The Rendezvous... Kenosha, WI now open!

My report follows below...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-10-22 12:02 ]

When is the Grand Opening party?
What is the address?

yeah!! don't tease us with it!!! who wants to wait around for pics when we can see it firsthand at the opening!!

I sure as hell hope all that cool stuff is out of reach of your average I don't give a damn bar goer. I would hate to see it disappear on them right after opening. Very cool looking place!

[ Edited by: Maori_man 2005-07-26 08:48 ]

Give us some details please. I could make over for the opening party.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-10-22 12:50 ]

Lake, Your hard work really looks great. The new bar is lucky to have you on board . Congrats!

Cool dude. ya gotta be proud that your tikis are hangin in such fine digs. Nice work

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-10-22 12:50 ]

so lake, whats the addy/phone#,and hours of operation, i wanna make a tiki roadtrip by years end to see it!

Oh boy! Wisconsin, you have a tiki bar!

Where to start?! The decor! Nothing short of packed solid! A cross between The Enchanted Tiki Room and Pirates of the Carribean at Disney... and co owner Mike Mauldin claims to have been to neither... he dreamed this all up himself! He gathered materials and decor everywhere from Oceanic Arts, Hobby Lobby and flea markets. Oh, and there's a few Lake Tikis here too.

Mike, his business partner Bill are your hosts in this little piece of paradise in Kenosha. They are serious abouth their drinks too. Tropical nectars and guava team with a large variety of rums including Nelson's Blood and other Navy rums as well as the standards. I don't claim to know a ton about drinks and rums but I'm sure even the drink experts here on TC will enjoy the drinks here.

No canned fruits here either... everything is fresh and Mike claims to squeeze a ton of limes each day in prep for the evening. Garnishs include pineapples and other fruits.

Big plans in the future include custom mugs for the bar designed by Mike, custom swizzles, and I will be working with him on new tiksi for the outside of the building as well as a planned patio which may include a tiki fountain.

Jen and I sampled many drinks between 8pm and 2am... all were excellent... many mahalos for your hospitality Mike, Bill and staff!

Pirate's Painkiller
Mai Tai
Devil's Kiss
Mojito
Carribean Ass Kicker (Served in a glass boot mug)
Chi Chi
William's Downfall (Bill's signature drink)
Mike's Jungle Juice (Mike's signature drink)

I've typed too much... on to the pictures, I'm just stoked to be a part of this place!

The Rendezvous
Kenosha, WI
Corner of 17th Avenue and 52nd Street... address is 1700

From I-94 exit at Hwy 158
Head east towards the lake
At 17th the bar is on the Northwest Corner

Hours are 7pm-2am Tuesday-Thursday - 7pm-2:30 ish Friday & Saturday - Closed Sunday & Monday
Get there early on Friday and Saturday to get a table... it gets packed...

The bar is non smoking, but there is a patio for a smoke break...

Drinks range from $6.50 - $8.50
Bowls are $15
They also serve wine and beer
Comp pretzels and munchies

Plans are for light food in the future... standard pu pus and other surprises...

I don't have a phone number yet but can get one...

Enjoy the pictures!

Rum, rum and more rum!

Little details like this will have you looking around the bar all night at stuff... the cat got in the birdcage!

One of my pride and joy...

Patrons enjoying a couple of Scorpion Bowls

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-10-22 13:48 ]

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2006-02-20 23:06 ]

Holy shit! :o

I'm there ASAP! That all came together way better than imagined. Your tikis have a great new home. :D

can not wait to get up there! god, getting to check out this place and tiki terrace next month has me smiling ear to ear!

Ohhhh...looks amazing! I'm in Kenosha 4 days a week - can't wait to extend next Friday or Saturday's trip to K-town & check it out. Nice tiki with a skull on it, too, Lake Surfer!

Ohhhh..The dark tinge to the place looks classic! It is great to see a place that reminds everyone of the classic bars.....Condratulations to all involved! I love the Libby Glass Boot Glass...I have seen then very often and have always wante to come up with a "perfect" tiki drink to put inside of it...Best of luck!

Oh boy! road trip to Kenosha ASAP!
Looks great.

Melissa, the lovely bar manager, is my best friend of 21 years. She, Mike, and Bill put their collective hearts and souls into this place and it's beyond amazing. I'm not sure that Kenosha even is deserving of such a fine establishment, so I hope all you sophisticated Chicagoans and the like will visit over and over again. It's well worth the drive; although you may want to catch a cab home.

Even with the closing of Trader Vic's, we have this new place (Kenosha, is about half way between Chicago and Milwaukee, or about 40 mins drive from either), plus Tiki Terrace opening soon, and the grand re-opening of Aku Tiki Room.

So it's a good time for midwest Tiki, overall.

Anyone want to plan a get-together in lovely Kenosha some time soon?

Maybe with a side-trip to the Mars Cheese Castle's bar..!

I also want to check out the Zombie Club in northwest Indiana (one of their bartenders is here on TC as El Bastardo).

I'm thinking: TRI-STATE TIKI CRAWL!

[ Edited by: tikibars 2006-12-05 23:30 ]

A gathering in Kenosha would be great! We're going to check it out this weekend - either Fri or Sat. But we live close, so if it ends-up being on another weekend, we'll plan on a second visit.

i'm in!!! the bar looks great. nice dark pirate/tiki bar anbience....as with most bars, looks lousy with the lights up or a camera flash.....

also on the tour, stop at garden star a few miles south of the cheese castleon 294 and buy cement tikis!!

im goin to kenosha one of the next 3 weekends for sure!....james, tell us more about the place in indiana....and when is the aku tiki room reopening? i called months ago asking them, and she said they'd call or email me when they were gettin ready to reopen, and this is the first ive heard!

[ Edited by: hala bullhiki 2005-10-26 18:27 ]

Let me know if we are going to plan a TC gathering in Kenosha...
I'll call Mike and give him the heads up that a group of us TC'ers will be there... I know he's looking forward to it.

WOW!
We went to the Rendezvous last night and had a great time. Bill was a fabulous host & the drinks were very good - and extremely well garnished, even with drink monkeys & mermaids.

The decor is fabulous & the music was awesome Martin Denny, etc., with a bit of surf music thrown in during the first few hours. The music went a bit more mainstream later in the evening, but was still quite good & fit the atmosphere well.

We can't wait to go back - did anyone pick a date, yet, for a TC gathering - let's get something on the calendar!!

How about Nov 12th? How does that date look for everyone?

The 12th looks clear for me, I'll just have to check with my wahine to make sure there isn't already something planned.

Good to hear you enjoyed it!

I'm stuck at wedding on the 12th... :(

Any other dates?

Whatever works for everyone though...

the other possibility looks like the 19th of Nov - after that we start to get into the holidays & more schedule conflicts. So, if everyone can check the 12th & 19th & we'll go with whever date more people can be there! Let us all know any thoughts :)

the 12th im at tiki terrace, but were lookin at the 19th for the day we may go up now.....i still cant belive i gonna get to check out 2 new tiki establishments in one week!

We're having a tiki weekend.
Going to go to the terrace on the 10th and then up to the Rendez'vous on Friday night or Saturday or possibly both nights since we are stying for two nights in the Kenosha area. Hoping to do a little bit of antique/junk shopping in Milwaukee during the day on Sat.
Looking forward visiting both places....

The 12th (this coming weenkend) is going to be Tiki Terrace night for a lot of people who can't get there on Thursday.

The 19th of November is the Jake S. performance, also at Tiki Terrace.

December 10 is the Trader Vic's flash-mob / bon voyage shindig.

A lot of people might be travelling to see their families on thanksgiving weekend.

So, by default, that leaves December 3 (or that Fri, Dec 2).

And how do you all feel about doing a Thursday - I prefer that because it will be less crowded, but I know a lot of people have to work early on Friday mornings...

Ironic that you mention December 3rd, as the Rendezvous will likely be opening at 9:30 or 10pm that night (rather than 7pm), as they are likely to be hosting a closed sorority formal event from nearby Carthage College. (I know about this because I am Chapter Advisor for the sorority & steered them toward the Rendezvous to help them get the word out & build business....) We just need to get the paperwork finalized to get it all locked in.

So - December 3rd would work, IF we want to start a bit later. Or Friday, December 2nd works for me, or a Thursday - how about others' preferences???

We can't make it Dec. 3rd, but don't let that stop anyone who's interested in that date.
Dec. the 3rd is my big holiday open house. I plan on opening my home up to any of you folks too who may be interested and would like to stop by to see what we have been up to in creating our own version of a tiki lounge. I'll be posting details in events...

I'm all for crashing the sorority party!

But seriously - let's do Dec 2, that way we can get an early start, and '59 can come too (right?).

Hmmmmm, I have to run that by Mr. E.
AND if you all go on the 2nd you can make my party on the 3rd. :D

Hey all... I'm game for the 2nd of December... or the 3rd... both work for me so far...

Cool - if we do the 2nd, I'll get to be there 2 nights in a row - on the 3rd I'll have to abstain from drinking until 9:30 or so while I am the "adult" to the 40+ sorority women & their dates on Saturday night - as soon as they're out the door, I think I'll order the "Ass-Kicker" off the menu to make up for lost time.

Hey, Lake Surfer - I heard from Bill that you enjoyed the Ass Kicker quite a bit last time you visited :)

I was set up with the Ass Kicker first thing... a great way to begin the night :wink:
Yum.

ill be there either nov.19th,26th, or dec.3rd.......this place looks amazing!

Mahalo everyone for being so excited for the Rendezvous. This is Missy the bar manager thanking everyone for making time to come and pay us a visit. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 13. :wink: As well as in the near future.
Okole maluna

Wow! I never had so much fun and felt so much love in a bar before visiting this one!
We had so much fun on Friday night that we had to come back Saturday night too.
Bill even lined us up with special parking for our motor home.
We were treated like 3 kings and queen at this bar. From the minute you walk in, you know you will be in for a rare treatment of hospitality!
On our first night the place was packed due to a birthday party. Javier, ( bouncer/server/sometimes bar tender)Welcomed us in and looked around until he found us 4 bar stools to pull up to a table, a little bit later he had us move to a lovely table in a corner where we could see everything going on. Mike came up next to welcome us, and once things calmed down a bit Bill came out from behind the bar and hung out with us till we left.
The decor is really cool and as Lake Surfer stated has some of his very fine tikis and just tons of things to look at. The guys really did an excellent job of decorating. I noticed something different each night we were there.Tikis happily mix in with tropical themed items and pirates type items. It's really a fun mix.
OK, lets get on to the drinks. They are so delicious! I think we tried at least one of everything they offer in the way of tropical drinks. Each one was very smooth and tasty! This is a very hard working bunch of people who really care about you having a good time. The drinks are garnished well with fruits and little trinkets. I came home with a purse full of monkeys, elephants, mermaids, sculls, skeletons, and glow sticks that either hung on the edge of the glass or went into the drink. The fresh mint that they grow themselves was great too. Fruit garnishes could be pineapple slices, melon slices, strawberries, lines,mint,and probably other fruits I am forgetting.
Come little bit early and look around and grab a good seat. Starts getting pretty packed from 10:00PM on.
In short, if you can possibly make it to the Rendezous--GO! you won't regret it. I know they would love to meet any TC'ers who can stop by.
Here are just a few pictures. it is just a wee too dark for my crappy digital camera.

first up the owners Bill and Mike ( mike's wearing the Zombie shirt)

Javier standing behind the bar

The beautiful girls behind the bar Missy, Kelly, Corina

a couple of the drinks

Great work, man. Beeeutyful.

Just wanted to bump this thread up and confirm who is in for this Friday, the 2nd...?
I am in!

We're in for 2 - can't wait!

I might be able to make it. Depends on how much cash-on-hand I will have, but would love to be there!

Finky... git yer butt down there...
You need a break from the basement...:wink:

I'll be there early as I'm setting up a few tables of stuff... and staying 'til close.

Jen's got a bachelorette party so I'm flying solo...

See you all there!

I'm going to try like heck to talk my husband into going. If I work real hard around the house the next couple of days I hope I can be ready for our party on Sat. Then I can relax and enjoy a few Mikes jungle juice drinks on Friday night. Yummy!

Aloha all! My son and I just got back from 'Rendesvouz'!! I highly recommend it! It's a 'Tiki' Oasis in the middle of 'Kenowhere'. Next time you're in Kenosha Wi. you must check out this place. They make a Killer Mai-Tai as well!

I'm starting a 3-week sabbatical on March 6th, and planning a swing through the M'Wacky and Chicago area. The Rendevous is on my must-visit list of Midwest tiki establishments.

A tiki bar in Wisconsin? Who'da thunk it? Can't wait to head over, but it'll be a loooong drive back to Madison...