Grand ReOpening of Aku Tiki Room, Kewanee, IL - Jan 21

This Saturday is the grand re-opening celebration of the Aku Tiki Room in Kewanee, IL.

Windy City Islanders are playing at 7:00.

Carol Andris (owner) has assured me that all of the changes and redecoration that has been done is stuff that will make the place more Tiki than it was (and it was pretty good to begin with) including: getting the fountain working again, bringing some Tikis back up from basement storage, and... teddy bear removal (tentative).

Her food is really good country cookin' (not exactly Polynesian, but tasty nonetheless) and always fresh.

Anyone wants a lift and to share gas costs, I'll be heading out at about 2:00 to 3:00, and probably leaving Kewanee some time between 10:00 and midnight.

If you've been procrastinating the drive to Kewanee - now is an excellent time.

Looks like we'll see you there James!

I'm gonna try to stop by on the 4th of Feb., it depends on how I'm getting from Chicago to the Quad Cities area.

I'm really looking forward to this.

FWIW, Kewanee also has Amtrak service, its station code is "KEE".
I think it's $15 and about a 2 hour ride from Union Station in Chicago (CHI).
Slightly more from LA (LAX).

http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/national.pdf

I'd be willing to do a shuttle run from Amtrak to Aku Tiki Room if anyone needs a lift.

Like I said in my previous post, this place is pretty cool, an given it's location - in the middle of NOWHERE - a lot of people have blown off visiting it.

Now's your chance.

is the tiki room only open on weekends?....ill be out of town this weekend, but a trip will be planned in the near future

I may take you up on that JT...I'll call ya.

On 2006-01-19 19:55, hala bullhiki wrote:
is the tiki room only open on weekends?

Yes.

Lots of good things are afoot in Kewanee.

They have added a few Tikis to the premesis (some modern, some vintage), rescued some more wall murals from the basement, revived not one - but two - fountains (including a big Witco one), added a few dozen new Tiki mugs (modern ones) to the bar area, and revised their bar menu using better recipes than previously.

Best of all, they have decided to make the Aku Tiki Room the primary dining room for the restaurant, which means that the non-Tiki half of the bulding has been closed (except for banquets), and the Aku Tiki Room is now open Weds through Sat (instead of only Fri and Sat). Their locally famous buffet, previously served in the non-Tiki half of the place, is now available in Aku Tiki.

Windy City Islanders turned in a good performance last night to a crowd that were being served by wait staff in commemorative T-shirt with a nice retro 1950s logo (with Tiki).

Owner Carol Andris gave the Islanders (along with yours truly and TC-ers Roger and Mel - Exotica 59) a tour of the place late night after all of the other riff-raff had departed.

The basement as real potential: two older bars with padded rails, and plaid carpeting everywhere! A 'secret' smaller room in the back is full of giant sculped coats-of-arms and a smal bar: we dubbed it the "secret members only room", and we hoped Carol took the hint to get it cleaned up and re-opened! (just kidding - the Aku Tiki renovatins are plenty!).

They are turning their Winter Luau into an annual event: I urge all TC-ers to try to make it out there next year.

[ Edited by: tikibars 2006-01-22 21:31 ]

A Bamboolodge View of Aku Tiki.

The place looks like just another red sided barn like restureant in mid-America. But, just inside the fount door is this:

When step in and you see Witco on the wall:

Then another door:

Ditch the coats, on to the next door:

Just by the bar, are the washrooms which have Witcos carveings of Warror and Wahine on the doors with a Witco Fountain between them. Real Cool

Our good local friends had reserved their favorite table by fireplace,in veiw of a wahine mural that has a history about the lei. She was originally bare breasted and had the lei added later down the line, go figure.

I really like the rail posts.

The Windy City Islanders:

I got to remember to hold my breath when taking a pic without the flash.

All in all it was a really fun night, and it was nice to see that even out in the rurals that a beautiful place like this still flourishes. The local community came out in droves to the Grand Re-Opening.

We sure had a great time out there! Everybody who can make it out here, really should. You won't be disappointed.
We ran into other friends out there that we didn't even know were going to come out,(Bamboo lodge and co.) so you just never know who you might see out there.
Hey James, I burned a copy of the pictures I took and would like to send a copy to Carol . Do you have a mailing address, or do you think if I use the address from your book it'll make it to her?
Good seeing you again James you sure know the best places to go!

We had a blast playing at the event! What a great room. A big MAHALO to Carol for putting on a great event! Food & drinks were awsome. Great to see alot of familiar faces there as well. LIke JT spoke of, it was very cool to get a tour after hours with Carol. Those rooms DO have some potential to be something great!

Chris

http://www.windycityislanders.com

[ Edited by: love2uke 2006-01-23 06:52 ]

[ Edited by: love2uke 2006-01-23 07:02 ]

Hey Chris, I burned a disk of all the pictures I took of you guys playing. I'll give it to Craig next time I see him.
IN the mean time, here are a few pictures that I took.
the guys playing

another nice Witco


Our very own tikibars with the owner Carol and two of her friends

The local paper Star Courier carried a nice article about the event and "tikiphiles" at http://starcourier.com/articles/2006/01/24/local_news/local1.txt

Here is a pic of the great T-Shirts at the Winter Luau.

[ Edited by: wgk001 2006-01-25 15:09 ]

Hi all,

Quince_at_Danny's, Varla, Karol Kayahhs, and myself have been frequenting the Aku Tiki room A LOT this summer. Just got back from their Hog Days celebration on Saturday night (that the Windy City Islanders played at). If you live within a day's drive of Kewanee Illinois, you really owe it to yourself to check this place out. Hell, we live in Minneapolis and we've been able to make 5 trips to Aku since May!!!

Carol and Glen Andris are great hosts, and Tom the bartender makes just incredible cocktails, with a real dedication to authenticity AND deliciousness. PLUS they have a new drink menu (that Quince can tell you about) to help you choose the libations.

The Islanders -- you guys are great by the way -- are planning to play there on New Years Eve. Put that in your date book for this winter. Not sure if we'll make it down for that, but another fall trip may be in order in October.

Anyways, get to this place. It's a blast!

I, Zombie

Hey Zombie,
It was great meeting you guys, I wish I'd been able to go through the new drink menu more thoroughly.
I guess I have something else to look forward to for next time.

Craig