365 Places to Eat

The Magic Castle? For dinner?

Truth be told, the magic at the Magic Castle is on the stage, not so much in the kitchen.

However, when you visit the Magic Castle, you must make a reservation for dinner and spend at least $15 (before drinks). You shouldn’t have any trouble hitting the minimum charge, but you may be a little underwhelmed with what you get. I put it on par with banquet food at a hotel — edible, but not too remarkable.

But, don’t let that deter you from going to the Magic Castle. As campy and silly as it may seem, a night at the castle is a lot of fun.

After you have your dinner and are released to wander the castle, make sure that you get to the Close Up Room. It’s the smallest performance space and has the most amazing performances. My mind still spins from the tricks I saw there. No matter how hard you try to avoid the misdirection, you can’t keep up, so go with the magic and have fun.

One catch is that to get into the Magic Castle, you must be a member, accompany a member, or have a guest pass from a member. It seems like it used to be hard to find someone to give you guest passes, but now you can even find guest passes online from magicians like Mike Wong.

There are a few more rules (found here) about the strict dress code, $20 cover charge (in addition to dinner) and the 21+ age requirement for times other then Sunday brunch.

The Magic Castle
7001 Franklin Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-851-3313