Rock A Tiki Chicago Review & Pics + Trader Vic's Chicago Pics - General Tiki

LS Lake Surfer Tiki Socialite Milwaukee, WI Joined: Oct 21, 2002 Posts: 3417	LS Lake Surfer Posted posted on Sun, Dec 8, 2002 6:24 PM Hey all... went to the Rock A Tiki last night and have mixed feelings... first of all it was a bear to find parking. The other bars around there have valet for $7. There are a lot of homes around the area and at night all the streets are full of cars. We got lucky and found a spot a block away, after driving around for 10 minutes. Easy to find the bar though... here is a picture of the front... As you walk in you can see the shrunken head lamps above you... We were greeted and carded and by 10 pm there was no place to sit so we headed back to the bar with the menu we were given. All drinks except for beer are $10. We decided to order a bowl which I think was $18. The bartender looked at us odd when we ordered, then informed us that they didn't have bowls in yet to make those drinks. Oh, well. So I forked over the $20. I had a Suffering Bastard... yes their drinks were very strong... maybe a bit too much... not always a bad thing depending on your taste. Atmosphere was cool... nice lighting, good thatch...a bunch of Mai Tikis everywhere... barely saw one barstool tiki until the guys at the bar had all of them covered with their jackets... nice booths too. At the front was a giant Moai that hid the front door... the sculpting was a little rough but neat concept... Interesting bathrooms... the guys said He-Ki on the door and the girls She-Ki and the door handle of each was a tiki of a male or female... the inside was painted with tikis and had bamboo on the walls... Drawbacks were... A bit too smokey for me... not real good ventilation... too many party guys drinking beer at the bar and hogging bartender's attention... tough to get a drink as a couple... the music... oh, boy... heard Beachboys, Elvis Blue Hawaii... then Nirvana... by the time two Guns and Roses came blaring on I had had it with the music... and it was way too loud... it was a shame... it really ruined the mood. I was happy I checked it out and it had some neat features, but at midnight we dashed out to the westside to visit Hala Kahiki and had a tiki bowl. I relaxed with the atmosphere and the soothing sounds of hawaiian music and we closed the bar... I even got to meet the elderly woman who owned the bar at the end of the night... It's your call... its neat to see a new tiki bar open and i hope it does well, but they need to change a few things... Oh, stoped by Trader Vic's Downtown for a few pics and picked up a flyer too... Here's more pics of Rock A Tiki... Trader Vic's... Sorry this is blurry... Front Entrance Outside... Downstairs... One of the party rooms... Aloha All! [ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2002-12-08 18:30 ] [ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2002-12-09 12:28 ]

Hey all... went to the Rock A Tiki last night and have mixed feelings... first of all it was a bear to find parking. The other bars around there have valet for $7. There are a lot of homes around the area and at night all the streets are full of cars. We got lucky and found a spot a block away, after driving around for 10 minutes. Easy to find the bar though... here is a picture of the front...

As you walk in you can see the shrunken head lamps above you...

We were greeted and carded and by 10 pm there was no place to sit so we headed back to the bar with the menu we were given. All drinks except for beer are $10. We decided to order a bowl which I think was $18. The bartender looked at us odd when we ordered, then informed us that they didn't have bowls in yet to make those drinks. Oh, well. So I forked over the $20. I had a Suffering Bastard... yes their drinks were very strong... maybe a bit too much... not always a bad thing depending on your taste.

Atmosphere was cool... nice lighting, good thatch...a bunch of Mai Tikis everywhere... barely saw one barstool tiki until the guys at the bar had all of them covered with their jackets... nice booths too. At the front was a giant Moai that hid the front door... the sculpting was a little rough but neat concept...

Interesting bathrooms... the guys said He-Ki on the door and the girls She-Ki and the door handle of each was a tiki of a male or female... the inside was painted with tikis and had bamboo on the walls...

Drawbacks were... A bit too smokey for me... not real good ventilation... too many party guys drinking beer at the bar and hogging bartender's attention... tough to get a drink as a couple... the music... oh, boy...
heard Beachboys, Elvis Blue Hawaii... then Nirvana... by the time two Guns and Roses came blaring on I had had it with the music... and it was way too loud... it was a shame... it really ruined the mood. I was happy I checked it out and it had some neat features, but at midnight we dashed out to the westside to visit Hala Kahiki and had a tiki bowl. I relaxed with the atmosphere and the soothing sounds of hawaiian music and we closed the bar... I even got to meet the elderly woman who owned the bar at the end of the night...

It's your call... its neat to see a new tiki bar open and i hope it does well, but they need to change a few things...

Oh, stoped by Trader Vic's Downtown for a few pics and picked up a flyer too...

Here's more pics of Rock A Tiki...

Trader Vic's...
Sorry this is blurry... Front Entrance Outside...

Downstairs...

One of the party rooms...

Aloha All!

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2002-12-08 18:30 ]

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2002-12-09 12:28 ]

Post #15769 by Lake Surfer on Sun, Dec 8, 2002 6:24 PM