Post #579466 by hewey on Tue, Mar 8, 2011 6:53 PM

I think the Aussie culture would be more receptive to a more generic surf/tropical bar (with a bunch of tikis of course), as opposed to the traditional American style tiki bars. Especially so up the Gold Coast way I reckon, as opposed to Melbourne which has a much more sophisticated restaurant culture which I would think would be much more receptive to a tiki cocktail bar. The problem with a surf/tropical theme is attracting the schoolies type demographic who are there to get trashed with the cocktails, which becomes its own issue...

I worked as a dish pig in a restaurant for 5 years or so while I was at school/uni, no amount of money could persuade me it was a good idea to open my own bar or restaurant, those guys work their ass off at the best of times, let alone starting something up from scratch. Maybe a small cafe or something, but thats about it.

If you're fair dinkum about it get some work in a bar and get experience from that side of things, particularly if you can get into some manager type role so you get a better look at all the things you need to consider. Lots of work and time to work towards the end goal, but if you want it that much its the best way to learn.