Post #393546 by KreepyTiki on Sun, Jul 13, 2008 7:49 AM

Okay -- first of all, I gotta say right up front that I usually LOVE this place. I mean, drinks-wise, it's not the Ti, but, hey -- what IS, except the Mai Kai and perhaps the new(ish) Forbidden Island? Still, the current owners (I've met Ana, and she's super) have done a wonderful job with the place these last couple (few?) years, and I've had some great times there.

The decor is now terrific and the regular bartenders are pretty darn wonderful. Also, the music usually isn't too bad, depending, of course, on who's making the selections. But the juke has a decent selection of classic Exotica, so it's really your own fault if ya don't put your own two (or more) cents in!

Anyway, last Sunday night I found myself in the neighborhood after a film-shoot and stopped in once again...

I wish I hadn't.

Normally the vibe, while not strictly Tiki (unless there's a tiki-related event there), does have a pleasant hipster/old neighborhood element, and I usually feel welcome and at ease. But this time I found myself in some very strange company indeed, of the sort usually found in the seedier/rougher sections of downtown L.A. or Hollywood. And I was soon being regaled by crude and embarrassingly phrased descriptions of one patron's description of his -- now HER -- transsexual surgery, interrupted by periodic, gravelly-voiced admissions by this same patron of "Man, I am SO stoned!" (Thanks for sharing your great secret, I thought, but remained silent.)

And the other customers were no more enjoyable to be around, though another very drunk fellow, seated on my other side, and at least making an effort to be convivial, insisted on droning on and on about how he'd managed to grow up without really being aware of Bob Dylan and now felt like an idiot. (And this revelatory sentiment took him a looonnng time to express.) And the remaining customers were simply classic, highly intoxicated, "don't-screw-with-me" bad-asses.

And then the poor bartender... I don't remember her name (she only started there recently), but she deserves a MEDAL -- not for her mixology, unfortunately -- but for her TOLERANCE. I found myself wincing on her behalf, again and again, as she gamely fielded various crudely sexist remarks from the exclusively -- or, in one case, formerly -- male customers, and tried to seem pleasant and unruffled nonetheless. (I remember she had some friends due to arrive soon and clearly couldn't WAIT. Gee, I wonder why?)

Now, normally -- especially since it wasn't crowded -- I would have just taken my drink to one of the nicely dark n' cozy leather booths and finished my drink in relative peace. But since a third of the nasty concoction was the most I could force myself to choke down, I simply gave the bartender a tip and made a speedy exit, making an excuse about not wanting to be too buzzed to drive.

Wow... My experience that night just shows A) what a huge difference a particular crowd can make on a given night to the overall vibe of a lounge/bar, and B) what a difference a bartender experienced with tropicals can make.

To be fair, I'm sure this new girl will learn, given a little time, and she didn't have all the ingredients she needed that night, either. Megan, who's a particular Tonga fave of mine, is more than happy to mix up another for me, free of charge, if the particular drink I ordered didn't come out as expected. Very cool. And it's very possible this newest Tonga-tender might have done the same. But I just didn't want to chance making waves that night or adding more tension to the poor girl's already hefty dose of it!

So I can only say this was a very off night for The Tonga Hut, and not at all typical of my many previous experiences there. In fact, I had a very similar experience with The Purple Orchid one rainy night a while back. And I have come to this particular conclusion: Brand New Bartender + Creepy Crowd = Bad News.

But here's to the GOOD TIMES at The Tonga, in the past AND in the FUTURE! :drink:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-07-13 10:11 ]