Uncle George’s Lounge, Volcano, HI (restaurant)

Name:Uncle George’s Lounge
Type:restaurant
Street:1 Crater Rim Drive
City:Volcano
State:HI
Zip:96718
country:USA
Phone:808-756-9625
Status:operational

Description:
Many beloved tiki bars uses icons and pictures of erupting volcanoes on a tropical island, one clever one in Anaheim even uses an animatronic version of one. At Uncle George's Lounge, they take it one step further and sits on the rim of an ACTIVE volcano. It is located at the Volcano National Park in the Big Island of Hawaii, inside the Volcano House, a hotel within the national park. Uncle George's Lounge and the full service restaurant The Rim was opened in June 2013 after the hotel went through renovations.

The lounge has a commanding view of the caldera of Kilauea and you can see gases spewing forth from the Halemaumau crater. I didn't stick around at night but you may possibly see the glow coming out of it at night.

While the TiPSY factor at Uncle George's is low, they do serve tropical cocktails drinks out of a selection of Tiki Farm and imported tiki mugs. The cocktail menu lists several classic tiki drinks on it. I was a bit jaded about "tropical drinks" after being on the Big Island for a few days and trying several drinks from resort bars to the more divier variety, and finding them wanting. I asked the server what was in the 'Rum Runner' and the 'Polynesian Paralysis', two drinks that I didn't find on the island too often. The server had to look through some notes but she did read off the ingredients that I knew wouldn't be typically be found in the lesser bars. There was blackberry liqueur, banana liqueur and 151 in the Rum Runner; okolehao in the Polynesian Paralysis! Seems to me the bartender is familiar with the works of Beachbum Berry. We order both of these, and they are served in the proper drinking vessels. Both are refreshingly balanced and delicious - not something I can say about many of the bars in Kailua-Kona. I also inquire about their drink 'The Volcano'. Unfortunately, it's not a large scorpion bowl served in a volcano mug, but a 'Lava Flow', a drink I've never seen outside of Hawaii, which is essentially a pina colada with strawberry puree.

We also order some pupus. Their menu was very conscientious of local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. We get the Kuahiwi Ranch Sliders and Suisan Ahi Poke Stack. These were delicious and really hit the spot after a day of hiking around the National Park.

I wished I could have stayed longer to see the glow out of the crater, and to see if their Mai Tai was more of the classic Trader Vic's or Island variety (pineapple juice, float of dark rum). If I were actually staying at the hotel, a 'Big Island Zombie' would have been on order too. But alas, I had a 95 mile drive through winding, unlit roads to Kailua-Kona, so that's all we tried.

Their menu can be found here

note: at time of writing of this post, the Volcano National Park and the Volcano House is closed due to the Federal government shutdown.

[ Edited by: paranoid123 2013-10-07 18:54 ]

[ Edited by: paranoid123 2013-10-07 18:56 ]

Here are the drinks:

The sliders:

The Ahi poke:

This picture doesn't do the view justice, but this is what you can see from the lounge:

Wish I'd known about this place when I visited earlier this year. Thanks for the write-up!