Howie's Tiki, Spring, TX (bar)

Name:Howie's Tiki
Type:bar
Street:4334 FM 2920 Suite 100
City:Spring
State:TX
Zip:77388
country:USA
Phone:832-299-6991
Status:operational

Description:
Soft opening for drinks only this weekend, food to come soon. In a strip center, cross street is Bridgestone, formally 2 different bbq joints. Smallish space but cozy, dark, featuring cool artwork from Ken Ruzic, and more to come from him and others as this Northside Tiki haven will always be a work in progress. Music via Rockbot music app which lets you pick the songs. Check us out on Facebook--Howie's Tiki--When the TIKI BAR OPEN Neon sign is posted we are finally open (kinda like Krispy Kreme) Mahalo and we look forward to serving up both Authentic and Modern Tiki delights to our community.

Here's an afterthought, some photos?

Howie's is opening this weekend,Lance...
Give the crew some time to shoot some pix/
The shots I've seen are looking great!
Here's a little teaser shot
before the bar was stocked...

Expect Good things and more shots as they settle in!

and here's a link to their Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Howies-Tiki-412018908922963/?fref=nf

Thanks Kinny....

And oh BABY is it stocked now!

(Photo taken from the Howie's Facebook page.)

Some of us Texas Tikiphiles met up there last night for their soft opening, and we were all quite happy!
Mark the owner is FULLY committed to making this place a great, truly tiki, tiki bar.
Gorgeous Oceanic Arts lamps everywhere, thatching over the cozy booths, original art from TC-ers Ken Ruzic and Bamboo Ben, and some really nice large black and white photos. Room for more décor as he finds it.

No sports.
No TV.
Thank you, Mark.
(The screen seen in my photo is of the RockBot mobile app that shows you what's playing and allows you request songs. But it played all exotica/surf last night [save one Ramones which I don't mind in the least!].) So big thumbs up for appropriate tiki bar music. :drink:

Among our group, we had the on-menu Mai Tai, the off-menu Mai Tai, the Navy Grog (best), Zombie, Painkiller, Three Dots and a Dash, Suffering Bastard, Test Pilot, Voodoo, and maybe another...I think. Yeah, they were [appropriately] strong. 'Course, we also stopped off at Lei Low on the way home...
It was a soft opening, so I'll leave any criticisms (which would be minor and few) until after they've had time to work out their kinks.

More of note:
Fresh ingredients and house-made syrups.
Really cool: the orgeat is made from apricot pits - not almonds! Why? Mark is allergic to nuts and he wants a Mai Tai, dangit! So anyone with nut allergies can drink free of fear at Howie's. And the orgeat was delicious - and totally almondy. Like, weird.

Tiki Farm mugs to come, and boy are they special :o . All I'm gonna say for now on that one.

So overall: Big YAY!!
(Spring, Texas is 30 minutes north of Houston, BTW. So now you have TWO excuses to come to Houston to get your tiki on: Lei Low and now Howie's!)

"Zazz captivates felt."

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2016-02-07 11:19 ]

On 2016-02-07 11:17, Formikahini wrote:
...
Really cool: the orgeat is made from apricot pits - not almonds! Why? Mark is allergic to nuts and he wants a Mai Tai, dangit! So anyone with nut allergies can drink free of fear at Howie's. And the orgeat was delicious - and totally almondy. Like, weird.

...

That's great! I've never heard of that being done. I would have been afraid to try that because I was once told that apricot pits can be poisonous. Somewhere else I read that it really depends on how many you eat before it becomes fatal and that many people have no problems at all. Then I read that roasting them first removes the toxins rendering them completely safe.

This is great news. I'll definitely be making a visit!

Finally finished the Marquesan for Mark at Howie's. Mark's Marq as I liked to call it. Or The Motörhead Marq.

Looks like you made your marq on the world. :) Good job.

On 2016-04-10 10:57, GROG wrote:
Looks like you made your marq on the world. :) Good job.

I usually don't drink bourbon but when I do it's Makers Marq
Your turn.

[ Edited by: AlohaTexasTikiCo 2016-04-10 11:33 ]

What a great addition to Howie's!
Man! this place is a work of art in progress
and it just keeps gettin better and better!
Go Mark!
Great Job you guys!

NIIIICE!!! Cant wait to get down there!!

My trip to Houston the other weekend became a tale of two tikis when I visited the Lei Low on Thursday, but then also had a last second chance to visit Howie's Tiki in Spring, Tx (North of Houston) as well.

I wasn't sure how I was going to get up to Spring from where I was in downtown Houston because I hadn't rented a car for this trip. I took a chance and reached out to a former uber driver I knew down in the area. Turns out he was driving another client around that evening, but when they heard that I was trying to get to a tiki bar for 20 to 30 minutes to have a drink, they both thought that sounded like fun and offered to make the journey with me.

We rolled into Howie's about 8:00 pm on Sunday and found the owner Mark behind the bar. He made our driver Byron a nice NA fruit drink and my other tiki companion opted for a Moscow Mule. For me he made an off-menu cocktail called Young Lust (Pink Floyd inspiration) using Paranubes Rum from Oaxaca, Mexico. I talked a bit with Mark about the history of his bar and some future plans he has for Houston tiki offerings.

Howies Tiki Lana by Big Toe

The first thing that I noticed in taking the space in is that he has some great artwork up on the walls. One piece by Big Toe, called Howies Tiki Lana, was the inspiration for a new mug by Tiki Farm called Lawai'a. Another wonderful piece to the left of the bar has a second life to it once it is bathed in blacklight.

Normal Tiki Room Light

Come alive under blacklight

I like the feel of Mark's place and enjoyed sharing it with a couple of locals who were new to tiki. I picked up two great mugs for my collection. One was Mark's custom Howie's Tiki 16 oz volcano mug from Tiki Farm and the other the new 24 oz Lawai mug. More importantly it was great spending some time with the owner/creator of an inspiring space. Like some of you, I enjoy taking in a tiki place when I travel. I was lucky to visit two on this trip (I posted the the Thursday night sojourn to the Lei Low in another forum topic). Make sure to visit Howie's if you get to Houston. Grab a drink and give Mark a little grief for being a Green Bay fan!

My Tiki Crew for this visit

Howie's is not long for this world. :( They posted this on their FB page this morning:

Friends, this Saturday will be our final day as Howie's Tiki. We are remodeling the space to roll out an exciting and completely different venue, called The Wet Leprechaun Tavern which will be a traditional authentic Irish Pub.
Thank you tikiphiles and rum lovers for your support over these almost 3 years. I can assure you the best is yet to come!

Wow! " The Wet Leprechaun Tavern "....? :lol: That sounds like a parody of what to replace a Tiki bar with, but I guess it's the sad truth.

So ya going to swap out the sparse tiki décor for sparse Irish décor?

Tiki lite does not work as far as I have seen.

If you do go Irish, go full blown Irish and do more than throw up a few Guinness signs and a dart board.