Post #27394 by Formikahini on Thu, Mar 20, 2003 1:56 AM

Just got back from Austin, where a friend had turned me onto a great little tiki coffee shop called Mad Bird. BEAUtiful spot! It's a small building, formerly a storage shed, I think, on the property of the gardening center, The Great Outdoors, in which it stands.

Decorations include a couple of Shag prints, a Tiki Farm bar (on which the cannisters of coffee are kept), Tiki Farm shelves for displaying tiki mugs, and even a Crazy Al tiki! Who knew! They even sell handmade tiki mugs (I got one). The whole spot was really nicely done - lotsa bamboo. The bird of the name, BTW, is not referencing Parrotheadedness of any kind; the owners inherited a parrot with a very ornery nature. No liquor, just good coffee and smoothies and to-DIE-for quiche.

I asked about the creators, and the serving gal (barrista? shudder) told me that the owners had taken a trip to Hawaii and had gotten inspired. Indeed. There's a Caliente Tropics style tiki among the for-sale plants! I've emailed them, hoping to tell them of the vast network of tiki enthusiasts out there should they want us, but that was just yesterday.

Location:
Mad Bird (inside The Great Outdoors)
2730 S. Congress
Austin TX 78704
(512)448-2992
http://www.gardenadventures.com

It's quite a bit south on Congress from the Continental Club and the whole cool shopping area, on the west side of the street.

And other great Texas Tiki News: Oceans 11 is back open!! Yay!! It was open this whole South By Southwest weekend. I'm thinking a Texas Tiki Crawl is needing to happen soon. Would you come south from Dallas, Tiki Mikey? And there's a San Antonio attendee to Hukilau, too. Lots more hiding in the woodwork, I'd bet.

Your faithful correspondant,
Formikahini

[ Edited by: formikahini on 2003-03-22 02:29 ]