PolynesianPop in Nashville, TN 4/20-4/22

Any Nashville TC'ers up for The Omni Hut? I'll be in town for a few short days and will be available in the evenings after 5pm. Thought it would be fun to meet up with the Nashville TC contingency (if there are any out there???) for a drink or two.

Tuesday thru Thursday? That's a tough one. If it were on a weekend I could come over and meet up.

Yeah, I know... I'll be arriving on Tuesday around 4pm. Will be in a training class on Wed & Thurs and fly out Friday morning at 6am.

How far away are you Swanky? Maybe I can drive out and say Hello on Thursday night?

I'll send you a PM.

Well I got back from Nashville yesterday and my visit to the Omni Hut was good. Polly (the owner) was very nice! She loaded me up with a bunch of goodies -- a menu, placemat, other paper goods with their logo and a bottle of their house Teriyaki sauce (which they sell in the restaurant).

As you may (or may not) already know, the Omni Hut has been the same and untouched for the last 40+ years. Polly is the daughter of the person who built and opened it 4 decades ago. Lots of fish float lights, luahala and of course, tikis!

On another note, when in south Nashville, I came across a vacant (in progress) building with a patio full of thatch umbrella'd tables and luahala matting on the surrounding walls. The marquee was still blank but through further investigation I learned that this will be the new location for "Largo Tiki Bar and Grill - opening this summer." Anybody here familiar with this??? If they are calling it Largo because of "Key" Largo, then it may very well be more of a Buffeteer bar than a true tiki bar. It was right next door to Hooters if that's any indication of what's to come....

Oddly enough, I was also in Nashville this past week (16-19th), and was able to squeeze in a late Saturday evening trip to the Omni Hut.

As soon as I walked into the Omni Hut, Polly came up to me and said something like 'You've got your bag of liquor, and you've got your camera - you must be one of those Tiki Road Trip people' We had a good discussion about the history of the Omni Hut, and other things, before they seated me at my table.

Here is a picture of Polly behind the counter....

And here is a picture of one of two great carvings displayed in the lobby area...

I did remember to stop at the liquor store beforehand - I noticed the Tennessee liquor stores sell a good variety of bottles in the smaller sizes. For those of you who have never been to a BYOB tiki restaurant, this is what your table might look like. I ordered pineapple juice at the Omni Hut, they brought out the empty glass, paper umbrella, and swizzle stick, and you simply mix your own drink.

And one last picture, of a fantastic dessert they serve: ice cream shaped like a volcano, Creme de Menthe, a flaming sugar cube placed on top, all served on a cermaic sea shell. This was an absolute delight - one of my favorite desserts ever.

Polly said to me as I was walking out ....
"Tell James Teitelbaum that I'm going to give him a big kiss the next time he comes here!"

The Omni Hut was one highlight of the trip - the other was seeing Merle Haggard perform at the Ryman Auditorium.

Vern

Vern, I ordered that same dessert! Very good, indeed. I'm going to give their Teriyaki sauce a try sometime soon. We'll see if I can get it to taste the same with one of my dishes!