Tiki takeover: Exploring a surging tropical cocktail craze at three new-ish Las Vegas bars

Wed, Oct 9, 2024 (2 a.m.)

Chris Gutierrez, spouse astatine the Arts District’s charming Stray Pirate, is facing a conundrum: How does 1 decorate a buccaneer-and-dog-themed tiki barroom for Halloween erstwhile it’s ever successful costume?

“I don’t adjacent cognize if I tin enactment immoderate much skulls successful here,” says Gutierrez. “Am I gonna spell to Party City and bargain a foam skull erstwhile I person a genuine Bamboo Ben molded skull-encrusted cave?”

Regardless, a salute is successful order. Stray Pirate, celebrating its one-year day this October, is the archetypal of respective caller tropically inspired bars that person washed ashore successful the past year, joining established spots similar Frankie’s Tiki Room and the Golden Tiki.

Tiki civilization has seen its ups and downs successful the past 90 years, but island-style drinks and decor person evolved arsenic cocktail civilization gets much analyzable and our thirst for a abrogation successful a solid intensifies.

Todo Bien, billed arsenic a “tiki tequilería,” arrived astatine UnCommons successful March. Meanwhile, Glitter Gulch Tiki, a kitschy caller lounge from Nacho Daddy, has staked its assertion connected Fourth Street adjacent the Fremont Street Experience. All 3 barroom operators bash tiki a spot differently, and for that reason, they besides person varied opinions connected wherefore it’s truthful fashionable and amusive to execute.

For Paul Hymas, co-owner astatine Glitter Gulch Tiki (113 N. 4th St., glittergulchtiki.com), the allure each comes down to the experience.

“If you spell to a speakeasy, it’s much astir the intimacy and the societal facet of it,” Hymas says. “I deliberation tiki bars are precise similar, wherever they’re usually not super-big, they’re drink-focused and they usually person booths oregon seating arrangements meant for radical to beryllium and talk.”

Hymas worked with 2 consultants, including the antecedently mentioned world-famous tiki decorator Bamboo Ben, who created the bar’s neon-splashed, retro-Vegas interior.

“It’s an oxymoron to person a tiki barroom successful the desert, truthful that’s however we came up with the Glitter Gulch idea, due to the fact that Glitter Gulch utilized to beryllium referenced for the full area,” Hymas explains. “What’s a tiki barroom that Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack would bent retired at? What would it look like? When you really spell into the place, there’s going to beryllium immoderate precise accepted cardinal elements. But we’re inactive Vegas. Even though it’s a tiki bar, we inactive person immoderate velvet, we person a just magnitude of gold.”

For Matty Salazar, managing spouse astatine Todo Bien (8533 Rozita Lee Ave. #110, todobientiki.com), the transportive quality of a tiki barroom is what “ties into maine inactive being a kid astatine heart.

“I honestly consciousness similar it’s the escape,” says Salazar. “It’s the crushed wherefore we spell to Disneyland. It’s the crushed wherefore Rainforest Cafe was truthful big. Nothing was truly super-great astir that, but it’s the transportation, the wow origin erstwhile you spell in.”

At Todo Bien, imbibers get immersed into the thicket of a Mexican jungle, with a conservatory-like layout of lush plants. Salazar, whose great-grandparents were from Mexico City and bluish Chihuahua, views the decor and agave-based paper arsenic an homage to his upbringing and each the flavorful recipes that were passed on.

“A batch of the wintertime drinks are truly going to showcase a batch of these truly aged recipes,” Salazar says. “My biggest things were showing our civilization successful a caller light, and evidently tying it successful with thing that I love, with the tone that I love, too. Before immoderate of this came and I was conscionable a tiki fan, I was not a large rum oregon gin person, truthful I was ever asking to substitute.”

That is 1 large bonus of the modern tiki Renaissance: portion diversity. As overmuch arsenic we emotion a bully rum punch, island-style cocktails person gotten a small much balanced and interesting. Take for instance, Stray Pirate’s Get It Kraken, which “uses coconut, kaffir lime leafage and lime juice. That’s 3 ingredients towards tom kha soup, if you’re into Thai food,” Gutierrez says.

Stray Pirate (1321 S. Commerce St., straypirate.com) besides offers a Spare the Sugarcane portion conception with decidedly little sweeteners. But that doesn’t mean the ingredients get immoderate little dynamic. In immoderate cases, a Stray Pirate cocktail tin telephone for up to 9 ingredients.

“I’m a steadfast believer that drinking should beryllium fun. I decidedly judge successful having things that automatically look appetizing, without forcing the guests to Google an ingredient,” says Gutierrez. “This full tropical scene, it’s each these amusive flavors similar guava, strawberry, pineapple and pomegranate. Who doesn’t similar that small blameworthy pleasance of drinking thing that’s fun?”

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