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Powered by Instagram, nostalgia, and Christmas spirit, scores of holiday-themed pop-up bars have opened across the country in recent years to seemingly become a fixture in holiday traditions.
In New York City, the most famed holiday-themed bar and restaurant is Rolf’s German Restaurant, which has long attracted lines outside its Gramercy location during the holiday season to experience its roughly 15,000 ornaments mounted on the ceilings and walls, as well as wreaths, garlands, 800 dolls, and over 200,000 lights strung throughout the restaurant.
The recent holiday pop-up craze, however, is largely attributed to the opening of Miracle on Ninth Street in the East Village in 2014. Set against a backdrop of 1950s nostalgia, the bar is known for its cocktail lineup of seasonally spiced drinks with names such as Christmapolitan, Snowball Old-Fashioned, and Jingle Ball Nog served in signature glassware — from Santa-hat-wearing T-Rex mugs to cups shaped like Santa’s pants — by bartenders wearing everything from ugly holiday sweaters to Will Ferrell-style “Elf” costumes.
Bathed in warm colorful lights and plenty of glitter, the space is fitted not only with plenty of Christmas nods — shelves strung with vintage cards, chairs enveloped in Santa-hat covers, and a ceiling rigged with gift-wrapped boxes — but also a menorah-crowned, blue-and-white Hanukkah Hideaway nook.
In a recent review of Miracle on Ninth Street, Forbes stated, “To some, it might look like a department store window display exploded all over a dive bar. But for others, it’s like stepping into the set of a Hallmark holiday movie setting, where everyone can be the main character.”
The location is open for about two months over the holiday season and then reverts back to The Cabinet, a bar specializing in agave spirits.
Miracle on Ninth Street founder Greg Boehm also created a tiki-themed spin-off, Sippin' Santa, and has franchised both concepts to reach over 200 globally this year. For a franchise fee, partners receive holiday-themed barware manufactured by Cocktail Kingdom (also owned by Boehm), cocktail recipes, printed menus, playlists, and social-media-ready professional drink photos to promote the bar.
Joann Spiegel, VP of both Miracle and Sippin’ Santa, recently told Food & Wine, “To see the Miracle concept be embraced across the country, and now globally, by both large cities and small towns is truly remarkable, and a testament to how the holidays really bring people together.”
Across the U.S., many bars and restaurants are transforming into seasonal holiday pop-ups, independently crafting Yuletide-themed drink and food menus without franchisee support. They’re also enhancing their festive décor to create Instagrammable moments, with some even offering guests the chance to cozy up by a fireplace.
An article on Cleveland.com profiling 33 holiday pop-up bars this year in the Greater Cleveland region stated, “In the age of flashy social media marketing campaigns, the trend of Christmas bars has exploded, with watering holes competing with each other to create the most Instagram-friendly decor.”
Also feeding their popularity is the fact that pop-ups are only open for a limited time, which creates FOMO (fear of missing out) urgency. The bars additionally capitalize on the continuing craft cocktail trend that has seen some classic drinks return from obscurity.
The pop-ups further offer an elevated social experience, supporting everything from office parties and pub crawls to family gatherings with out-of-towners. Michael Giacomini, VP of Red Cow, a holiday-themed bar in Minneapolis, told Fox 9 in Minneapolis, “Instead of just your average, let's go out to dinner with the family and do that. How can we make it fun? How can we make it something of a memory for people.”
Outside the holiday season, bar pop-ups dedicated to Halloween have also been a trend across several cities in recent years as well as some for lovers around Valentine’s Day.