Post #796941 by JasonMa on Wed, Aug 21, 2019 9:00 PM

I was shocked to see there was no thread here for the Hale Pele. We visited for our first (and likely only, sadly) time on Monday night. Got in just before 5 and the place was already pretty full (they open at 4). There was a table or two left and a few spots at the bar, all of which filled up right after we got there. And nobody was leaving quickly. We left a little after 6 and I'm not sure anyone had left before us. We really liked the music and the decor, it was a great mix of lighting, sound, effects, and style. We each ordered a drink. I got the Bokola, (Blackberry purée, fresh citrus, honey and secret spices perform a dark and mysterious dance on a stage of aged rums), their signature drink with their custom Munktiki mug to take home while my wife got the Le Lani Volcano (Guava puree, cream of coconut, rum, pineapple, and lime) mainly because the menu credits the creation to Disney's Polynesian Village in the 1970s. We also got an order of their Hawaiian Bread with guava jam and their Kalbi short ribs to split. All the food was tasty and not too expensive. If we had the opportunity we'd happily go again.

If I had one suggestion for them I'd suggest putting up some kind of dark curtain between the front door and the bar. The atmosphere was a little lost whenever somebody would walk in and bright sunlight would come through the door.

Hale Pele has been ranked on many "top 10" lists of tiki bars recently and we're not sure why. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but it wasn't that much better than Adrift in Denver (our local bar). That said, we're not heavy drinkers so it could very well be that their cocktail list and quality is what's pushing them to the top, something that would be lost on us. Again, no complaints, there just wasn't anything (other than the built in effects) we wouldn't have experienced elsewhere.

[ Edited by: jasonma 2019-09-25 11:22 ]