Tikiphiles Unite in Austin, TX

Some of us have been chatting over our Samoan Typhoons about getting the local ohana together. Anyone up for that? We’re taking suggestions for location. Backyard bar? Hula Hut? The new club with the shark tank in the middle? Hehe.
How about a simple meet-up this time, and work our way up to the first-ever(?) Central Texas Tiki Crawl?

When? If you give me enough notice I might drive down from Denton! Yay!!! Tiki lives in Tejas!

Suzanne

Yeah! Come on down! Good to hear from you. We'll let you know when we set a date.

Fabulous! Hurray.

--Suzanne

Set a date and my wahine and I try to make it.
If you do a search here with the keyword "Texas" you'll find a lot of great articles and info of our yearly gathering at Trader Vic's in Dallas (around May). Hey if you are ever out in the Lubbock area or know someone who is, point them to me. Julie (my wahine) and I seem to be the only castaways out here.

Been looking for you guys...

If there is something Austin is missing is some tiki style.

Let's get the party started!

ElDiablo

Did anything ever come of this? I'd definitely be up for meeting the Austin tiki community.

I'll be there. Just let me know when.

So, the wife and I scouted Headhunter's the other day as a potential spot for an eventual Austin tiki event. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. While the bar has potential, as it retained the decor from its previous incarnation as Ocean's 11, there is no tiki substance remaining. When I ordered a mai tai at the bar, the guy looked at me and said "Mai tai. What's in that? Bacardi, cranberry, ..." I stopped him right there and just ordered a whiskey. It was garnished with what appeared to be a previously-used lemon wedge. Sad.

Hey Brickhorn!

I'll be in Austin for SXSW (March 14 - 16) again - love to meet you and any other TCX-ers then.

And yes, sadly, Headhunters is but a shadow of the formerly fabulous Oceans 11. I'd suggest doing something like Oasis for sunset cocktails, but I'll be too busy to make the drive out there during SXSW. But I'll probably stay a few days afterwards (I'll be on Spring Break), so maybe as a post-SXSW activity?

Or we can just declare a bar/restaurant/club and tell all interested TC-ers to show up!
F

Formikahini,

Hey there. Trippin' to Austin, eh? A March get-together sounds good, although I kind of have to play it by ear (lots of company coming in town in March).

Probably the best venue for a tiki gathering in Austin is the Hula Hut, even though it's more surf shack than tiki temple. But at least there are tikis hanging on the walls. Austin's full of cool bars and restaurants, but is utterly devoid of tiki culture.

Greetings!

I'm brand new to this forum, but I've been a lover of tiki culture for most of my life. My fiance and I are getting married next May in Austin and are having a tiki-themed reception. Unfortunately, as you all know, Austin is devoid of tikiness, so we're having to decorate a neutral space outselves. We were going to try to have our rehearsal dinner on the Kon Tiki party boat (http://www.kontikithefunboat.com/), but it only holds 35 people.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for local tiki resources, please me know. I just ordered twelve blowfish lamps from Thailand to hang above each table at the reception. I'm thinking of ordering a couple of tikis from tikis4u.com.

On 2008-05-06 06:38, tiki in tx wrote:
Greetings!

I'm brand new to this forum, but I've been a lover of tiki culture for most of my life. My fiance and I are getting married next May in Austin and are having a tiki-themed reception. Unfortunately, as you all know, Austin is devoid of tikiness, so we're having to decorate a neutral space outselves. We were going to try to have our rehearsal dinner on the Kon Tiki party boat (http://www.kontikithefunboat.com/), but it only holds 35 people.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for local tiki resources, please me know. I just ordered twelve blowfish lamps from Thailand to hang above each table at the reception. I'm thinking of ordering a couple of tikis from tikis4u.com.

Congratulations on your engagement. As far as Austin tiki resources goes, what can I say? There really aren't any. If you're looking to buy wood tikis, Great Outdoors on South Congress has a few. But they are expensive and generally of the more cartoonish palm-tree variety.

Regarding the rehearsal dinner, have you considered renting out the Hula Hut? It's probably the most tiki-ish place in town. Or you could rent out Headhunters on Red River, which still has a fairly sound tiki feel. But you will have to train their bartenders on how to properly make tiki drinks, and I would suggest providing your own music.

If you're looking to decorate the place yourself, I've seen a bunch of deals on cheap, mass-produced wooden tiki masks on eBay lately. Something like $30 for 5-6 masks. They aren't the best-looking tikis in the world, but they're better than the plastic ones from the party stores and, given the right mood lighting, might not look half bad. Just search "carved tiki" on eBay and browse the selections.

[ Edited by: BrickHorn 2008-05-06 09:18 ]

I didn't realize there were so many tikiphiles in Austin. How about we organize a gathering at Hula Hut, as close to "authentic tiki" as we're going to get.

June is lovely around here...

Hey, Tiki in TX,
I was looking for Hawaiian dancers for an event back in February, and one of the places I talked to was Tropical Productions, in Austin. They do theme parties and catering, have a hula school, and a store. You might want to check them out, since they're local to Austin. I talked to Keito, who is in charge of it all, I gather.
Their websites are a bit chaotic to navigate:
http://www.tropicalproductions.net/
and
http://www.tropicalevents.com/

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2008-05-10 08:43 ]

Hey,
We haven't planned a date for this yet. We put it off because of the Dallas gathering in May and then June will be Hukilau. How about July or August? What's everyone think? Who's going to Hukilau? I'm not against having two things in one month. Just wondering if we shouldn't spread the joy out.

Either month works for me as long as it's not on a Friday. Any thoughts as to where this will take place?

[ Edited by: Kenike 2008-05-21 04:17 ]

Yeah, Saturday for sure! I've heard the rumors of a TV Mai Tai Bar being built here, but until that happens, Hula Hut might be our best bet. However, I also offer up my backyard pool and cabana bar. How does August sound?

August works for me. Anyone else?

I'm a newbie to TC, but living a tiki-life in Houston. I'd drive to Austin for some fun! Count me in!!

Ok...so....how about August 16th??

Right on Kenike! Executive decision! I say let's go for it on August 16th. Place and hour to be determined...
Texans, mark your calendars.

When the final Date, time and place are determined...we may be up for a road trip. As it stands now we will be in Las Vegas the week of Aug 10th...much Tiki in Vegas, takes at least a week to absorb. Looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing some recently made ones...

Austin tikiphiles-Hulacat, Dobrolic and Menehune are in for August 16th! If this ends up happening at a private location, as opposed to Hula Hut, etc. count me in for bringing some tiki-style treats. Hulacat makes some killer Spring Rolls. Me-wow!

Shark and I are in! We can't go to Hukilau so we need some tiki social time some other way.

Aloha Koitiki! I am in, and Kilikopela if he's in town. So nice hangin' with you at the Wreck Bar, it would be great to see you on our own turf.

Poop, I'll be out of town :( :( :(

OK, in San Diego for Oasis, singing with Drasnin, but I can still be disappointed that I can't eat my cake and have it too!!!

The weekend before is Hot Rod Hula Hop with the FOM in Columbus, OH, so I can't beg to move it then.

But there's nothing going on in late July....... :wink:
Formikahini

Alright Hulacat and crew! Tropical Icebergs! Can't wait to see you guys again! Brittanie, it was great meeting ya'll at Hukilau. What a fun couple! Thank you for sharing your table with all of us. Janet, I looked for you at the swap to see if you were going to Hukilau.

We will for sure have this shindig at my place. My pool area is perfect for big parties and Crash has offered to help me tiki it up even more. Kenike and I were talking about the date though. I didn't realize we had chosen the Oasis weekend. I was thinking about moving it- maybe to September. Also thinking of how damn hot it's been here this suumer and maybe September would be slightly more tolerable in my yard. Alice, we'd love for you to be able to come if possible. So here's the question: Alice, and everyone- if we still have the party on a Saturday, does moving it into the school year mess things up? Like maybe the weekend of Sept. 13th? It's all flexible, just don't want to overlap Oasis.

Sounds like a blast. There is a big home game against Arkiesaw on 9/13 at 2:30. That shouldn't be a problem, except that the Horns haven't played very well against the Hogs under Mack Brown. So, certain insane people whose emotional states of mind are inextricably bound up with the weekly athletic performance of 22 college kids might be in a sour mood come party time. But nothing cures the football blues like ingesting an unhealthy number of mai tais.

I would love to make it, but 9/13 is my daughter's b-day. Is that date set in stone?

September 13th works okay for us. And the next weekend too. The last weekend in September is kapu - it's the Austin City Limits Festival--right down the hill from our house! If you're coming to ACL make sure you stop by. We might have our outdoor tiki bar up and running.

Hey ya'll- final date is set for Aug. 2nd at our place in Austin. More details to follow soon. Hope everyone can make it!

I've got a court date at 3:00 on the 2nd, but maybe I can get there in time afterwards.....

Yeah, speeding.
And no proof of insurance (because the cop was too impatient for me to go through the expired ones also in my glove box, so even when i showed it to him, he said it was too late and that I hadn't presented proof of insurance when asked.) :roll:

Got my revenge, though.

I went around and sat before the speed trap and flashed my lights as a warning for 1/2 an hour. Prevented countless tickets :wink:

Cops caught on and caught me though, and boy were they pissed. Threatened to throw me in jail as a DWI (DUI in Texas) or on a "Felony Class B Misdemeanor" (?) with a $1500 bond. Made me apologize to the Sergeant (of their 4 man speed trap crew) who cracked up. "Why'd you do that?" he asked, trying to stifle his laughter. "Because it ruined my day, and I was trying to keep others from having their day ruined!"

Anyway, I'll hit the highway as soon as I can after I finish.
Sheepishly yours,
Felonahini

Hey everybody!

I've been a bad, bad girl and haven't been playing on TC that much lately. I'm getting back on track, though! I'll keep an eye on this thread...we have a growing ohana in San Antonio, and we' love to be a part of the Texas Tiki thang!

I started a group on MySpace for San Antonio tiki folks so we can keep everyone abreast of upcoming events, but anyone from Texas is welcome to join!

http://groups.myspace.com/SanTiki

stace

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I think this get-together is a great idea, and I'm going to do my best to make it. It would be great to meet up with some of the local Ohana.

We are definitely there. Kilikopela will be in town that weekend.

Formika! You are effin' crazy!

Howdy and Aloha Texas ohana!
Hope ya'll can make it to our Tiki Round-up Saturday, August 2nd at 7:30pm, taking place at the Enchanted Lagoon (aka Koitiki's house) in Austin. I'm near the intersection of 45 and 1826. Please PM me for address. We'll be sharing tropical tunes, libations and a few tasty morsels poolside. We'll have a couple of door prizes from world famous/infamous Austin tiki artist Crash too. (Lovely poster art above by Crash)

If you'd like to bring any food or drink to share it'll be much appreciated, but certainly not required. Bring a swimsuit if you'd like to dip in the lagoon after a few rum barrels.

Looks like it might be a pretty big crowd. If you haven't already, please let me know if you're coming so we can have enough grog on hand! Yeehaw!

For out of town folk, here are the 4 closest hotels:
La Quinta Inn Mopac Southwest
4424 S. Mopac Expressway
512/899-3000

Heart of Texas Motel
5303 Hwy 290 W
512/892-0644

Extended Stay America
5100 Hwy 290 W
512/892-4316

Holiday Inn Express
4892 Hwy 290 W
800/467-8091

[ Edited by: Koitiki 2008-07-21 14:34 ]

Count me in!

me & the hubby (South Sea Scotty) will be there!

p.s. you might want to change the post so people can PM you for the address...I'd hate for your home address to be accessible for all eternity on the interwebs!

Thanks Heelgrinder. Duly noted. Looking forward to meeting you, Austin Tiki and some of the other locals I've emailed with but not met in person yet.

Hi Koitiki, we're really excited! And, this may be an odd place to announce it (or maybe not) BUT...San Antonio is about to be blessed by the Tiki gods...none other than the famous Miss TIKI KILIKI is moving here in August! Sadly, she won't be here in time to join us in Austin, but rest assured that the SA Ohana will definitely return the favor in the near future. There will definitely be some amazing Tiki adventures comin' up in SA!

I'm sure she will speak more about the move, but she did ask that I go ahead and announce it here.

[ Edited by: heelgrinder 2008-07-23 21:21 ]

Aloha ya'll! The three of us are ready to get our tiki on with fellow Austin and Texas tikiphiles. Will bring previously mentioned offering of special Spring Rolls.
Hulacat, Dobrolic & Menehune

Hot Dang!
This is getting to be big and fun!!!

I'm planning on settling my stupid ticket out of court, so I'll see y'all in a timely manner.

YIPPEE!!!!!
F

Yay about Kiliki moving to Texas!! She is the Goddess of Tiki Fun! Wish she was going to be here in time for Tiki Round-up. :( Hopefully we'll catch her next time. Are there any cool tiki places to meet in SA? A friend said she saw something new going in here on 6th St. with big tikis out front. I have yet to check it out though. Wondering if it's the promised Trader Vic's Mai Tai Bar?? The only other tiki-ish place serving drinks here now is Hula Hut. I decided Clouseaux, the Intoxicators, Rum Barrels and Mai Tais around the pool beats fighting for standing room with the frat boys, drinking Margaritas and listening to Journey (apologies to the yacht rockers). :wink:

I'm getting psyched for the party. Thanks to all who've PM'd and responded to the thread. Keep the replies coming. I'll be going to the liquor store early next week!

The Enchanted Lagoon is looking sa-weet. We've been out there in the evenings fiddling with colored lights, torches, etc. I'm happy to report it's cooling off nicely after sunset and looking fairly exotic- for the Hill Country.

Inspired by all the water in the yard, Crash is creating some mini paintings for some of the door prizes. Something about sunken tikis... They sound awesome!

The Lagoon awaits...

Yes! I am so excited!

There isn't a true tiki bar in SA at the moment, but for now the closest thing we have aside from our own place is the beautiful El Tropicano hotel on the Riverwalk:

Here's the website if you want to check it out! It's a regular stop for us, especially when we have tiki guests in town. They have a big outdoor tiki bar and live toucans, and a beautiful indoor bar with Tiki beer taps. They used to have Tiki Farm mugs but sadly have discontinued using them. It's a historical hotel that was recently (lovingly) updated, and the owner has a big dedication to its midcentury roots. It originally opened in 1962. Isn't great to hear stories of things being restored instead or torn down/made into condos?

http://www.eltropicanohotel.com/

[ Edited by: heelgrinder 2008-07-26 13:14 ]

[ Edited by: heelgrinder 2008-07-26 13:16 ]

Woohoo! More RSVP's from MartiniTiki, Maholio, Austin Tiki and Scispy!
Heelgrinder, I could go for a little El Tropicano on the Riverwalk. We may have to try a San Antonio get together next time.

If you didn't see my post with pics of El Tropicano here's the link: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28137&forum=2
We had such a great time when we stayed there we definitely want to take another road trip to stay at El Trop again. Would be fun to plan a Mai Tai gathering of the local ohana.

***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - Tune in for a TIKI-THEMED RADIO SHOW live in AUSTIN (yes-hard to believe)-this Wednesday, July 30 (11am-Noon CDT) on Austin's KOOP 91.7 FM! Show host "Tiki Ted" aka Dobrolic will feature an all-Hawaiian and Surf music show on his weekly program, RANCHO DEL RAY, in honor of the gathering of the Texas Tikiphiles in Austin this Saturday at “The Enchanted Lagoon."

For those south of San Marcos / east of La Grange / north of Jarrell / west of Johnson City, Rancho Del Ray can be heard live on-line streaming at: http://www.koop.org. At this time the station does not archive its programs, but hopes to add that feature soon. To learn more about Rancho, go to: http://www.koop.org/?page=schedule&section=ranchodelray Thanks for tuning in and see you Saturday night!

Hulacat

Ahhhhhh, great post, Hulacat! Y'know, it never even occurred to me to look El Tropicano up on TC! DUH!

We adore El Tropicano, and it would definitely be a perfect stop for an SA gathering :drink: -- even though the best bartender has left, and the last time I got a mai tai there it was pretty bad. might have to take my own recipe next time :wink: