Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is in the rearview mirror disappearing now. But this Alexandria, Virginia, business is hoping to solve your champagne problems with a Swift-themed pop-up bar.
Complete with friendship bracelets, a wall of ex-boyfriends and, of course, a themed food and drinks menu, the Eras pop-up bar is located at 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood.
The installment opened last weekend and is temporary, with no exact end date in mind. But organizers tell WTOP it will last several months at the longest.
The bar rotates concepts with previous themes centered around the holidays, Pride Month and Halloween. Danielle Anderson, the director of operations at the HomeGrown Restaurant Group, said this time, they wanted to tell the story of the Eras Tour.
“You’re not just going there to hear music,” Anderson said. “You’re going there to make friends, to exchange friendship bracelets, create memories, to dress up and get excited about more than just music, but about Taylor’s life.”
Anderson immersed herself in the “Swiftie” fandom to help plan the pop-up. She said the restaurant group is hoping to capture that same feeling for people who attended the tour and those who didn’t have a chance.
The walls surrounding the bar are sectioned off into each of Swift’s 11 different eras. Each is thoughtfully decked out with its own wallpaper, posters and artifacts reminiscent of the album: Including pastel butterflies, neon lights that spell out lyrics and glittery clothing items.
“We’ve hidden some of these Easter eggs throughout the restaurant for real, true Swifties to find,” Anderson said.
The bar is open Tuesday to Sunday. Kids are allowed in with an adult before 8 p.m. — after that, customers have to be 21 or older.
What’s on the menu?
Themed mocktails and cocktails are named after Swift’s hits. If you haven’t heard one, the drink booklet includes Spotify links to each of the songs.
Some are served in a souvenir disco ball cups — referencing Swift’s song titled “mirrorball.”
Others come with a friendship bracelets as a nod to the, surely, hundreds of thousands of bracelets exchanged by the 10 million fans who attended her shows. That movement was inspired by a lyric Swift wrote that calls on listeners to “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.”
“The best part … is that these friendship bracelets were made by a 10-year-old Swiftie from Northern Michigan, who hand created each one of these friendship bracelets for us,” Anderson said, referring to Quinn, who takes orders for custom bracelets.
Anderson said the food menu features some of Swift’s favorites: Chicken tenders, cheeseburger sliders and cookies.
“It’s a bit overwhelming how Taylor Swift theme it actually is,” one customer named Shiza, of D.C., told WTOP. “I thought it would be just a few pictures and a few drinks, but this is truly just all-encompassing food, drinks, even little decorations in your drinks.”
Shiza proclaimed she’s a “huge fan” of Swift, having gone to the Eras Tour twice — including the show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Swift shouted at a security guard to defend a fan.
She saved a high-top seat at the bar for her friend Mallory, who happened to attend the same show, though the two didn’t know each other at the time.
“They did a really nice job with the decorations and also the playlist is really nice,” she said of the endless loop of Swift songs playing. “It’s obvious that they put a lot of effort into it.”
Sipping on a drink called “Redneck Heartbreak,” Mallory said the friends might get a punch card to try out the bar’s “Drink around the Eras” promotion. Customers who order a drink from each era get a punch — ordering one from each of the 11 eras will earn you a free drink.
“We wanted to create more of an experience and not just a place for you to come drink,” Anderson said, adding that the bar will host sessions to make friendship bracelets on Sundays, along with trivia nights and bingo.
“We have Taylor Swift coloring pages,” Anderson said. “We have an ex-boyfriend wall for you to write your ex-boyfriend in a blank space.”
Tucked in at the back of restaurant, is that wall of exes, marked by Swift’s lyrics on the wall, “I’ve got a Blank Space, baby and I’ll write your name.”
After the wall was pointed out to Shiza and Mallory, the friends promptly left their seats at the bar to sign their exes names in the thick, red marker, giggling along the way.
Parallel from the women’s artwork is a wall of framed photos of Swift’s exes. Some escape unscathed while others have been modified with doodles or song lyrics believed to be written about them; John Mayer is adorned with devil horns.
“Taylor’s pretty open about the fact that she talks about a lot of her ex lovers in her music,” Anderson said. “Some of them, Swifties love still. Some of them, Swifties aren’t huge fans of.”
‘Come for the experience’
Veterinarian school student Julia Bain, of Northern Virginia, came to the bar with her mom, hoping to reminisce on their memories from attending the Eras Tour in Miami.
“She’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” Bain told WTOP, while dressed in a gray cardigan and a gold necklace with the letters ‘TP’ as a nod to Swift’s most recent album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”
“Being able to go to places like this and have similar, like-minded people who also enjoy her music, has just been so fun to experience that same thing that I felt at the concert,” Bain said.
The pop-up isn’t just providing a space for Swift fans, it acts as a neighborhood bar for the community. Some regulars told WTOP they come back to the bar time and time again regardless of its current theme.
And customers told WTOP, there’s no bad blood with patrons who aren’t Swifties.
“If you’re not a huge fan, I would still say come for the experience,” Shiza said. “Maybe you’ll learn a little, maybe you’ll find out if you like a song.”
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