The Leeward Lounge, West Allis, WI (home-bar)

Name:The Leeward Lounge
Type:home-bar
Street:Finkdaddy's House
City:West Allis
State:WI
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
After over 6 months of work, The Leeward Lounge is finally far enough along that I feel comfortable showing it to everyone. It still needs furniture which I will buy over New Years, there is still a fountain that needs to be constructed, and there is a lot of booze that needs buying! All the basics are there though, although all of you know a tiki bar is never finished :wink: .

I want to give some people a special thanks:

Congatiki, Hewey, Kirby, Chisel Slinger, and Lake Surfer for letting me display their amazing art.

The Haole Kats, Pablus, The Crazed Mugs, and the Mensters for providing me with a great tiki soundtrack while I pounded away.

Woofmutt, for letting me use his Pink Wink recipe for my menu.

Benzart, Bamboo Ben, Dawntiki, Aaron's Akua, Moondance, Foamy, Exotica59, Rodeotiki, Polysesiac, Swanky, Scispy and all others who continue to give moral support.

And each and every one of you who take interest in any of my posts. You are all wonderful people who have inspired me and changed my life in a wonderful way. Mahalo!

A view of the doorway from outside the room. I bought the curtain on my trip to Japan.

My Chisel Slinger was the first tiki I ever owned

My Congatiki hanging out under the thatch

One of my Lake tikis

My Hewey drawing hung inside a bamboo frame that I tried to make

I just love Bosko

My Danelectro which I almost never play anymore

My Kirby. This pic doesn't show how well the painting affects the whole mood of the bar. Just wonderful.

A view from behind the bar

A shot of the awning

My other Lake tiki who is obviously upset because he has no hands to open up that Havana Club with.

Menu cover

Rough copy of menu pages

A shot of the doorway from inside the bar

Thanks everyone, you're all welcome to stop by for a drink!

[ Edited by: finkdaddy 2005-12-17 10:26 ]

[ Edited by: finkdaddy 2005-12-17 10:32 ]

[ Edited by: finkdaddy 2005-12-17 11:27 ]

[ Edited by: finkdaddy 2005-12-17 11:28 ]

Thanks everyone, you're all welcome to stop by for a drink!

Seeing as we're both Tiki Cheeseheads, I may just take you up on that. Likewise, feel free to stop by and check out the Hai'deaway the next time you pass through Eau Claire.

It turned out wonderful! I get a good feeling about the atmosphere in there just from the pictures alone. If I ever get out that way I promise to look you up. Great job on the menu. I really like how it turned out. Very nice. May become a collectible item.

Very nice!!!! Great job. You should be proud of all your hard work and the local TC carvers are well represented at the Leeward Lounge.

Will you be serving the Havana Club at the opening ? :wink: Put a lid on the first cocktail and priority mail it out to California for us. :wink:

Aloha,
'Ona & Moki

That's really lovely! Congratulations, and I hope you have a lot of fun times with it. Your menu looks great, how did you get the graphic onto the front cover?

MrBaliHai, invitation accepted!

Matt Reese, thank you. You're always welcome here. I actually made 12 menus even though I only need 1 or 2. Maybe they could be door prizes!

OnaTiki, thanks! I am proud of all the TCers work I have. Believe me, there is plenty more I would still love to collect. I haven't even opened the bottle yet :lol: ! I'm having a wierd anxiety about what to make with it. WWJD?

Humuhumu, Mahalo! I promise to save a seat for you on your midwest homebar crawl :wink: . I work for a company that makes all kinds of vinyl and leather products like my menus. I do most everything there, but my main department is Screen Printing, so the whole project only took me part of an afternoon.

wonderful work Finkdaddy....I am honored to have representation among your "stuff." The next
time I get to Milwaukee the "Leeward Lounge" is on the list! You and Mrs. Fink should be very proud.

sweet bar. and I'm happy to see one of my tiki's made it in there.

On 2005-12-17 11:09, chisel slinger wrote:
sweet bar. and I'm happy to see one of my tiki's made it in there.

Oh my, I forgot to mention that! That is the tiki I won in the raffle at the Pa'ina that TikiToa held in Oshkosh.

That tiki was the first one I got, and has been the centerpiece of my "collection" ever since. Mahalo Chisel Slinger!!

Just plain AWESOME!

Beautiful work . If it was my home I would never leave the basement (except to get more Havana Club) .

Awesome Finky! I love the bar, very sweet indeed. Great design and execution. Looks a heapload better than it used to.

What a great collection of TCers art too, you gotta be proud of it.

Im jealous. If I ever make it over to the states, Im gonna drop in. Dont wait up for me just yet though.

Very Jaw Dropping! I am totally jealous!
JP

Congrats Finky!

We'll have to get together one of these evenings and a have a drink... talk carving and what not. I gotta take a look at those shelves.

Nice work on everything, and the satisfaction that you did it yourself!

Solid work. It really looks like a bewitching place to bend your elbow and forget your troubles...

Fink Sir,

That is one bad-ass room. Again, I am both jealous and inspired. I really like the way you did the printed pages in the menu... nice finishing touch. So... any hints on what you are picking out for furniture?

-Z

Allright Fink!

The lounge is very cool and I especially like the green color you chose for the walls.

Of course you know you are not done with this thread yet. We want to see pics of all the furnishings you get and then "happy" people enjoying all your hard work in the Leeward Lounge.

I don't know how windy it gets there, but your lounge name gives you a good excuse to get "away from the wind" and enjoy a mai tai every time the ol northwinds blow. :wink:

Here are some updated pics, as blurry as they may be. :blush:

These stools are really only temporary until I can afford nicer ones. I like these though. They're unfinished pine, which I might try and stain to match the bar top.

This is a stand I made for my new, but tiny fridge. It's large enough to hold a few bottles and juices, so it's all I really need. It was sold to me by my neighbor (Mr. Predicta on TC) for a very good price. The Heineken logo is a decal that I'm hoping will come off with a razor blade.

Some rattan chairs and a new table. I like these a lot.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. :D

fink, just wanted to say that I've found your creative touches very inspiring. After looking at your photos, I added lighting under my bar railing last weekend, and I'm going to get started designing my own drink menu.

Cheers!

You've worked very hard and it has paid off. Looking forward to updates as you get more accomplished and can't wait to see the fountain.

Thank you!

MrBaliHai, it's a huge compliment to hear that I may have inspired another TCer. Don't forget to show some pics of the new touches, I would love to see them.

8FT Tiki, it has been a lot of work! It's so fun to finally see everything comming together. Thanks for the kind words.

Don't forget to show some pics of the new touches, I would love to see them.

I updated my Hai'deaway post with a pic of the underbar light ropes a couple of days ago. The menu's going to take me a while to finish.

Just had a few updated pics that I'd like to share with you.

You can add Foamy to the list of the very talented artists that have art in the Leeward Lounge.

Here they are hanging proudly behind the bar.

I finally got around to finishing out the inside of the bar.
I used the back lighting effect to light up the shelves.

I've decided to hire a new bartender, my son, Brendan.

Nice updates! I really love that bar

Man, it's really coming along nicely. The Foamy art looks great. Did you frame that yourself? Awesome look.

On 2006-01-21 08:29, Matt Reese wrote:
Man, it's really coming along nicely. The Foamy art looks great. Did you frame that yourself? Awesome look.

Yes, I did. It's made from the same bamboo that I used for the bar trim which came from the old Mai Kai that used to be here in Milwaukee years ago. It has a nice, deep color to it.

MrBaliHai, your bar looks terrific! I wish I had that much space to work with. Of course, if I did I never would have been able to build it at all!

Hewey, Thanks! There is a stool, a mug, and a jar of Vegemite set aside just for you. Don't make we wait too long, come on by!

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Stop by anytime!

FINKDADDY....The Leeward Lounge knocks me out...what a great place to kick back and relax...and
yes...I will make it to Milwaukee to do just that! The "Foamy" looks great and Brendan is gonna
make a super bartender...but shouldn't he be wearing a fez?

lookin good Fink,

I like that you finished the inside of the bar as well instead of just making it a facade. The bartender should have as good of a view as the guests, after all, it was his sweat that built the place.

:drink:

-Z

Your place looks great. Very nice framing job on Foamy's art.

Your knee-high bartender looks as if he is ready to kick ass and take names later.

Mahalo for sharing all the progress shots, it really helps us that are thinking about taking on such a project one day.

Thanks everyone!

Conga: We gotta get you down here. Feb is pretty booked up (2 kids b-days on two different weekends), but how about the first or second weekend in March? If you're game I'll make a formal announcement and see if we can get a few other TCers here too. And yes, Brendan should have a fez! I've been searching thrift stores for one.

FZ: Mahalo! Yeah, the inside was just bare wood for a while, but I couldn't sleep at night knowing it wasn't finished. I like it a lot better now!

Rodeo: Yeah, the Foamy turned out nice. I used the same Mai Kai bamboo that I used for the front and inside of the bar. I wish I had gotten that bamboo sooner, I would have used it for all the wall trim too. I would definately build one if you've been thinking about it. It's my favorite place in the world, even though I'll probably never be able to sell my house now. I'm training my help young. I figure Brendan will have 15 years experience by the time he's old enough to bartend!

Had the opportunity to be one of the first guests tt the Leeward Lounge Fred did a fantastic very traditional room that makes you think you are anywhere other than the neighbors basement.
I am very pleased with the way Fred used the bamboo I scavenged from the old Mai-Kai bar up the street into his bar and some of the frames for the art work adorning the walls. now we have to scrape off the decal on the bar fridge and incorporate some sort of tiki design.
with the music the low lighting and an incredible mai tai what more do you need to take the edge off the day.
Fred's Tiki lounge gets high marks in my book for craftsmanship ,imagination and location!
but ya need a Tiki Predicta in there.
Mr.Predicta

[ Edited by: Mr.Predicta 2006-01-31 14:59 ]

[ Edited by: Mr.Predicta 2006-01-31 15:10 ]

[ Edited by: Mr.Predicta 2006-01-31 15:15 ]

Hey finkdaddy, thanks for the tip-off in your artwork thread. I don't know how I missed your bar thread as I been waiting to see the progress pics. The bar looks great! If I get anywhere near the Leeward Lounge, I'm making an appointment for a Mai Tai. Real nice work!

Real nice work on the bamboo framing of the art you've collected as well! That's the first time I've seen Leisure framed and hanging and I'm quite happy and very flattered, thanks! It makes me feel good to see it in such a nice place—makes it all worth-while. I'm glad you enjoy it!

Beautifully done, finkdaddy. Would love to be able to swing by West Allis this summer, if Haole Kats!!! are up that way again for Chicago Exotica (which is a good possibility).

Really sweet looking bar you have there...

Kanekila

Great looking bar man. I am in the very very early stages of mine. Great job..you set the standard high for us Wisconsinites!! hahaha.