Post #460162 by Austin_Tiki on Mon, Jun 8, 2009 1:00 PM

This is not good news. I recommend Vic's to everyone I know in Dallas, but I can't keep sending them there and apologizing for uninformed servers and the disappearance from the menu of drinks and food I've recommended. It's hard enough talking them into trying a bar that specializes in tropical cocktails. Living down to their expectations only justifies their initial skepticism.

Maybe genuine, well-done Poly Pop escapism just isn't a viable business model anymore. It's expensive, but it's also exclusive in the sense that offering generic bar/restaurant fare like draft beer, flat-screen TVs, kids' menus and rock/pop music ruins the atmosphere. My feeling on Vic's is that most people would enjoy it as a very occasional destination for special events, but would be uncomfortable or unhappy with it as a regular haunt. Can the place really rely on local tikiphiles to stay afloat? The Dallas TV's constant menu-shifting and experimentation with drink prices and offerings makes me believe that they've decided that an authentic midcentury tiki experience doesn't have enough draw.

With the positive press of the past few years, I think we all got our hopes up for a tiki revival that may never come to fruition. Popular tastes have become watered down. And the whole idea of restaurant dining has changed: it's no longer about a unique, special experience as much as eating and drinking for convenience. If the bar down the street offers $5 pitchers of your favorite beer and will play the Rangers game on a giant flatscreen, why in the hell would you pay $12 for a fruit juice drink in a dark bar playing instrumental music with bird sounds? Unfornately, I believe that's how the vast majority of the consuming public thinks. On some level, it makes a lot of sense. But it sucks for us.