Post #764983 by PlainOtiki on Mon, Jun 13, 2016 9:08 PM

I went to the Little Elm location the weekend before last and...well, I'll start with the good stuff. The decor is fun and does, in fact, include a few tikis. There are two flanking the entrance, a few around the bar, and a couple hanging on the walls. There's a huge covered deck that wraps around a lagoon with a big shark sticking out of the water and a volcano at the back that "erupts" with water spewing out every now and then. The deck setup is actually pretty awesome, at least with the weather that afternoon, which was still surprisingly mild for Texas in late May. There's also a wakeboard park next door where you can watch people surfing. All in all, it's definitely a welcome change of scenery.

I ordered a Mai Tai and my wife ordered a margarita. The Mai Tai ("A delicious frozen blend of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, orange juice and pineapple juice served with a floater of Kraken Rum") was, of course, nowhere near authentic and also completely forgettable. The margarita was decent, but definitely not great. The Dallas area has plenty of competition for margaritas, and you won't be hard-pressed to find a better one elsewhere.

The food was the most disappointing part of the experience. The salsa and queso were pretty mediocre. We tried the Hawaiian Fajitas with shrimp and chicken. The chicken wasn't bad, but the shrimp was hard to find. Calling it popcorn shrimp would have paid it a complement. The grilled pineapple on top was absolutely awful. I got fresh pineapple as a garnish on my Mai Tai, so I know they have it available. However, the grilled pineapple on top of the fajitas was some sort of canned abomination that I gave up on after two bites. I absolutely love pineapple and honestly have no idea how they made theirs taste so bad. I took a second bite just to make sure I hadn't just imagined how bad the first bite tasted.

You can find much better drinks elsewhere along with much better Tex-Mex, but this is as tiki as DFW gets, so I have to at least give the Hula Hut some credit there. Until a possible Swizzle Luau Lounge opens (soon, please?), this is pretty much it. I recommend getting takeout from L&L Hawaiian BBQ on your way up to the Hula Hut and sneaking it in to enjoy the drinks (a little) and the deck and decor (a lot).