Magical mystery Harry Potter themed dinner boosts attendance to dining hall at Texas State University

Diners at Texas State University had a magical night recently when they were invited to solve a Harry Potter-themed mystery at Commons Dining Hall during dinner. During the event, participants were tasked with figuring out who stole all the wands from Ollivanders, the wand shop in Diagon Alley, a wizarding shopping location in the Harry Potter series. Throughout the event, a game master led diners from station to station, where they could gather clues to earn “wands” and try Harry Potter themed menu items.

The event was effective in bringing diners in to the dining hall, which saw a 49% increase in attendance compared to a typical Wednesday.

At the main line, the team served magical mushroom and chicken tarts, garlic mashed potatoes, brown sugar glazed carrots and buttered corn on the cob. The vegetarian station served up Hagrid’s pie, which was a Beyond Beef and kidney bean pie with vegetables and a biscuit topping. Or diners could opt for Snape Tofu, which was grilled chimichurri tofu. At the grill diners could find Mrs. Weasley’s Magical Meatball Sandwich, Sorcerer’s Stone Turkey Melt and French fries with Ravenclaw aioli. At the Latin station, diners could try Goblet of Fire chicken enchilada casseroles with Hot Cheetos, Hufflepuff yellow rice and refried beans. At Texas State Dining’s Innovate station, the team set up Florean Fortescue’s ice cream bar. The soup options were Queen Victoria's soup or Kreacher’s French onion soup. For dessert, the team served sorting house cupcakes and butter beer Rice Krispies. And on offer to drink was Polyjuice Potion and Felix Felicis—Liquid Luck.

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Each menu item was named after an iconic character or other reference in the Harry Potter series.

“The event was fantastic. The ambiance was great, and the food was even better,” said Abi Berry, a first-year student who attended the event, in a statement. “It was such a fun experience with all my friends. My favorite parts would have to be snagging a wand and trying my new favorite ice cream flavor, cinnamon.”

Texas State Dining, which is managed by Chartwells Higher Education, was encouraged by its foodservice provider to host a mystery dinner, which is what sparked the idea for the Harry Potter night.

“We did a smaller version last semester with no mystery attached,” said Whitney Villarreal, director of marketing and guest experience, in a statement. “We called it the Battle of the Houses and made 40 wands using hot glue and chopsticks. They were gone in 15 minutes.”

And Villarreal and her team went all out for this event, even creating special invitations themed like Harry Potter Hogwarts acceptance letters.

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The team plans to continue with the Harry Potter nights each fall semester. In addition, the dining team is considering working with the Dungeons and Dragons club on campus to develop a special gaming night.

“We’re always looking for things that break up what’s expected in the dining hall to create memorable experiences for our guests,” Villarreal said. “It makes it so much more fun and rewarding.”