Partially TIKI bar in Sacramento?

I have a friend and her family owns a longtime nautical themed bar in the downtown area of Sacramento. They are looking for new ways to increase business. My suggestion would be to up the nautical decor, add some tiki flourishes and tropical up the booze menu. I would suggest that they start with 5 tropical classics and 5 vintage regular drink classics. The key would be doing them RIGHT- drinks with freshly squeezed juices, not overly sweet in excecution, mixed by measurement and not by eye to get consistency, and a selection of high end rums for sipping.

My question is to people who live in the Sacramento area. Would you actively support this bar if it eased into the tiki scene? They are a nautical themed bar with some sports memorabilia and a working class clientele and I don't see that completely changing- you won't be getting a Forbidden Island makeover. But if the drinks were well made and there was some tiki present would it really be successful in the area?

Mahalo for any input. I may direct the family to this thread.

I guess this would do in a pinch, but I think I would probably stick to my home bar or those of my TC friends.

The thought of driving downtown for a partial "tiki" bar seems a little out of the way. The sports thing would be a killer for me too. Drinks would help, but only if the bartender could produce authentic receipes and be able to sling some different ones if they were called out.

Would they consider a signature mug? That might help!

Oh well, at least this is a start. Where is this bar you speak of?

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-12-29 13:47 ]

OOh Nautical with a lil tiki is my cup o' tea! Any picks my brutha? Me,YOu and Notch could be all over this!

"...new ways to increase business" There are three.

1. You can increase sales by increasing the frequency that your guests visit. This is done by staying relevent to their needs and desires. Is the service perceived by the guests as THE BEST in the area? Is there enough variety in the menu to lure guests in frequently?

2. You can increase sales by increasing how much guests spend on each visit. This done by adding high profit, sometimes higher price point items to the food and drink menu. A great Mai Tai has a higher retail than a 12 oz. draft beer. (It should also provide mopre profit.) Is the service staff skilled at reading the guests and suggesting the best the menus have to offer?

3. You can increase sales by gaining new guests. You have to have something unique to offer-- a story to tell. And, you need to find ways to communicate to non-guests. This can be advertising, creating a presence at community events, etc.

So, you can see that becoming more tiki can help, so long as you know how it fits into your marketing plan. I would not ignore other areas and think that attracting tiki-philes with some decor and a few drinks would alone be enough to lead to a lasting success.

Are we talking about Old Ironsides? I'd go if the drinks were good and there was no sports stuff. Sports stuff kills the island ambiance for me. Then again, I live 2 miles from downtown and work downtown so it wouldn't be a trek, unlike PsychoTikiD who lives farther out. In fact, Old Ironsides is only 6 blocks from where Chief Bartender works. I can see him calling me from "the office" to tell me he has to "work" late.

I do think Midtown/downtown needs a good bar, tiki or otherwise. There are few places to go commercially in Sacramento for a good mixed drink. And the one I can think of is a restaurant bar: Ella.

Falin- I would definitely support the nautical theme bar especially if it was a la Ports O' Call or similar-that works great. And I think you nailed it with your comments about drink quality and rum selection. Even if the place lacks a strong Polynesian/tiki decor, all the ambiance in the world isn't going to make a shitty drink taste better. But if the drinks are good and they are at least trying then I'll gladly throw my support behind them.

Sac's only vestige of tiki Eastern Empire serves classic drink recipes and that alone would attract me most days, but they make drinks without much style or emphasis on balance and consistency and so they become ordinary. TCer's have rightfully set the bar pretty high and if a place can't make a decent Mai Tai then around here we retreat to our home bars. Incredibly many bartenders it seems don't know how to make make even basic drinks. As soon as they reach for that 1 gallon jug of anti-freeze colored sweet-n-sour I know I just threw away $8. You guys got it made :wink:

Mahalo for everyone's comments. I don't want to reveal any more details about the existing place, because I haven't even talked with the owners about this possibility. Elements of this plan were hinted at, but the whole thing isn't even close to becoming a reality.
I don't think it could hurt any business to have high standards in regards to ingredients and consistency when it comes to any drink it mixes. I also agree that with this effort comes the higher pricing.
We will see what comes out of this whole thing, but I appreciate the input...keep it coming!

If there's gonna be wide screen TV's blasting out sports or anything else - forget it. I'm not too keen on the location either but would probably stop by frequently if it was tikified enough and had good food/drinks. I would also be a sucker for anything that came in a vessel that was even remotely tiki that I could take home.

I'm interested. But the sports bar thing is kinda scary. A place with good food and good (not sickly sweet, all-taste-the-same, red) drinks would be great! South Seas Nautical would be fine. Doesn't have to be FI calibur. May even get my posse down there once a week if there is good scooter parking and something vegetarian on the menu. Also have a friend whose wife does hula-maybe another group of peeps to help support.

Keep us posted on what's going on. You know we'll all have input on what will help tikify the place a bit. And we're potential paying customers, so they better listen to us, dang it!!

:drink:
Tacky

If this was Old Ironsides and it went Tiki i'd be so beyond there..
I already head over there every now and then for rockabilly shows..

I would definitely visit it if Tikified. I live in Elk Grove but work downtown so stopping in after work is not out of the question.

I'm miffed that Islands closed in Elk Grove. It was a cool atmosphere and I enjoyed the hamburgers.

We need more Tiki in Sacramento.

Any more news on this?

From what I heard recently, Tiki-fication of Old Ironsides is not likely.