The Rendezvous... Kenosha, WI now open!

For anyone in the area who hasn't been to the Rendezvous, yet, it's a definite "Must"!! The drinks - wow! The decor - Wow!, the service/owners - quadruple WOW!!. Post here when you're coming to visit & we'd love to meet you all there. A few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.....exotica59 already added some great ones, so I didn't want to repeat what she had already added!

Ahhhh.... there's one of my pride and joy again... :wink:

Bill and Mike are like family and whenever the wife and I are there the bar is home.

The best damn tiki joint in Wisconsin. Not to be missed.

was there last weekend and the drinks decor and staff were great, now if they could replace the pearl jam cd with some martin denny or los straightjackets we'll be all set

yeah - the music - they have several Exotica CDs in their music selection & fortunately when we are there, they usually put those on because they know we're into that. They also have some other pretty cool stuff that's on the fringe - ever heard of the "Red Elvis'"? Mike - one of the co-owners - is really into fun music. But I know what you mean, because as the night gets later & the bar gets busier it always switches to, ummmmm....... more "popular" music.

Yes, yes, yes! This place looks great. Heavy on the skulls, I like the threatening edge to the imagery, although the decor is beautiful all around. Excellent work, whoever was involved in this. Wonderful.

It is a tough spot... they are a bar and the goal is to be successful... and they are on a stretch of road that has a lot of popular bars.
Sometimes the music keeps the younger crowd buying drinks... and keeps them there rather than another bar down the street.

Mike does his best to cater to everyone... my best advice is if you'd like to relax and enjoy more exotica or surf tunes, come early.

Funny thing though... Mike came in one night after we had been there a while... the girls behind the bar had some heavy bass going on... think it was Gnarls Barkley or something... I asked Mike, "What's up with the bass tonight, its shaking us off our barstools!?" In a flash he had "Quiet Village" on... and although the whole bar grumbled, no one really left. :)

Just ask, I'm sure he'll mix the music up... but as I said, they are first and foremost a bar and have to keep people coming in to make money!

Great place, Lake, you and the rest of those guys did an outstanding job! You're lucky to live so close to such a fab establishment.

Aloha my fellow Tiki lovers!
I am looking to have a few people up at the Rendezvous on Thursday. Does anyone know if they serve food yet?? I know I could call them, but that would be TOO easy and I'm TOO impatient to wait until they are open tomorrow night.

I would be grateful for any 411 you fine folks can provide me....

Mahalo!

Nurse Tiki :tiki: :drink:

On 2007-08-07 01:28, Nurse Tiki wrote:
Aloha my fellow Tiki lovers!
I am looking to have a few people up at the Rendezvous on Thursday. Does anyone know if they serve food yet?? I know I could call them, but that would be TOO easy and I'm TOO impatient to wait until they are open tomorrow night.

I would be grateful for any 411 you fine folks can provide me....

Mahalo!

Nurse Tiki :tiki: :drink:

what an awesome place that is and the drinks are top notch.....we may join you....they don't serve food and they are one of only 2 bars in kenosha that are non smoking but they have a smoking room/terrace.....this would be a good way to begin the hot rod hula hop weekend!!!

i believe there are places to eat nearby....

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2007-08-07 05:23 ]

Thanks so much Tipsy!
We'd love to see you there, the more the merrier! Just to warn you, I am not bringing the nurse troops to this gathering, but I may have a few there. There will probably be some swarthy female scientists though. ;-0 We will probably start getting there around 6pm on Thursday as people will be coming after work. We will be having cake for a birthday and celebrating the start of a trip to Maui!!! I so need a drink in a fun mug! Don't you agree? I think Mr. Tiki and I will be sharing a scorpion bowl. I will be the crazy girl with black hair and blue eyes- please DO come and say hello.

We were going to do this Friday, but I have some fun plans in Naperville...

XOXO
Nurse Tiki

On 2007-08-07 05:22, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

On 2007-08-07 01:28, Nurse Tiki wrote:
Aloha my fellow Tiki lovers!
I am looking to have a few people up at the Rendezvous on Thursday. Does anyone know if they serve food yet?? I know I could call them, but that would be TOO easy and I'm TOO impatient to wait until they are open tomorrow night.

I would be grateful for any 411 you fine folks can provide me....

Mahalo!

Nurse Tiki :tiki: :drink:

what an awesome place that is and the drinks are top notch.....we may join you....they don't serve food and they are one of only 2 bars in kenosha that are non smoking but they have a smoking room/terrace.....this would be a good way to begin the hot rod hula hop weekend!!!

i believe there are places to eat nearby....

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2007-08-07 05:23 ]

what out for those drinks!! they sneak up on you!!

Have to say, LOVED going to the Rendezvous! What a fantastic place- it was a wonderful place to kick off our trip to Maui! Can't wait to go back- I only wish they had food to nibble on.

If you're looking for a bite to eat before you hit the Rendezvous, be sure to check out the Hob Nob, a great old swanky Supper Club between Racine and Kenosha, right on the lake on 32. Still has plenty of mid-century swagger even though they've done some remodeling the last couple years. Plus a piano bar on Saturdays!

Just down the road from the Rendezvous is a divey old-folks bar (don't recall the name) that has a low-key feel, big bowls of salty munchies and a gregarious Serbian owner who will LOAD you up on heavy bar pours and free shots of Slivowitz. A good place to stop if you are too early for the Rendezvous to be open.

Just thought I would let everyone know that they had drink specials on Tuesday- all specialty drinks $5.00 (instead of $6.50) and all volcano bowls $10.00 (instead of $15.00)

For anyone interested in seeing a bit more of the Rendezvous from afar, it is featured in an episode of tapouT.

See the details in the last post in this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=25562&forum=12&hilite=rendezvous

I'll be flying into Milwaukee for business Saturday, March 9. First stop, the Rendezvous. If any TC folks are there, please say hi. Since I'm pretty low key, I'm not sure how to identify myself other than to say I'll be traveling with a VERY cheerful Asian gal. She tends to stand out. Listen for the laugh.

If you can suggest any interesting restaurants in the area other than the Hob Nob already listed in this thread, I'd appreciate suggestions. I know it's called the Rendezvous Bar and Grill, but I've never heard much about food there - do they have a menu? Yelp only has one not very helpful review.

I have to spend the rest of the trip in Marshfield (which I'm certain does NOT have a tiki bar), so this is the only chance I'll get to check out how you Wisconsin folks embrace your tiki side.

Feel free to PM me to avoid filling this thread with a lot of necessary back and forth.

Thanks,

• SV

A followup to the previous posting.

So, we walked into the Rendezvous and the first word to escape my lips as I saw the decor,"nice." Even better, four TCers were waiting at the best table in the place with two empty chairs alongside. We all had a good time getting acquainted while sipping the house specialties. I had the Gravedigger (Oh yeah, you bet I got the mug.) and my friend Charlyn tried the Rendezvous and Mike's Jungle Juice. Later, we all went out to a 2am breakfast(?).

The place is about the same size and shape as Alameda's Forbidden Island. The big differences: no huts, no corner water feature and no outdoor patio in the back. The decorations are a curious mix of Tiki, Pirate and "world" nicknacks like you'd find at Cost Plus. Mike, the owner, is clearly a hard-working guy with a love for making the most of what he can get his hands on. He has plans in place to upgrade the decorations and the tikis from Lake Surfer definitely add to the decor. He's had a surf rock band playing live in the place. The only thing that didn't work for me: the music. Not the mix — which was eclectic but interesting — but the volume which made it difficult to talk at times. It does appear that the regular crowd are not tikiphiles, but enjoy the place.

Big thanks to Melody, Roger, Steve and Tim for driving up from the Chicago area to meet two people they didn't even know and giving us a welcome as warm as the outside air was cold. You guys were a lot of fun.

-SV

[ Edited by: serious voodoo 2008-03-19 21:10 ]

It was great to meet you guys too! We are always game to meet with out of town people and show off what tiki we have around here from Chicago to Milwaukee.Give us a shout out if you ever find your way back here again.

I Luv K-Town's TiKi Bar- "Rendezvous"! 4 months ago I opened my own joint in Racine. It's called BRASSMONKEY, and I consider it a TiKi Bar....more UrbanTiKi; not kitschy, but still very interesting and weird-full of rummy goodness! The address in 1436 Junction Ave. The building/business has been a bar since 1903. It was a Pabst bar and a Speakeasy during prohibition, and has the best looking carved wood back bar in the city! Stop on in for a BrassMonkey, Zygasm, Lunchbox, or an excellent BloodyMary! Open 7even days week for your drinking enjoyment! Google Us!-"brassmonkey racine"