The Shrunken Head, Colorado Springs, CO (bar)

Name:The Shrunken Head
Type:bar
Street:114 N Tejon Street
City:Colorado Springs
State:CO
Zip:80903
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
The Shrunken Head was scheduled to open Spring 2020 and finally opened in March 2022 as Colorado Springs' only tiki bar.

[ Edited by Hamo on 2022-03-23 19:50:06 ]

I happened across this article about this new tiki bar/restaurant scheduled to open this April in Colorado Springs.

https://gazette.com/arts-entertainment/tiki-bar-coming-to-downtown-colorado-springs/article_7779d54a-20f6-11ea-8079-1b71ad3070ea.html

Much like TC, it appears that The Shrunken Head was delayed for two years. It opened last week at a different location two blocks south of the original address indicated in the article above.

CO Springs Gazette: Colorado Springs gets a tiki bar
https://gazette.com/arts-entertainment/dining/colorado-springs-gets-a-tiki-bar/article_f5e4bcb6-8e9e-11ec-867a-af1737471c76.html

Fox 21 News: Restaurant Report Card: Colorado Springs’ only tiki bar now open downtown
https://www.fox21news.com/news/restaurant-report-card/restaurant-report-card-colorado-springs-only-tiki-bar-now-open-downtown/

I'm a little worried about the LiteBrite bar, but the next time I'm in the Springs, I'll still check it out.

Couldn't get to it on our last trip to the Springs (we have a condo out there) but will try to stop in on our next trip this summer. I'm not too optimistic at this point, but we'll give it a try. Assuming there's an O2 bottle handy.

Our plan to visit was for last summer but COVID had other ideas for me. This time we managed to get there on a Saturday afternoon just after they opened.

First, the good stuff:

TPSI coefficient is very high. They have a LOT of tikis.

And some more tikis, along with other masks

Velvet paintings

A rather elaborate water feature

And a lot of fish floats (although they weren’t lit and looked like they were from Hobby Lobby)

I think I even saw some of Phineas’ in-laws there!

Now for the not-so-good:

Despite the eye candy, I just couldn’t get into this place. The music, for starters, was a mix of R&B, some bluesy reggae, and hip-hop. No judgement on any of these genres, but they just don’t belong in a tiki bar. I’m also not a real fan of the Christmas lights.

There was no drink menu offered or posted, instead one must use the QR code at the table to go to their website for a menu. OK, so I’m an old fart, but I grew up in a time where it was actually legal to be more than 3 feet from your phone. And of course my phone didn’t want to capture the QR code. Had to navigate to their website just to order.

Then there were the drinks. I ordered a mai tai. The website describes it as “boozy+bitter”. It arrived overdressed with garnish. Almond forward, which is not necessarily bad, but waaaaaay sweet. Very little of the rum flavor was apparent. In short a swing and a miss, although I’m sure it’s a hit with the hipster lemon drop martini crowd.

I didn’t see much in the way of good rum there either. Don Q seems to be their go-to.

I wandered over to check out the mugs that were for sale. The mugs they serve drinks in aren’t bad, but they offer a completely different line for sale. Most were nothing more than a cylinder into which was stamped a tiki head on either side. Many of these were flattened from that procedure. Not something I was prepared to pay $25 for. The one carved mug I was interested in was not for sale.

Overall, it’s a nice bar with tikis, but I wouldn’t call it a tiki bar.

[ Edited by coldwarspacemonkey on 2023-08-27 13:38:32 ]

[ Edited by coldwarspacemonkey on 2023-08-27 13:39:28 ]