Asheville nc tiki bar?

Does anyone know anything about a bar opening in Asheville nc? The rumor mill is running a tiki bar is opening in the old ash-vile. I have heard nothing till tonight and only tonight learned apparently the beachbum lives in that town somewhere. I hear he's a thousand years old, steals children in the night, I know nothing... crush you enemies.

Yes, The Bum now abides in Asheville. Been about a year maybe. I have heard no mention of a Tiki bar over there though.

That explains a couple of things, but i do hope a decent tiki bar does open in the area.

The new Tiki bar in Asheville would be very smart to try and get the "Bum" involved.

Man I was about to be pissed! I went to Asheville this weekend for a trip to the Biltmore Estate. I would have been mad had I missed a tiki bar. :)

But, I did buy a 3 foot high tiki totem at Hobby lobby on the way to asheville!! :tiki:

i heard that rumor from a very credible source who is involved, maybe he will post about it here.

The Tiki Bar is on Patton Avenue in Downtown.A few doors up from Jack of The Wood.

Ahhh, my sister moved up there last year.
Also have some cousins and fairly close friends that live there.

I think a ukulele road trip is in order.

Some heavy metal-related thing is what I've heard. I dunno. Iffy at best. I can almost smell the jello shots.

Was up hitting some old haunts in Ashvegas this past weekend so I dropped by to take a look. Bar is called The Yacht Club, which should give you a clue as to how genuine it is. At least they are trying and who knows with a small amount of support and guidance it could turn into a true Tiki. My guess is someone else will drop the clams to do it right.

Questions answered-

You all will enjoy this very much:

http://www.mountainx.com/dining/2008/010208ayc

On 2008-01-03 14:00, martiki wrote:
You all will enjoy this very much:

...in a masochistic sense, you mean. - wince-

Did anybody read anything past "If you go to any tiki bars, it’s bamboo-and-brown tikis. We didn’t want that same old tiki thing: We’re just more rock and roll." ?

I mean, if you go to the Mai-Kai or a vintage Vic's it's just bamboo and brown tikis, and who needs that old junk anyway...

EDIT: I spoke too soon. The rest of the article is about Jeff Berry. Definitely read it.

[ Edited by: GatorRob 2008-01-03 16:19 ]

On 2008-01-03 14:00, martiki wrote:
Questions answered-

You all will enjoy this very much:

http://www.mountainx.com/dining/2008/010208ayc

This remains open and catering to a burgeoning tiki crowd, whilst Trader Vic's in San Francisco closes it's doors?

“It’s an eclectic Polynesian menu,” McKelvy explains. “If you go to any tiki bars, it’s bamboo-and-brown tikis. We didn’t want that same old tiki thing: We’re just more rock and roll. We have an artistic, lowbrow approach.”

Oh well, I was beginning to have second thoughts on my ultra white ceiling. Now I guess they are destined to stay, being I am trying to remain "lowbrow" and all.

Gotta love the elegantly painted tikis and you all know the there TV is a necessary evil, since no one can afford to have one at home these days!

Psycho Tiki D (I know I am and you can scratch the Ashville Yacht Club off the list)!

Painful. Utterly painful. Why do people think the Tiki Bar needs to be "fixed"? Nobody's is doing it these days anyway but Martin. How's that old style tiki thing going Martin? Sheesh.

So, it is still out there. Someone can still take over the nation with a proper Tiki bar, slightly updated. If I had the money I'd open 10 TV Mai Tai bars, but I'd fix the crappy decor they have opened with and keep the menu...

I'll call the Bum over the mountain this summer for a nice cocktail...

On 2008-01-03 17:26, Swanky wrote:
Painful. Utterly painful. Why do people think the Tiki Bar needs to be "fixed"? Nobody's is doing it these days anyway but Martin.

there's Thatch in Portland!!

Aside from everything else that's wrong with this joint----TATER TOTS!?!?! Come on, a little creativity wouldn't hurt too much. How about 'Trader Tom's Tahitian Fried Shredded Root Nuggets' or something.

It sounds like it could be a fun place.

The writer was obviously a fan of the Bum since they abandoned the purpose of the story to tell us more about Jeff's books and abilities and Tiki credentials. I don't mind that because I really like and respect Jeff. But, I was reading the article to find out more about the bar.

And, my opinion on the place (not that anyone asked) is that it is doomed. 'Lets do Vodka because the lushes have to work tomorrow. And, lets cut some corners and use canned juices and fake stuff.'

Unless that is what the North Carolina folk are looking for. I don't know, I was a wee little lad last time I was in that part of the country.

On 2008-01-03 17:29, dogbytes wrote:

On 2008-01-03 17:26, Swanky wrote:
Painful. Utterly painful. Why do people think the Tiki Bar needs to be "fixed"? Nobody's is doing it these days anyway but Martin.

there's Thatch in Portland!!

Thatch, Hula Hula, Otto's... There are a few.

I like how the writer tries to give credence to this place by saying, "...and a really important person walked into it! And he doesn't like much about it, but he's hoping they'll get less sucky!..."
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Oops - Edited to change "reader" to "writer"

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2008-01-04 07:38 ]

Ok... I plan to be there on wed. to check it out. My friend went there last night and stayed till around 3. His reports came back positive, He bought a mug. Which they don't serve drinks in unless you buy it first(preempting theft problems). Then I was told they will refill it with whatever you order to drink from there on out. They are tiki farm from what I gather. I have taken him to tv atlanta and made him rounds of proper cocktails, so he was probably the only cat in the joint that understood the idea behind it, beyond it's a new bar. He was also the only one he saw drinking out of a tiki mug. Everybody else was drinking beer or out of regular glassware. He had a good conversation with one of the bartenders(maybe an owner?), but my friend had a real enjoyable evening. He also said the mai tai wasn't bad. The bar has one of the large lit moais and a nice wall of eye candy, from the picture he took. One of the booths has a framed picture of tom waits, and the bathrooms hold some piratey secrets. I will investigate further on wed. I hope for a neo-tiki establishment but a neat bar with hints of tiki will be fine with me due to the wastelands definite lack there of. Honestly I also really hope they do have heavy metal karaoke, because i know just the cat to bring to that shindig(and it is on my list of things going into a tiki bar i dream of)
Motorhead saves.

My official review.
Last night I went to Asheville and had hopes for a nice little tikiesque joint with a nice atmosphere and good drinks. I was greatly relieved to find the place to be a nice neo-tiki bar with a good amount of decor, friendly wait staff, and an accommodating bartender. First thing I noticed about the place was it had no, exterior signage my friend and I walked right by it and didn't even see it. The interior was nicely lite not too dark but definitely not all neon'e(?). Heavy maritime/pirate theme with a nice splash of Polynesian pop ruled the decor. The painted tikis that sit at the entrances of the booths are brightly painted in the Florida beach style. I asked about them and "E-V(I didn't ask for formal information so if i get the name wrong sorry)" who is one of the owner's wife. She said they came from coco beach, and were signed by Artist Mai tiki(wayne coombs? don't know). The bar wall had an excellent set up with all mugs being from tiki farm. It has a huge white, lit moai, which was more comforting as the night went on. I found there was no Heavy metal karaoke or band set-up so it will not likely ever happen(Evey really hates when there are jackoffs ruining a good bar experience, my quote... her comment was way more polite). The tv was set to just show what was playing on the satelight radio and caused no distractions.
The Drinks; Adequate, but pricey(10 spot for a nice mai tai). Beer selection was fine, Mountain area is very much about microbrew and local wine. I asked for a hurricane but they were not able to make due to not having a supply of passion fruit juice/syrup. I was not impressed with the painkiller but the rest of my party enjoyed it(i still can't enjoy malibu rum, cruzan). I asked for a suffering bastard and found they had no recipe so i went to the back and made a call to my house got the grog log recipe and they made me one for 6 bucks. I finished myself off with 2 more and called it an evening well spent.
The food was excellent, we had to order a pitcher of tot and they were good(All nay sayer go to hell)! The hot raspberry chicken wings were awesome the tiki torcher hot sauce was a bit uncalled for when asking for just hot sauce, but it has an outstanding flavor and it will light you up. My friend was loving it. I plan to return just to sample one of the grouper sandwiches.
In closing... I will definitely be returning when money presents itself again, when i just need to relax in ashevile or have time while in Asheville. Definitely on my December bar crawl agenda. two thumbs up, neo tiki, 2out4 tipsy factor in my eyes. A-OK!

Know this is an old thread, but was at the Asheville Yacht Club last weekend and thought I'd give any North Carolinians thinking about making it out there an update.

Though not a tiki palace by any means, the décor was solid. Not super-traditional, but fun. Mismash of tiki/nautical/pirate themed. Didn't seem Buffet-ized at all, so that's a major plus. Loved the portraits of The Howells from "Gilligan's Island" to indicate the men's and women's restrooms.

We had some house made chips and guacamole, which were very tasty.

Now for the bad news. The drinks were beyond atrocious. Perhaps the worst drinks I've ever had at any establishment anywhere, any time. The bartender, though nice, seemed to have little idea what he was doing. They don't have an extensive cocktail menu, yet he had to use the guide behind the bar to make us our drinks, so perhaps he's new. I had a "sailor's grog." The lime and grapefruit juice tasted well past their prime. The rum was bottom shelf light Ron Rico (which isn't the biggest deal except they charged $10 per drink). There was no allspice syrup or dram and no sugar syrup. So basically it was just a bunch of cheap rum and expired juices. My wife had a Singapore Sling, which tasted like some sort of industrial cleaner.

I know that there's an attitude on here of support for rather than criticism of tiki bars, and I totally get behind that. I don't wish this place ill at all. Like I said, the staff was friendly, the décor was cool, and the food (what little we had) was quite good. They had quite a few good beers on draft. And again, I'll state that perhaps this guy was new and another bartender might have been much better, though judging by the contents of the drinks and quality of ingredients I'm not sure how.

My advice: Support your local tiki bar, but drink beer at this one.

Good review, I like your approach, conclusions, and suggestions to others. Hopefully they'll either get better bar staff, or more customers will help educate them on their need to step up their game and address their shortcomings. But maybe the barkeep was filling in for someone else.

If they wouldn't listen to The Bum when he was there, no on ewill get through to them.

Yeah, but still, someone there could suddenly come to discover the cocktail renaissance. The owner, at least, gets all kinds of trade mags plus gets quite a bit of information from his suppliers designed to help his business. His success is their success. But if he ignores all of that stuff, then you're right, he's doomed to mediocrity where he could otherwise excel.