Food

Drink Company Will Keep Its Iron Throne, But The Return of Game of Thrones Pop-Up Is Uncertain

The people have spoken.

The Game of Thrones pop-up bar is over, but what will happen to the throne? Photo by Farrah Skeiky.

Sure, Game of Thrones fans can’t wait to find out who will ultimately sit on the Iron Throne. (George R. R. Martin, you’re killing us.) But in DC, there’s a more pressing question: what will happen to the throne that 47,000 people sat on at the Game of Thrones pop-up bar?

Drink Company, the group behind the pop-up, asked Washingtonian readers what they should do with the $10,000 sworded seat, which they commissioned from an Atlanta artist. We got nearly 3,000 votes, including a bunch of write-in suggestions. (Among our favorites: “Give it to Ivy and Coney for their door guy;” “Put it on wheels and drive it around DC;” “Open up for local dogs to take pictures on the Iron Throne.”)

Thankfully, not many people wanted to burn it or leave it on the sidewalk (also options). A sizable group of people (13 percent) thought the bar should give the throne to “DC’s rightful monarchs:” the Obamas. Even more (30 percent) thought the throne should be auctioned off, and the money donated to charity.

But the overwhelming consensus (43 percent of the vote)? Keep it, and bring back the Game of Thrones pop-up for the final season.

So, Drink Company will keep it. But! The group isn’t committing to bringing the pop-up back just yet.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do with it exactly,” says Drink Company president Derek Brown. “But that was what people wanted… They’re not done with it.”

Just because it’s sitting in storage next to a bunch of Christmas decorations doesn’t mean it won’t make an appearance here or there.

“If we have the opportunity to do fun stuff with it, we will,” Brown says. Exactly what that is? TBD. At least we have the Halloween bar to distract us.

Meanwhile, as a nod to those who thought the throne should be auctioned off, Drink Company will also donate $1,400 to a charity organization in Houston, helmed by prominent bartender Alba Huerta, which is working to mobilize people in the hospitality industry to respond to disasters like Hurricane Harvey.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.