A few months ago, an article surfaced on Facebook about a Harry-Potter themed coffee shop opening in the little town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Ever since, I’ve been looking for a time for myself and my sisters (on of whom is a massive Harry Potter fan) to visit Muggles Mug.
It didn’t quite happen when I was home for Winter Break, what with work schedules conflicting and winter weather threatening the hour-long drive, but I had a couple of open days after returning from Arizona during spring break, and my sisters were able to clear their schedules, so on a Saturday morning, we drove up to Jim Thorpe.
While parking is limited, the town proper is really quite charming, with the iconic clock tower marking the main street, and little back streets with shops all along them. It has an old-time feel that puts you in the perfect mood for a YA-fantasy-themed experience.
Muggles Mug is a spacious shop located at 79 Broadway in Jim Thorpe. The décor consists of Hogwarts pennants, house representation, old-fashioned, dark-wood furniture, and a projector playing the movies on loop. It’s not commercial and doesn’t feel polished, but its comfortable and cozy. There are plenty of places to sit, and on a coffee table rests four journals-one for each Hogwarts house- in which guests can write messages.
Photo from wnep.com
The shop has a typical coffee and espresso menu along with specialty Harry Potter themed lattes, including the butterbeer, which the three of us ordered.
There are also an assortment of decorated sugar cookies with the deathly hallows symbol, the characters in cartoon form, etc, and several of the iconic candies from the book, like chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. In addition, they have traditional coffee house pastries, and are particularly well-known for their scones. After trying this one, I understand why.
We enjoyed our pastries and coffee, while taking in the shop and watching the movie, and then left to roam the town a bit more. Some highlights were an old-fashioned candy store called Rainbow’s End. A used bookstore called Seller’s Books was another stop we were looking forward to, but it was closed that day, despite online hours saying otherwise, so call ahead if book stores are your thing. There’s plenty of other things to do in Jim Thorpe, and you can read about them and the town’s interesting history here.
I think this would be the perfect trip for a weekend day in the fall, when the weather is nice enough to let you explore the town on foot and the scenery is changing with the colors of the leaves. And of course, the approach of Halloween would lend a particularly exciting element to sipping a warm butterbeer latte in a cozy, witchy shop.
Overall, I definitely recommend checking out Muggles Mug. It’s not Universal Studios, but for a little town in PA, it’s a perfect little escape to the world of Harry Potter.
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