Maybe if I come back I will try some nibbles… but honestly while I’m glad for the opportunity to try it, I just can’t see myself standing in line for this place again.
Did it. Done it.
Poof.now I’m gone :)

My friends and I ventured to Toronto for a Sunday getaway and this was our first stop after reading all the hype. It wasn’t as over the top as I’d imagined but definitely a unique spot. There’s enough subtle references to keep any Harry Potter fan interested but just don’t think you’re going to walk into Hogwarts itself. The food was delicious and reasonable (highly recommend the eggs benedict).

First time around, we came on the weekend with a big group and were turned away. So second time, I went with one person on a weekday and that was definitely a good call. We were seated right away.
Surprisingly enough, the drinks quality is pretty impressive. Almost like the little sister of BarChef. I was expecting them to just ride the wave of their HP popularity, but it seems like they actually made an effort on the food and drinks. I also enjoyed the polenta fries and baked brie. There are some subtle HP, Doctor Who, and other fandom references spattered about, but nothing too dramatic. It’s just like a local dive that happens to have a nerdy flare.
If I lived in the neighbourhood, this would probably be a weekday haunt for me as I really appreciate their drinks. But I certainly won’t be commuting to hang out here regularly.

Soliiiiiid.
#Befuddlement drink blew my mind because the presentation reminded me of Goblet of Fire, but once we started to pour out the drinks into mini crystal cups, I was suddenly taken to that part where Dumbledore and Harry went into a cave to look for Voldemort’s Horcrux, and Dumbledore had to drink that blueish liquid by pouring it into a crystal cup. And the struggle that Dumbledore felt was suddenly upon us when we ordered a second round and we were having a difficult time finishing it. We ended up passing this onto another table that looked like they could use some of this.
Also, I’m not sure what the official name of this drink, but we also had the Butterbeers, which were freaking amazing. Buttery, citrus-​y. and delicious, it made me wonder, «Is this what Butterbeers would taste like in the wizarding world?» I’d hope so. They were just that good.
The only minor thing that bugs me is that the place is too small and there aren’t enough seats. Luckily my friend and I found seats but I can see how inconvenient it would’ve been if we didn’t get seats. Regardless, the service was good and the place is well decorated. Plus the drinks were very good, and I don’t think that minor thing is enough to dock a point– I mean star. I will definitely come back here again!

I went here with some friends who are also Harry Potter fans to celebrate finishing my doctorate. As others have said, the Harry Potter part of it is subtle — probably due to copyright infringement. Don’t expect to be immersed in the Three Broomsticks or the Leaky Cauldron but expect to be like, «Aw, like the potion» or «Aw, it’s a stag,» etc.
We got to The Lockhart around 5pm, which was lucky because shortly after we were seated, a very long line began to form outside. The waitress was nice enough to let a couple of my friends who were a bit late join us since we were seated at benches and could squeeze in, but another friend who was even later wasn’t able to come in. The two late people had to have their drinks quickly because they needed our table.
This place isn’t cozy small, it’s just plain small, go with one other person and be prepared to go elsewhere if it’s packed; it’s good but not worth the wait in the freezing cold for over an hour that people were doing (the owners were kind enough to put a heater outside for people but I don’t think it’s worth waiting that long). It’s also a little difficult to enjoy yourself when you know there is a long line of people staring at you wishing you would hurry the bleep up so they can have their turn to chill.

To the food! We had the popcorn (yummy), baked brie with jam and puff pastry with bread (great), and the mac and cheese sliders (awesome). I split the befuddlement draft with a friend — it wasn’t the best tasting drink in the world but the presentation was fun (they set it on fire) and it was served in a fancypants cauldron of the non-​leaky variety.

As has been mentioned repeatedly, this Harry Potter inspired bar is only mildly Harry Potter themed. However, it definitely has some charm and character. The tapas were delicious and reasonably priced (I paid $ 5 for zucchini crostini and $ 5 for polenta fries and I was beyond stuffed), and the graffiti walls in the bathrooms are covered in wonderful Harry Potter quotes (my personal favourite being «ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE» written in red over one of the toilets). The drinks were small, tasty, and expensive. Not really my style, I’m more of a beer drinker myself, and they only have a few beers on tap. But, when in Rome! Myself and a couple friends tried the Befuddlement Draft, a flaming cauldron of liquor you mix yourself, and I have to admit it was pretty cool. Tasted mainly of peach schnapps, but the experience of it was great.
I also ordered a Caesar «hot»… Now I can handle my spice level pretty well but this was pushing it. My stomach was hurtin’ a bit from this one. Be careful with how you order, they ain’t timid with the spice!
The layout of the place is not ideal, it’s a tiny place with long lineups generally and it was sometimes hard to hear my friends talk, but I think the great food and interesting drinks can appease most muggles.

Note: Come on a weekday! Unless you don’t mind waiting two hours for a table…
This Harry Potter inspired bar is pretty cool. There’s some subtle décor that tributes to the series but it’s definitely not something out of Orlando’s Wizarding World theme park. That being said, it’s a nice place to hang out. It’s a small bar so it’s nice and cozy, it could probably accommodate 4 – 5 groups of five with more seating for doubles.
The drinks are epic. I highly recommend the befuddlement cocktail to share. I loved the fire element, and being able to mix in the shots yourself. But be warned, it’s pretty strong.
There’s limited food options, this probably isn’t the place to get a meal, but it’s great for bar snacks and the prices are good. If you’re super hungry, the steak sandwich is probably the most filling thing on the menu.
Service is incredibly fast, despite all the customers and the few staff. On top of that, the bar tenders and servers and even the bouncer are super welcoming, friendly, fast and enthusiastic which is crazy considering how many orders they get.
The crowd is mixed, you’ll see people that probably just turned legal, and others old enough to be their parents.
I’ll definitely come back, but on a weekday. (They do not take reservations).

I’ll be honest — all of the media hype and attention definitely lured me into this place. I would give it a solid 3.5 stars overall, but given that Unilocal doesn’t do half-​stars, I decided to be generous and round up to 4.
THE GOOD:
— We came on a Thursday evening around 7pm, and were immediately able to get seats for 2 at the bar. It’s a tiny place — probably seats less than 20 overall — so I would strongly recommend coming early and opting for a 1:1 date instead of a group. I don’t think this is a downside, though — it makes the place feel cozy and intimate. An exposed brick wall, neon lights and Harry Potter-​inspired décor throughout give The Lockhart a funky and trendy vibe.
— For drinks, I tried the Shacklebolt and the drink special of the day: Basil Expedition. Prices for drinks fell in the $ 8 – 10 range, which I’m happy to pay for a good cocktail. The Shackleholt was a concoction of ginger beer, spiced rum and ginger ale — it was spicy and delicious. My Basil Expedition was just like a mojito, but with basil instead of mint. I enjoyed this because it was both sweet and peppery.
— For food, we shared the polenta fries with spicy aioli. To put it simply, I could eat these everyday for the rest of my life and not get sick of them. These are a must-​try if you visit.
— Bonus points to the bartender for excellent service and giving us tips on how I could whip up the Basil Expedition at home!
THE BAD:
— This point isn’t necessarily bad, but just a word of caution: if you’re a Harry Potter superfan expecting the HP innuendos and references to jump out everywhere you turn, you’re going to be disappointed. I found the references to be subtle overall (e.g., décor included «Potions & Elixirs» across the wall and an owl perched in the corner, overlooking the bar). On the flip side, the subtlety of the HP references at The Lockhart make this a great little spot for both fans and non-​fans.
I’m really glad we checked out The Lockhart, but to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend travelling extensively to come here or waiting hours in line to get in. I think their website sums it up best — «a rad little joint at the crossroads of Dufferin and Dundas» — so come early, come for a 1:1 date, and come ready to hunt for those Harry Potter hints.

This place was great! We waited in line for just a few minutes. Once we got in, we got drinks right away. I got the Shaklebolt. It was delicious – spicy and gingery. I loved it.
While my friend and i were sitting at the bar, we struck up a conversation with the bartender (who ended up being one of the owners) and he was SO nice. He chatted with us for a while and, despite the line outside, never made us feel rushed to leave.
Overall, this is a great place for both Harry Potter fans and non fans but those of you passionate about the Wizarding world, this is the place for you! Enjoy!

We only got to spend 15 minutes here. I’m going to write two separate reviews for this.
From a bar patron perspective: 3 Stars
The place is smaller than I expected, even for Toronto. They were supposed to open at 5 but didn’t open until 5:15. I didn’t understand what the hold up was or why they couldn’t let us in, even if they were still getting a few things together. There was a line of 10 people outside.
We ordered quickly and let them know of our time crunch. The drinks were excellent! I got The Shacklebolt and my friend got the Dr. Manhattan. The Manhattan is suggested to help warm you on a chilly day — I’m not even a manhattan fan normally. This was good.
It’s not all Harry Pottery — so even the non fans will enjoy.
From a Harry Potter Fan Perspective: 5 stars
OMG this place is so cool. It’s not all Harry Potter it. But with little going on in the Harry Potter world (Fantastic Beasts and a play pending), it was nice to see something new and cool come into the fandom. The All was well sign. The potions sign. A stag on the wall. The name Lockhart. If you look hard enough at the menu you’ll see some other references.
I got the Shacklebolt (what what) it was good. My friend to the Dr. Manhattan. I’m not normally a manhattan fan, but this was good!
They opened a little late, a line of HP nerds had formed. A guy waiting was rocking a Gryffindor tie. We sparked a nice conversation with some girls from LA.
We had to leave quickly. Wish I got to try more of the drinks.

First this place just opened and there is clearly a lot of hype (if they weren’t Harry Potter themed they would probably get 4 stars) Visiting the Niagara area from the states and saw this place on Facebook and I pretty much forced my mom into going. They did unfortunately open the doors at 5:30 on Friday but I was already first in line and decided on waiting. The décor is subtle, which in my option is smart. I don’t want to go to a themed bar that has wands and pictures of Harry everywhere.
Now for food and drinks. I ordered The Shacklebolt and The Death Shot. The drink was so tasty and the shot was very hot, but still weirdly enjoyable. I had the deep fried mac and cheese sliders which although hard to eat like a slider I found a way to inhale them.
The service was a little scattered but hey this place has been open a week. Everyone that worked their was very friendly, especially the owners. If I lived in the area is frequent after the hype slows down.