Post #336199 by Matterhorn1959 on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 7:47 AM

Well Joyce and I hit the Shag bar last night. It was a slow night (only 9 patrons including myself and Joyce.) The bar looks pretty nice but has no soul and no passion. It looks like any number of other modern bars with exposed ceilings and an industrial look. The furniture is retro mid century modern pieces and there are exactly four tikis in the place- two small carved palm pieces at the entrance, a Moai chimnea serving as a planter on the smoking area and one mask on the wall. The best touch was the collection of fezzes and Tiki Farm mugs over the bar, although tough to see due to no spotlight or indirect lighting on the case. One of the walls is just painted with paint splatters which I guess was their attempt at being Modern. The most striking piece is in front of the bar is a solitary stripper pole. I did like the restroom and the doors with the male and female symbols.

I had two drinks the first was a Vicious Virgin which was pretty good but way too sweet with sprite and cherry flavored rum and I could hardly taste the rum. The second was I believe called the Bahia Bama and was a coconut based rum drink. Although slightly better, it did not have the shaved coconut as promised on the drink menu. Some other drinks included a take on the Mai Tai called the Shag Tai, a whole page of Martinis, a Hawaiian Planters punch, and a Sailors Grog. It appeared that the only thing the bartender does is pour the mix and add the rum. The full price cost of each drink served in a hurricane glass is $14 with larger size for 4 people priced at $35. I was glad it was half price night for the drinks.

The music was a mix featuring videos and included Reel Big Fish, U2 Sunday Bloody Sunday from Red Rocks, Bachman Turner Overdrive, the Fray, The Cure and more which were played off a video juke box. Definitely no exotica or even surf music on a supposedly tiki night. All in all it was kind of a disappointment and I do not think it will last long before it is changed into something else. If they wanted to do a true Shag bar, they should brighten the color palette on the walls and finish the ceiling and walls. And they definitely need to add some plants or trees or something more organic and living to take away the whole industrial feel to the shell of the building.