Chicago Exotica 2005

Aloha!
We have been working hard to put together an Exotica event here in Chicago this summer and we wanted to let you know that we have secured a venue and locked in on a date. We'll be celebrating Tiki this year the weekend of July 9th. Dubbed "Exotica 2005—Luau by the Lake," we hope to have a full program with lots of excitement and entertainment for everyone. The main event will take place that Saturday, with additional functions slated for Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

We are currently lining up our entertainment and hope to soon have the confirmations necessary to make proper announcements about who you'll see at Exotica this year. If you would like to participate, either as a performer or as a vendor, please contact us at [email protected] We would love to have as many carvers, Tiki artists, and Tiki vendors (especially vintage!) as possible, but space is limited—so if you'd like to join us, please let us know as soon as possible.

Future updates and announcements will appear in this thread, so keep an eye out and we hope you can start making plans to join us this summer.

Exotica website: http://www.pegboardchicago.com/exotica
-Duke and Amy

Check out Tiki Quest at http://www.pegboardchicago.com/TCintro.html
Tiki Central members get a discount and a special premium!

[ Edited by: boutiki on 2005-06-23 09:42 ]

Save me a spot - I'm THERE, baby!
YAAAAAY!

While there, we can all buy mrsmiley a cocktail - he'll be celebrating his, um, 29th birthday!!

(And thankyouthankyouthankyou for having Exotica during the summer and NOT during the school year!!)

Yippee!! Count me in too!!

Me too! I can't wait.

All I can say is YEAH!!!!!!!! Neptune Tiki and I have been anxiously awaiting the date for this event. THANKS!!!!! Chicago in July is tikirific! Count two in from Neptune Beach, Florida.

We will be there for sure. Gotta love Chicago.

Are any Bay Area folks interested in taking the California Zephyr to Exotica? The fare is only about $150 one-way.

This may be your last time to ride this train, as there are no subsidies for Amtrak in next year's federal budget.

On 2005-02-25 15:11, cynfulcynner wrote:

Are any Bay Area folks interested in taking the California Zephyr to Exotica? The fare is only about $150 one-way.

This may be your last time to ride this train, as there are no subsidies for Amtrak in next year's federal budget.

Jesus wept!
Over 48 consecutive hours on a train! I can't even handle the 6 hour flight out to the East Coast without tearing out my hair ...

so put me down as a "no"

cant wait, exotica in may , gettin married at the kona kai in september, then off to hukilau in october!!!!!

Count me in. I'd like to be a vendor as well. We should be coming out with the 2nd issue of Tiki Magazine at about that time.

Exotica, here I come! I will be celebrating my 30th (yikes) birthday July 1st so this will be a great time to enjoy many a cocktails and tiki.

This is good news. Luckily I happen to have already secured that week as a vacation from work. Now that is a sweet thing. I sure hope we can make it cause we love Chicago and it would be excellent to finally meet other TC'ers in person!
OK, I gotta go tell Mrs. 8FT

Is there anywhere cheap to stay, or anyone cheap to stay with? lol It's not only $29 each way from pittsburgh to Chicage, which I can more than afford, but with all the exotica events, fundage for hotels would be a bit low. And I don't know how I'd get around, but that's another issue. It looks like I may get to go to my first trader vics!!!

i will have vacation time by july with the new job, so w. kitty and i are there! j$$$

I'm sure the organizers will have some places mapped out that are affordable. I would look into staying near hala kahiki. there's a cheap motel about 3 or four blocks from it. you could stagger home from the bar. there are some others nearby, but would require a short cab ride. as far as getting around, there is a train stop right there by the hotels that takes you into the city....

my place is four train stops from the trader vics...I'm thinking of having alittle bar-b-que that weekend ....we can party in the bamboo bunker than catch train down to trader vics. My buddy andrew has a condo with a huge rooftop deck overlooking the skyline....we tikied it out and dubbed it the " skyland" because it is the tallest building in that area (8 stories) and the place looks like a tropical island in the sky. he'll probably have something going on as well too. we had the cocktail preachers surf band play up there last summer for the kick-off party to celebrate his closing on the condo....i'll post the link later tonight with pics of the event....

On 2005-02-26 00:22, hala bullhiki wrote:
gettin married at the kona kai in september,

Don't forget to post the Wedding Invite on TC--500 members want to go!! :)

On 2005-02-28 12:02, mrsmiley wrote:

On 2005-02-26 00:22, hala bullhiki wrote:
gettin married at the kona kai in september,

Don't forget to post the Wedding Invite on TC--500 members want to go!! :)

Wait, why not put BOTH DATES TOGETHER!? Since the Marriott does not want to rent the Kona Kai for another EXOTICA, we all could pretend to be wedding guests! YEAH!
(I'm sure your wife and family won't mind a few Aloha shirts and Tiki vendors milling with the guests..?) :wink:

PS: ...and we'll all bring our own hooch! (The Marriot is probably too EMBARASSED to host another Exotica by the way they undersupplied/understaffed the bars last time!)
Yeah, that'll go over GREAT!

On 2005-02-25 15:11, cynfulcynner wrote:

Are any Bay Area folks interested in taking the California Zephyr to Exotica? The fare is only about $150 one-way.

This may be your last time to ride this train, as there are no subsidies for Amtrak in next year's federal budget.

From LA you could take the mighty Southwest Chief.

On 2005-02-28 12:28, bigbrotiki wrote:
PS: ...and we'll all bring our own hooch! (The Marriot is probably too EMBARASSED to host another Exotica by the way they undersupplied/understaffed the bars last time!)
Yeah, that'll go over GREAT!

Yeah I can still remember the one old server saying "jesus these people drink alot". That was about an hour into it, right around the time we had a temporary dry spell.
I'm there. Loved it last time.
The Bus is a must, even if it's not going anywhere...Good Times.

Tacky Techie Tiki Bar
It just may be that the only purpose to your life is to serve as a warning to others.

[ Edited by: Turbogod on 2005-02-28 15:29 ]

On 2005-02-28 15:28, Turbogod wrote:

The Bus is a must, even if it's not going anywhere...Good Times.

You just want another chance to shake your groove thang, dontcha?

*On 2005-02-28 15:47, purple jade wrote:*You just want another chance to shake your groove thang, dontcha?

Ha ha. I know I do. That city owes me...Big time!

I still think my idea could work...:

TC members could pose as wedding planners, wedding band members, decorators, security for the young couple, and generally as distant cousins from "the islands"!

C'mon, waddayasay?

On 2005-02-28 16:29, bigbrotiki wrote:
I still think my idea could work...:

TC members could pose as wedding planners, wedding band members, decorators, security for the young couple, and generally as distant cousins from "the islands"!

C'mon, waddayasay?

After I posted my invite comment, I was thinking this might work if we did a "fake" wedding during the Exotica event. I realise we are thinking along similar lines.

On 2005-02-28 16:29, bigbrotiki wrote:
TC members could pose as wedding planners, wedding band members, decorators, security for the young couple, and generally as distant cousins from "the islands"!

OK, you'll be a decorator, and I'll be a wedding planner!

On 2005-02-28 15:47, purple jade wrote:
You just want another chance to shake your groove thang, dontcha?

PJ, I've Dance Dance Revolution for XBox and I'm in full on training mode. Somebody's gettin' served :)

On 2005-02-28 16:52, thejab wrote:

OK, you'll be a decorator, and I'll be a wedding planner!

Hey, maybe we could get away with going as THE COUPLE!

On 2005-02-28 17:29, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2005-02-28 16:52, thejab wrote:

OK, you'll be a decorator, and I'll be a wedding planner!

Hey, maybe we could get away with going as THE COUPLE!

The Jab and I were Domestic Partners on a Florida trip years ago to save money on a car rental--who knows?!?! :)

Have a nice Tiki Day!
If you like it,it is ZAZZ! If you don't, give it a RAZZ.

[ Edited by: mrsmiley on 2005-06-02 16:06 ]

On 2005-02-25 15:20, dangergirl299 wrote:

On 2005-02-25 15:11, cynfulcynner wrote:

Are any Bay Area folks interested in taking the California Zephyr to Exotica? The fare is only about $150 one-way.

This may be your last time to ride this train, as there are no subsidies for Amtrak in next year's federal budget.

Jesus wept!
Over 48 consecutive hours on a train! I can't even handle the 6 hour flight out to the East Coast without tearing out my hair ...

so put me down as a "no"

Yeah, I seem to remember watching that Cuban rum vanish pretty quickly between airports in South America. Maybe next time, we'll just give you some ether and knock your ass out. Hell, we'll bring you some LSD too, and you'll have no idea if you're on a plane, train, or the Millennium Falcon. And as you know, once you're locked into a good drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

My buddy andrew has a condo with a huge rooftop deck overlooking the skyline....we tikied it out and dubbed it the " skyland" because it is the tallest building in that area (8 stories) and the place looks like a tropical island in the sky. he'll probably have something going on as well too. we had the cocktail preachers surf band play up there last summer for the kick-off party to celebrate his closing on the condo....i'll post the link later tonight with pics of the event....

okay- talked it over with andrew and he's hip to throwing alittle meet/greet pre-exotica party the night before the event for those in town early. here's the link to our friend misha's site she created for the last party - hope it works...

http://www.frinkrules.com/album/2004/bbq/misha

I am posting mainly as some info on interesting sounding places to eat in Chicago, although this event sounds interesting as well. The Roadfood website is usefull for travelers.
"This is the formal announcement for the 2005 Roadfood Eating Tour -
Chicago, Saturday, May 7, 2005.
The itinerary is (subject to change): meet at 11:30am outside Manny's
Coffee Shop (1141 St. Jefferson St.), from which the bus will take us
north to Max's Italian Beef (5754 N. Western Ave.) for beef sandwiches
and
what many consider to be the city's best giardiniera. From there, we go
to
Byron's Dog Haus (1017 W. Irving Park) for hot dogs with the best and
most
condiments, then to the Wiener's Circle (2622 N. Clark) to compare and
contrast. We conclude at Manny's with Chicago-style thin-sliced corned
beef sandwiches and potato pancakes.

• The Roadfood Team

You are receiving this letter as a registered member of Roadfood.com
(http://www.roadfood.com). "

[ Edited by: MRSMILEY on 2005-06-10 11:44 ]

Sorry Smiley, but I don't trust any one who matches Byron's against Wiener's Circle. SuperDawg, Jim's Original, Wolfie's, Fluky's, Hot Doug's, Gene & Jude’s, even Portillo's beats out Byron's. SuperDawg vs. Wiener's Circle is the classic argument starter.

Manny's is worth it, but I've always preferred the beef at Duke's in Burbank over Max's. It looks like they chose which places to visit by location rather then quality.

sorry guys, but Demon Dogs takes the cake. It's like $1.50 for a hot dog and fries!!! I lived off of those things in college.

On 2005-03-01 12:58, freddiefreelance wrote:
Sorry Smiley, but I don't trust any one who matches Byron's against Wiener's Circle. SuperDawg, Jim's Original, Wolfie's, Fluky's, Hot Doug's, Gene & Jude’s, even Portillo's beats out Byron's. SuperDawg vs. Wiener's Circle is the classic argument starter.

Manny's is worth it, but I've always preferred the beef at Duke's in Burbank over Max's. It looks like they chose which places to visit by location rather then quality.

Having been to Chicago only once, and never been to those places I posted that blindly. I appreciate all input. :)

On 2005-03-01 12:58, freddiefreelance wrote:
Sorry Smiley, but I don't trust any one who matches Byron's against Wiener's Circle. SuperDawg, Jim's Original, Wolfie's, Fluky's, Hot Doug's, Gene & Jude’s, even Portillo's beats out Byron's. SuperDawg vs. Wiener's Circle is the classic argument starter.

I've got to agree with Freddie on all counts.

The best dogs in Chicago are at Wiener's Circle, hands down. Super Dowg blows all aother hot dog stands, coast to coast, out of the water for coolness though. Hot Doug's completes the holy trinity, but is definitely third of the three.

Wolfy's has a semi-cool sign, but their food sucks ass, Protillos is way too corporate, Byron's is just shit, and Fluky's is hyped a lot, but for no good reason. Demon Dogs is obsessed with memoribilia about the band Chicago, so they automatcally suck.

I live almost across the street from the Fluky's on Western Ave, and I'll still drive 10 miles each (in different directions) for Super Dawg or Wiener's Circle instead.

And for those of you wondering why we're all getting worked up over hot dogs of all things, all I can say is that having travelled far and wide, I won't even bother eating one in any other city but Chicago, but while here, I will take any game visitors to one of the big three at my earliest opportunity. Yes, they're THAT different here.

And Polynesian islanders loved eating them after mai tais and a long evening's hukilau.

I've got to disagree/agree. Nothings better than Gene & Jude's before a night of drinks at Hala Kahiki.

i suppose i could sit back and wait for an announcement of the locations we'll probably hit, but why be patient? :)

i gleaned these locations from the previous exotica website ~ comments? discussion? condiments? (oops)

Kona Kai, O'Hare Marriott - i get the impression from bigbro that this bridge is river kwai'ed?

Bob Chinn's Barefoot Hawaiian, Medinah, Illinois - ?

Rock-a-Tiki (R.I.P.)

Hala Kahiki
Deliliah's
Trader Vic's
Chef Shangri-La...

veering from meaty comestibles,

Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I'm not sure of the actual location of the event. Can someone help me out?

My wife and I are going to be celebrating out 5th wedding anniversary that night, and we want to book a hotel as soon as possible and as close to the event as possible. So I just need to know where it is.

Mahalo!

that was what i was speculatin' about above. i think this thread will be the first place that that info is posted :) i'm just as curious as you is...

On 2005-03-01 21:59, tikibars wrote:
And for those of you wondering why we're all getting worked up over hot dogs of all things, all I can say is that having travelled far and wide, I won't even bother eating one in any other city but Chicago, but while here, I will take any game visitors to one of the big three at my earliest opportunity. Yes, they're THAT different here.

I grew up in NYC & I've lived in Southern California for 20 years now so I've grown a little agnostic about my fast food (I'll even eat Chicago Pizza, even though they cut it in those tiny squares... :wink: ): I love ordering a dog from a NY street vendor with mustard, relish, red onions & 'kraut; I've spent more than one 4th of July on the Coney Island Boardwalk with a Nathan's Famous in my fist; James, if you come out to LA, we'll have to go to Pink's (guacamole-bacon-cheese dogs are much better than they sound); I live about 2 miles from the only Chicago style Hot Dog & Italian Beef Sammich place in San Diego, Chicago on a Bun, where Jerry, the owner, flys all his Vienna Beef Weiners, beef, bread, buns & fluorescent green piccalilli relish in from Chicago.

And Polynesian islanders loved eating them after mai tais and a long evening's hukilau.

(insert Long Pig joke here)

We'll make proper announcements as soon as things are locked in and we'll have a website with all relevant info very soon as well.

We will be doing things a bit differently this year. The "Luau by the Lake" is supposed to indicate the direction we are moving in. We are working with Eddie Angel and his wife Melanie (of Los Straitjackets, Spinout Records, and the Las Vegas Grind) to put this together– along with a bunch of help from our good friends. Rather than a "Tiki Tour" with lots of running all over town, we are trying to make it a more concentrated event with fewer locations. Granted, it's not like the Oasis where it's all in one place and we don't have the Majestic Mai-Kai here. Since the Marriott was not interested in having us at the old Kona Kai, we decided to talk with our friends at Fitzgerald's who were totally into the idea of hosting a giant Luau/ Tiki party. We will have the space inside the club and outside under huge tents which will accommodate up to 1500 people (everyone bring a friend, or three). What we have been working on is an all-day Saturday affair packed with entertainment of all sorts. Lots of music of course, some hula, some cool Tiki art and artifacts on display and for sale, some tasty tropical drinks mixed by our guest mixologists and hopefully many other surprises and delights. We are thinking of it as a huge backyard Luau where we have invited all our friends and favorite musicians.

We are talking with other venues such as Trader Vic's and Hala Kahiki about having smaller events there on Friday and possibly Thursday. Chef Shangri-La has already agreed to host Sunday afternoon. If we get enough people to sign up, they will even shut down the place for us, allowing us to have our own private party. We are also looking at, and talking with a few hotels that we think will accommodate folks, offer a nice price, and will be conveniently located. Again, as soon as we have that, we'll let you know.

Fitzgerald's is located in Berwyn, just west of the city, not far from Hala Kahiki and Chef Shangri-La.

We'd love to tell you about the things we have been planning and the people we have invited to join us, but we'll have to wait until we have confirmed everything.

You have no idea how much we are looking forward to this, and how much fun we think Exotica will be. We promise, as soon as we have further updates, we'll be sure to let you know.

Mahalo,
-Duke & Amy

[ Edited by: boutiki on 2005-03-02 09:03 ]

And for those of you wondering why we're all getting worked up over hot dogs of all things, all I can say is that having travelled far and wide, I won't even bother eating one in any other city but Chicago, but while here, I will take any game visitors to one of the big three at my earliest opportunity. Yes, they're THAT different here.

I LOOOOOOVE Chi-town dawgs... I know about the classic SuperDawgs vs. Wiener's Circle thing. There's also the Chicago vs. NY dogs thing that will NEVER be resolved! Thing is, I like 'em both, depending on my mood. The NY style mustard/kraut (I especially love Nathan's) is classic, and satifies that saurkraut jones I get from time to time. But, I think I prefer a Chicago Super Dawg dragged "through the garden" even more. LOVE THOSE PEPPERS!

Mmmmmmm... I just had lunch, and I'm STILL salivating at the thought!!!

:)

On 2005-03-02 08:24, boutiki wrote:
Fitzgerald's is located in Berwyn, just west of the city, not far from Hala Kahiki and Chef Shangri-La.

http://horrorseek.com/horror/svengoolie/berwyn.wav

Berwyn! Svengoolie would be proud. Or not. :D

My wife's family reunion is the last week of June/first week of July in Ky., but I think we're taking a pass on the Mid West this year. Oh well, at least I can lend my voice to the "Closest Food to Fitzgerald's" debates. :D My son's partial to Buona Beef, 6745 W. Roosevelt Rd., there's better Beef Sammiches & Hot Dogs in the city, but not 2 1/2 blocks from Fitzgerald's. Does anyone know about Pete's Red Hots in Oak Park or Lucky Dog in Cicero? Those seem to be the closest Hot Dog places. I seem to remember that Salerno's,7111 Roosevelt Rd, is a decent Pizza, too.

you all lose!!! maxwell street dogs and burgers rule!!!!

welcome to hotdog central :)

On 2005-03-02 13:57, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
you all lose!!! maxwell street dogs and burgers rule!!!!

MAXWELL STREET?

Wake up, kahuna, they gentrified that scene a decade ago!

On 2005-03-02 14:26, tikibars wrote:

On 2005-03-02 13:57, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
you all lose!!! maxwell street dogs and burgers rule!!!!

MAXWELL STREET?

Wake up, kahuna, they gentrified that scene a decade ago!

eyes wide open dude!!! there are more than on location- sure, the original has been moved and the area gentrfied, this, however does not effect the taste of their dogs and burgers. yeah, the scenery sucks, but the food is greasy and great. I suggest you check out maxwell st. dogs in garfield park, but not before 2.a.m......believe me, you don't want to miss the sideshow that goes on there in the wee hours....

tiki dog tasteoff in chicago july 8?

Ooh, is the Dread Pyrat Jeeziz Dolla gonna be at Exotica?
HOT DAWG!!!!!