Hula Hut, Little Elm, TX

I came across an advertisement for this place in my local newspaper. It looks like it is related to the Hula Hut in Austin, which is on Lake Austin.

http://www.hulahutlittleelm.com/

The Little Elm location is just outside Dallas on Lake Lewisville. I went to the website and the pictures look great. There is even a volcano that erupts! My early excitement was slowed when I read the description of "Mexonisian."

The food appears to be Tex-Mex with some Asian influence thrown in a couple dishes (like Mexonisian Shrimp Flauta's made with wontons). The real test was the drinks, specifically the Mai Tai. It is "A delicious frozen blend of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, orange juice and pineapple juice served with a floater of Kraken Rum." Hmmmmm. Not good.

The reviews on Yelp are pretty hit and miss but I may need to check it out just for the decor and location. Has anyone in Texas been to either location?

Rick in Texas

Hula Hut is owned by Chuy's which I'm sure you have up in Dallas. They started in Austin, are in Houston, San Antone and branching out all over (saw one in Bowling Green!) I've been to the Austin Hula Hut twice and the menu is very similar to the Tex-Mex served at Chuy's. First time was a horrible experience riddled with overcrowding and horrible service. Returned years later and was disappointed again. The location overlooking the water is nice but I wouldn't by any stretch consider the place "tiki." I ordered the Hawaiian fajitas and it was exactly the fajitas you'd get at Chuy's with two small rings of canned pineapple tossed on top. I remember the cocktail menu being all tequila drinks and if they had a rum drink it was Sailor Jerry or Malibu (or both) and I didn't bother ordering it. I can't speak for the Dallas location but if it's anything like Austin go in with low expectations and you just might not be disappointed.

I have heard that there are no tikis and the drinks are horrible, so I never waste my time when I am in Austin.

I've never considered the Austin location tiki, but it's listed here in the Locating Tiki section and on Critiki, so I guess it's official. I just heard about the Little Elm location recently myself, but figured it would be worth a try. I'll post a review here if I make it out there.

I've been intrigued by this place for awhile, but still haven't been.

It's a bit disappointing to hear there's nothing remotely tiki about it since it literally advertises itself as that.

Still trying to find something remotely tiki between San Antonio and Austin, so far nothing's met our expectations.

On 2016-06-05 16:13, davidphantomatic wrote:

Still trying to find something remotely tiki between San Antonio and Austin, so far nothing's met our expectations.

Still trying to find something tiki that's remotely decent in Austin.

We go to the Austin one about once a year. The food is decent for what it is - mostly Mexican with a slight twist. As Mike said, if you do not have high expectations, but expect food quality like Chuy's, you will likely be happy with the food.

The drinks do suck. The only one we have found drinkable (and in no way tiki) is a Margarita made with all Texas ingredients - I forget what it's called, but sitting out on a deck overlooking the water enjoying the weather, it's very drinkable. But not tiki & not a craft cocktail.

So, no - not tiki. While the Austin one has a few carved tikis, it's still not worthy of being listed on Critiki, as if you go there expecting Tiki, you WILL be disappointed.

Great information. Thanks for the responses.

I went to the Little Elm location the weekend before last and...well, I'll start with the good stuff. The decor is fun and does, in fact, include a few tikis. There are two flanking the entrance, a few around the bar, and a couple hanging on the walls. There's a huge covered deck that wraps around a lagoon with a big shark sticking out of the water and a volcano at the back that "erupts" with water spewing out every now and then. The deck setup is actually pretty awesome, at least with the weather that afternoon, which was still surprisingly mild for Texas in late May. There's also a wakeboard park next door where you can watch people surfing. All in all, it's definitely a welcome change of scenery.

I ordered a Mai Tai and my wife ordered a margarita. The Mai Tai ("A delicious frozen blend of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, orange juice and pineapple juice served with a floater of Kraken Rum") was, of course, nowhere near authentic and also completely forgettable. The margarita was decent, but definitely not great. The Dallas area has plenty of competition for margaritas, and you won't be hard-pressed to find a better one elsewhere.

The food was the most disappointing part of the experience. The salsa and queso were pretty mediocre. We tried the Hawaiian Fajitas with shrimp and chicken. The chicken wasn't bad, but the shrimp was hard to find. Calling it popcorn shrimp would have paid it a complement. The grilled pineapple on top was absolutely awful. I got fresh pineapple as a garnish on my Mai Tai, so I know they have it available. However, the grilled pineapple on top of the fajitas was some sort of canned abomination that I gave up on after two bites. I absolutely love pineapple and honestly have no idea how they made theirs taste so bad. I took a second bite just to make sure I hadn't just imagined how bad the first bite tasted.

You can find much better drinks elsewhere along with much better Tex-Mex, but this is as tiki as DFW gets, so I have to at least give the Hula Hut some credit there. Until a possible Swizzle Luau Lounge opens (soon, please?), this is pretty much it. I recommend getting takeout from L&L Hawaiian BBQ on your way up to the Hula Hut and sneaking it in to enjoy the drinks (a little) and the deck and decor (a lot).

Nice review, PlainOtiki. Thanks! Happy to see you posting on TC again.