McMenamin's in Tacoma, WA

I just heard this morning that McMenamin's has purchased an old Elk's Club building in Tacoma, WA and is renovating it into one of their entertainment establishments, I don't think there is going to be a hotel in that one, but apparently they're puting in a "Tiki Bar." I've never been to one of their establishments so I don't know if they're any good or not or if they'll do a Buffett-style Tiki Bar or go for the real deal?! Anyone know anything about them?

A tiki bar! That will be a stretch from their usual. I wouldn't expect Buffet style at all. They tend to take cues from the buildings themselves and create themes based on their former uses. But they have a very distinct art style and you can always tell you are in one of their establishments. I can't wait to see what they come up with. Here is a link with photos of their places so you can get a little idea of what they look like.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/

If McMinamins did tiki it probably would be smug frat boy creepy

On 2010-07-16 14:37, Sophista-tiki wrote:
If McMinamins did tiki it probably would be smug frat boy creepy

That's what I'm afraid of. No reason to travel all the way to the Aroma of Tacoma if that's the case!

"If McMinamins did tiki it probably would be smug frat boy creepy"

All the McMenamins I've been in have been authentic feeling places full of ordinary folks of all ages. The staff in the Portland ones have always been nice. McMenamins beer is good (I brought a growler of one summer brew back from Portland years ago and my friend Sparky still goes on about it) and McMenamins Penney's Gin is good, too.

McMenamins took over the Spar in Olympia and you'd never guess it was part of a chain.

I heard about the Tacoma Elks lodge deal a while back but nothing about a Tiki bar. A Tiki bar doesn't seem like a typical McMenamins establishment, they tend to be more like neighborhood joints. I would guess if they're doing a Tiki bar it wouldn't be a Tiki Bob's type mess. It could be really swell.

Tacoma Elks Lodge

that sound encouraging and nothing like the McMinamins experiences ive had, Guess I havent been to the right ones.

Apparently that Tacoma one is supposed to have a pub, dining, dancing and the Tiki bar. Okay, one of you South-Enders is gonna have to check it out (you're closer!) when it finally opens. OR we could all take pilgrimage and check it out together! That building is pretty square but it's really neat looking. LOTS of potential.

What we ought to do is write McMenamins and suggest the not only do research on Tiki Central but register and solicit input.

Don't be afraid of Tacoma, it's a really cool place. Lots of interesting shops and none of the Seattle attitude. Also unlike Seattle they haven't torn down pert near every scrap of historic architecture. In Seattle the Elk's Lodge would have been flattened for another glass and brushed aluminum condo tower. (Studios starting from the low $200s!)

On 2010-07-16 22:48, woofmutt wrote:
What we ought to do is write McMenamins and suggest the not only do research on Tiki Central but register and solicit input.

Don't be afraid of Tacoma, it's a really cool place. Lots of interesting shops and none of the Seattle attitude. Also unlike Seattle they haven't torn down pert near every scrap of historic architecture. In Seattle the Elk's Lodge would have been flattened for another glass and brushed aluminum condo tower. (Studios starting from the low $200s!)

No kidding! Seattle is so homogenized now it's unbearable. I weep whenever I see those public channel shows about "historic Seattle" - can you believe there was an indoor swimming pool/ice rink in the heart of the city at one time?!

I will venture down to T-town some day and check it out - it's just such a jaunt (I could double it with a bead excursion!).

And you're right - we SHOULD get McM's to do some research on here. Maybe I'll email them the address with a suggestion. Hey, if they do "authentic" where else will they get the input?

Okay - I did it! I sent them the URL for TC. I hope they at least take a look. Let's hope 'cause we could REALLY use an authentic-ish Tiki bar around here!

That's kinda cool, looks like the buy historical properties and convert them into hotels and bars but leaving the architecture of the buildings intact.

Yeah - they're converting an old schoolhouse near where I live as well - no tiki bar though :(

When contacting them, let's stress the fact that Tiki culture really is part of the Puget Sound area's history. Seattle, with its connection to Hawaii, Tacoma and the Navy town of Bremerton all had a slew of Tiki establishments and apartment complexes.

McMenamin's is great!

On 2010-07-18 13:24, bigbrotiki wrote:
When contacting them, let's stress the fact that Tiki culture really is part of the Puget Sound area's history. Seattle, with its connection to Hawaii, Tacoma and the Navy town of Bremerton all had a slew of Tiki establishments and apartment complexes.

I already sent them the link to TC so you may want to follow up with your own thoughts about the connection - I didn't think about that aspect.

"When contacting them, let's stress the fact that Tiki culture really is part of the Puget Sound area's history. Seattle, with its connection to Hawaii, Tacoma and the Navy town of Bremerton all had a slew of Tiki establishments and apartment complexes.
" -bigbrotiki-

And... The new McMenamins location in the old Elks Temple (565 Broadway) is more or less 2 blocks west and 6 blocks north of Tacoma's one time wonderful Tiki establishment The Islander/Clark's Islander (located at 11th and A).

On December 30, 1948, the Elks Temple at 565 Broadway opened its doors to members, wives and ladies to see the newly renovated building. The club room, very popular with the majority of the membership, was just one of the rooms that was completely redone. Everything - chairs, tables, floor coverings, light fixtures - was new and modernized. Even the billiard tables were completely overhauled. All the funiture was custom made in Tacoma. Tacoma News Tribune December 30, 1948 (from the Tacoma Public Library archives)

I visited a couple of their joints when I was in Portland. I was impressed and recall thinking other chains could learn something from them, i.e. uniformity is not always an asset. I am not anti-Starbucks, but maybe they could vary their style now and then?

Anyway, I would nominate BigBroTiki as the Emissary. Show them how to do it correctly.

Another thread got started about this project, The NW is getting a new tiki bar! so I figured I'd bump this one as it has more info and discussion in it.

According to this March 2012 article on the News Tribune site the projected opening date is Spring 2013.

So you know, construction starts in January, their construction crews are pre-leasing apartments for that month. But the big news is this, a week ago they met with the preservation committee and presented plans, nothing specific about a tiki bar in the paper but I found this online....

In the upper right corner you can see a "tiki bar cooler"

It looks like this is going to be the tiki bar! And it's not a small space. Also this room is in the interior of a lower level so it will be secluded from the outside world. I wonder how soon they'll be needing a bartender :wink:

aloha, tikicoma

P.S. this along with Robertikis' post about overhearing the Mc brothers discussing building a Tacoma tiki bar makes me think this is actually going to happen!

[ Edited by: tikicoma 2012-10-12 20:19 ]

[ Edited by: tikicoma 2012-10-12 20:21 ]

Tres cool, coma! It seems they are reviving the Tiki temple tradition of an interior waterfall feeding a river traversed by bridges, quite common in its heyday, and only recently ripped out of the Islands Restaurant in San Diego:

So, can Tacoma support 2 tiki bars?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=43843&forum=2&1

"So, can Tacoma support 2 tiki bars?"*

There's probably as much chance for it as any similar sized city. Anyone who hasn't spent some time in Tacoma in the past 10 years should set aside any negative impressions they might have about the City of Destiny. It's a cool city with a lot of creative people doing neat stuff and people who dig neat and cool stuff.

The above floor plan also seems to put this one into a different league than the linked one.

The short answer is yes. The McMemamins are known for seeing the value in historic buildings and turning them into successful venues featuring movies, quality music concerts and competitive food and drinks. They brew their own beer and its solid if not exceptional and their mixed drinks are good but not what I would call part of the craft cocktail movement, at least not at any of the five I've been to, they don't fail, at least not so far.
Tacoma Cabana on the other hand evolved from another smaller restaurant downtown that did well but they wanted to expand. After talking to and being aware of Jason Alexander from the web it seems he's about the craft cocktail movement and classic "tiki" drinks and this year competed in the Kona Mai Tai competition though he said he went out early. This town needs a good craft cocktail bar and their place is a bit more contemporary tropical than over the top tiki. The space they are in has had 2 or 3 joints fail quickly before them, but they were (I thought) pretty lame business models.
I can see them both succeeding but in the current economy all restaurant business is tough and very competitive.

So now you know more about the City of Destiny's bar scene than you ever wanted to.

aloha, tikicoma

"Tacoma, 185,000 alcoholics can't all be wrong!"