B.G.Reynolds to open Hale Pele in Portland, OR - General Tiki

H heylownine Grand Member (1 year) Agoura Hills, CA Joined: Oct 05, 2008 Posts: 978	H heylownine Posted posted on Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:22 PM While waiting for Hale Pele to be immortalized in Locating Tiki, I'll add my thoughts/photos/praise here. In short, Blair and his staff at Hale Pele have knocked it out of the park. Last year, Val and I made our first trip to Portland and visited Thatch. We liked it so much the first time we made an extra trip back before we returned home. When I saw earlier this year that Thatch was for sale, I at once felt sad (that it may disappear) and happy (that we did get to visit it). The news that Blair had bought the place and was turning it into Hale Pele was most welcome indeed. We'd planned on returning to Portland in 2012 and as luck would have it, we were visiting shortly after the grand opening. With Hale Pele, it feels like the goodness of Thatch was retained and the quality knob was turned up even higher. Notch up on decor, notch up on cocktails, notch up on the rum selection, and the food...wow. We may have been most surprised by the food and just how high quality it is. I think we tried 2/3 of the cocktail and 2/3 of the food menus. As in 2011 we visited twice, spending long evenings at the bar and soaking in the atmosphere. We were treated so well by everyone working there...just a great group of people. I loved being asked something as simple as what my local tiki bar is (shout out to Tonga Hut) and chatting about other great places to visit in Portland and cocktail recipes. I fear my praise of Hale Pele is not effusive enough. But make no mistake, Hale Pele feels special. You can see it in some of the details in the photos below. We just missed the launch of the spirits list, but I guess that's just another reason to venture north. If you're even thinking of a trip to the northwest, schedule in a stop at Hale Pele. Oh and take a taxi, because you're probably going to want to be there a while. Mahalo once again to Blair and your staff for making us thirsty tiki travelers feel right at home. Higher resolution versions of the photos are up on Flickr kevin

While waiting for Hale Pele to be immortalized in Locating Tiki, I'll add my thoughts/photos/praise here. In short, Blair and his staff at Hale Pele have knocked it out of the park.

Last year, Val and I made our first trip to Portland and visited Thatch. We liked it so much the first time we made an extra trip back before we returned home. When I saw earlier this year that Thatch was for sale, I at once felt sad (that it may disappear) and happy (that we did get to visit it). The news that Blair had bought the place and was turning it into Hale Pele was most welcome indeed. We'd planned on returning to Portland in 2012 and as luck would have it, we were visiting shortly after the grand opening.

With Hale Pele, it feels like the goodness of Thatch was retained and the quality knob was turned up even higher. Notch up on decor, notch up on cocktails, notch up on the rum selection, and the food...wow. We may have been most surprised by the food and just how high quality it is. I think we tried 2/3 of the cocktail and 2/3 of the food menus. As in 2011 we visited twice, spending long evenings at the bar and soaking in the atmosphere. We were treated so well by everyone working there...just a great group of people. I loved being asked something as simple as what my local tiki bar is (shout out to Tonga Hut) and chatting about other great places to visit in Portland and cocktail recipes.

I fear my praise of Hale Pele is not effusive enough. But make no mistake, Hale Pele feels special. You can see it in some of the details in the photos below. We just missed the launch of the spirits list, but I guess that's just another reason to venture north. If you're even thinking of a trip to the northwest, schedule in a stop at Hale Pele. Oh and take a taxi, because you're probably going to want to be there a while.

Mahalo once again to Blair and your staff for making us thirsty tiki travelers feel right at home.