Wizard Week: A review on Corvino’s “Harry Potter” themed dining experience

It’s safe to say that I’ve yet to pass through my middle school infatuation with the “Harry Potter” books. Between my TikTok For You page that’s flooded with Hogwarts content and my Gryffindor bracelet and robes, there’s no point in hiding it. When my mom found out Corvino Supper Club and Tasting Room was transforming their restaurant into the Great Hall for a week, I knew I had to go. 

The one-week exclusive event made tickets difficult to acquire, but we were able to come by eight tickets on Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m — pretty early for my typical 9 p.m. post-dance dinners, but you work with what you can get. 

After days of watching the “Harry Potter” movies in preparation, I packed up my motion-activated wand and Gryffindor robes, grabbed two friends and we made our way to the Crossroads for the night. 

Let down. That would be my first thought after eagerly bouncing into the restaurant. But that was quickly followed by stupidity, when I realized I’d set my expectations too high. The Great Hall set that Warner Bros. created for the “Harry Potter” movies was built with thousands of dollars and CGI effects — I should’ve known this local KC restaurant would not be able to compare.

After my initial disappointment wore off, I was able to take in what the restaurant had going for it. My friends and I had no shame in walking through the restaurant decked out in our Hogwarts robes holding up our wands, so it was to our pleasure that every staff member was dressed up as a different character from the series. We couldn’t help but stifle laughs behind our masks at how realistic some of them looked between their costumes and their interpretations of the characters.

The food was from the original Corvino menu, with a Harry Potter character or object added to the name. The server encouraged us to order multiples of every dish to try them out, fitting for their small portions, but this doesn’t work well with their outrageous prices. If it hadn’t been a treat from my mom, there’s no way I would have paid the $17 for my side of fried rice or the $10 for a cupcake that would “reveal my house colors” of red and gold.

It’s fair to say that you have to really love Harry Potter to enjoy yourself. I was able to have a good time with my friends trying to quote the movies as they played silently on the longest wall of the restaurant, listening to the live music, taking pictures at the photo ops and making fun of the live action roleplay Harry, Ron and Hermione performed. But in our defense,  the movie lines were completely out of context and hilariously overexaggerated. 

If you can look past the absurd food prices and the almost pitch-black lighting — I would argue it set the mood despite my mom having to pull out her flashlight to read the menu — Corvino is a restaurant to keep your eye on for their next upcoming specialty-themed event.

Check out Mj Wolf’s gallery below: