Houston’s Christmas Bar Returns With Heights Cheer — Miracle at Johnny’s is More Festive Than Ever

It’s impossible to miss the giant inflatable Santa on the roof of Johnny’s Gold Brick at 2518 Yale Street. His jovial face and waving hand welcome Houstonians to the magical boozy wonderland that is Miracle At Johnny’s.

Welcome to Houston’s reborn Christmas bar.

Inside is best described as a Christmas explosion going off in what is a neighborhood cocktail bar the rest of the year. Colorful gifts float high above the bar in a sea of green sparkly fringe, a tall twerking Santa greets you at the door, a large light-up Santa head covers one wall, and mini Santas on ladders climb up and down the bartop. Christmas music will play on repeat all season long and the outside of this Christmas bar is just as festive.

The front patio of The Heights haunt is watched over by a giant inflatable Santa making sure everyone is nice and doesn’t get too naughty. His green sleigh sits at the foot of the entrance and the whole outside wall of Johnny’s is decked out in wreaths. There is plenty of patio seating and space heaters to keep everyone warm while the snow machine (the only way you can get the white stuff in Houston) makes it feel cool.

This is Johnny Gold Brick’s second year hosting the Miracle event and while it’s just as festive as the year before, it’s also designed to be safe and socially distanced in this coronavirus year. Johnny’s owner Benjamin Mason talks about all the precautions put in place this year to ensure that the event could still go on and you could say it’s nothing short of a miracle what his team was able to accomplish to help bring the holiday spirit home.

Some of the modifications made this year include curtains to section off booths, plastic dividers, a new floor plan and even a new candy cane wall that sections off tables. All of these changes are made so that bar goers “can feel comfortable coming in and having a good time,” Mason says.

Still, the biggest change involves more planning.

“We went to a reservation system which is totally new for us, but last year it was just so busy all the time,” Mason tells PaperCity. “And we didn’t see any way other than reservations to sort of make sure that people could get in and have a nice time and feel safe.” 

The safety measures put in place seem to be working. People are still coming out to celebrate.

“The first day we opened right at 4 o’clock there was an entire table full of people wearing Santa suits, like immediately,” Mason says.

While I was speaking to the cocktail bar owner in the last half hour before opening, not one, but two, different people showed up early. They were that eager to get their holiday cheer on.

Johnny Gold Brick‘s dedication to bringing holiday cheer to Houston was all the more important this year. During this often beyond rough 2020, people want to have something to celebrate and Mason and his team at Johnny’s decided to bring the cheer as soon as possible.

“This year we were like you know we’re just gonna decorate and open as soon as we can because people want it and it’s a reason to not think about everything that’s going on,” Mason says.

The cocktails are just as festive as the bar. The menu is full of drinks, including the Christmapolitan (a spiced cranberry take on a cosmopolitan) and the Yippie Ki Yay Mother F*****r  because yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie, comes with four different types of rum. It is also served in a deceptively adorable Santa mug.

Not only do the Miracle At Johnny’s drinks come in festive glassware, but they’re guaranteed to taste as good as they look. This is because the recipes are tested until they’re perfect.

“They’re all really good, we go through a bunch of rounds of testing and tweaking the menu,” Mason assures. “The recipes are part of the Miracle nationwide holiday pop-up, but then we kinda tweak them until we’re totally happy with them.”

After all, Miracle At Johnny’s is all about holiday cheer. Now, more than ever.

The Christmas bar at Johnny’s opens at 4 pm every day with the last reservations at 1 am. To make a reservation, click here.