Denver Tiki - General info, events, etc.

Dale:

I was hoping to get you to one of the shindigs sooner or later!

Nice I'll be looking forward to the chance to meet the folks from the Denver tribe seein as I missed out on the "New Year" gathering...

Here's some more details.

SPECIAL FINK SERVICE

Denver Area Fraternal Order of Moai Meet and Greet.

10th Almost Anual Summer Luau / Meet and Greet.
Come fly with us to a world of dashing pilots, sexy stews and stewards, eccentric millionaires and exotic travelers. Strictly FIRST CLASS all on the way to the exotic location known as Tiki Fink's Shack.

An evening of exotic cocktails and entertainment with music by Vibes on Velvet and Zulu Magoo's in-flight Cinema
Pot Luck Culinary Competiton! Bring your finest island inspired dish! Prizes will be awarded for best tasting, best presentation, best airline theme and best over all!

$10.00 donation goes to the Denver Area FOM hospitality fund!

Airline themed or exotic island attire strongly encouraged!

Save the date because you do not want to miss your flight!

RSVP to [email protected] or by PM here by 7/8/09

Tiki Fink's Shack 7/11/09

7:00 pm - ????

[ Edited by: tiki fink 2009-06-19 08:02 ]

Hey- anyone know where all the awesome nautical stuff went when they ruined Simms Landing? http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2009/06/simms_steakhouse_opens_today.php

I was out of town when it happened and when I did a circle around the building it looks like it had all been hauled away. Would love to get my hands on some of that decor!

I was sniffing around there about a week and a half ago and it had already been taken out. I bet it got pitched in the dumpster by the contractors!

Michelle, are you going to make it to Fink's Luau this summer?

Zulu

I wish- unfortunately I'm in Chicago for a Library conference, for work! :(

Special Fink Service. Summer Luau / Meet and Greet

One week away! Better start packing.

For more info PM me.

I'm bummed I'm going to miss your luau, Tiki Fink! I know it'll be great.

Check out these beauties I discovered at the Arvada Center last week. They're in a small courtyard at the upper rear of the building. A sculptor named Bryan Andrews - you can see more of his stuff here:
http://www.bandrewsstudios.com/Wood.php

I met this cat at the art show we had on Broadway a couple of years ago. Real nice guy.

His studio is downtown somewhere. You see his work show up from time to time. Good stuff.

Here are some pics from the Denver Area FOM Summer Luau and Meet & Greet
SPECIAL FINK SERVICE!

In flight movie

Perpare for landing! All seats and tray tables in their upright and locked positions..

Airport Lounge aka S.S. Ratfink

Vibes On Velvet!

The Denver Tiki group will be setting up at the Denver Modernism Show on August 28 to 30th. Stop on by if you are in the Denver area. Guests at the show include Shag, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine and Charles Phoenix. The fantastic band Vibes on Velvet will also be playing on Saturday night.

Hi Denver Tiki Pals-

Cueva Bonita, my new basement tiki bar will be 'open' Monday night starting at 7pm. Grill will be on, drinks will be flowing, so bring some food for the grill, maybe something to share- food or booze.

2690 W Mississippi Ave, Denver 80219

-Vivienne VaVoom

Info; The Mongolian Barb-b-que on Arapahoe Road, about 1 mile west of I-25 on the North side of the street. The drink menu is sporting a whole slew of tiki drinks.......Mai Tais, Zombies, Sufferin' Me's, Navy grogs and more.
I didn't indulge as I had my kids and my parents were footin' the bill, so the quality, I don't know. But who knows.....

I'm feelin' a winter bar hop coming on. Maybe the Mongolian bbq, then Zulus, The wonderful Twin Dragon, Lovely Viviennes house, and end in the Trujillos Backyard in Brighton. Could be a beautiful thing.

[ Edited by: Mr. Dale 2009-09-28 17:30 ]

As of today The Winejester will be selling Falernum and Pimento Liquer. Yep..

Anybody see the tiki logo for the Denver Boat Show? I also heard a radio commercial there will be a tiki party on Friday and Saturday night.

I saw this in the paper.
Tammy and I are going.

I fully expect it to be a past life experience... deck shoes, Corona w/limes and Parrot Heads... but there are Sailboats and Hula Girls at least!!!!

Pictures to follow.

[ Edited by: Beach Bum Scott 2010-01-17 08:43 ]

So we took one for the team.....
and it turned out better than I was hoping for in the Hula show and Tiki department but worse in the sailboat world... All they had were a couple of little racing boats.

The guitar player was doing the Hapa-Haole and Hawaiian standards with a couple best of Buffett songs for the Corona crowd.

I would have taken more Hula pic's but the battery died.

the "Tiki" Bar

Tikis around the stage area

Stage and Hula girls

the Keiki's learning to do the "Hukilau"

Just moved to Denver and have been on a beer binge, but am getting itchy for rum.
Where the hell does one get a good cocktail around here?

Try the Twin Dragon on South Broadway in Englewood. 3021 S. Broadway. Phone number 303-781-8068.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.
Me and the missus have been searching for a good classic cocktail joint in town and have been coming up empty all over. There's great beer here, but I'm getting so frustrated finding a bar that has more than Barcadi or Captain Morgan's I'm seriously considering opening my own place.
You think there's enough interest in Denver to sustain a nautical/tiki/dive? What have been the problems in the past when folks have tried to do tiki here?

If you are looking for classic cocktails, check out the Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel (1600 17th Street) by the 16th street mall.

Also, on Friday February 12th, the Denver tikiphiles are heading to the Twin Dragon for Chinese New Year's celebration. PM me for details.

PM sent.

Btw, we headed up to Daveco today and I scored my first bottle of Coruba (never could find it in NorCal), as well as my first bottle of La Favorite Rhum Agricole. The La Favorite is remarkably cheaper here than in California, and as much as I love it, that's damn good news!

Hey there Chango thought you might find this intresting.
http://www.denversbestdivebars.com/
I've been to a few in the book some cool old dives here...

I have yet to find a bar that carrys better than Meyer's Dark or Appleton Special even then the person behind the bar has no idea what to do with it other than mix it with coke and add a lime.

See ya at the Twin Dragon!!!

Thanks for the link, I'm lookin' forward to hitting some good dives.

Btw, I posed the same bar questions on another board I frequent, and was told about a Jamaican place in LoDo called Eight Rivers. While not nearly as amazing as Forbidden Island or Smuggler's Cove, their rum list is pretty dang impressive... especially when you take into consideration the lacking of a good rum bar in Denver... and even more especially when I saw they had the Appleton 21 Year. Awesome.

Check it out:
http://www.8riverslodo.com/

The rum list is under "drinks" and then click on the photo of the "rum vault".

I heard of that place but dismissed it as a LODO hipster/nattydread wannabe Mojito place.

I may have to wander down that way and see...

Yeah, I'm not so much down with the reggae hipster thing, either (as in, not at all), but was thinking it might be a good rum joint to hit during off-peak hours. The chance to sit and enjoy the Appleton 21 Yr without ponying up $120 for a bottle is draw enough for me to pop in once in a while and endure the cheesiness.

Hi all a friend is looking into opening a Tiki Bar and needs a good name. Any suggestions? They're going for more of a 1930's to 1950's vibe, ukes and hula girls and not pop-ee or cheesy.

-Michelle

Great time Friday night at Twin Dragon, and mucho thanks to all for the warm welcome my wife and I received.
Denver's turning out pretty great so far.

Michelle....I've always liked "Napali"....its the only coastline in Hawaii thats only accessible by foot or boat...no highway or roads even close. I once hiked into a 300' waterfall there and swam the day away. Huge bamboo groves and a cold water river letting onto on empty beach...pure paradise if ever there was.

On another subject...are you still on for tonight at Jezebels? It was my all time favorite place when it was the Speakeasy......ghosts and all. Upstairs is creepy. The blood room....awesome. I may come down even if it is a school night.

Hi Dale! I'll be at Jezabel's tonight, and I'm on at 9:45 and 11:45, so I'd love to have folks there to hang out with between my sets!

-Michelle

On 2010-02-13 09:01, burleyque wrote:
Hi all a friend is looking into opening a Tiki Bar and needs a good name. Any suggestions? They're going for more of a 1930's to 1950's vibe, ukes and hula girls and not pop-ee or cheesy.

-Michelle

La Verandah has a number of suggestions from her ancient youth in California -- but the current generation not yet into tiki would probably not recognize Bali Hai or The Luau or Outrigger. You need to appeal to a wider audience to ensure more people will be attracted to your business.

Try the word "Lounge" or "Club" with anything you're considering: Tiki Lounge. Club Tiki. That sort of thing.

Dear me! Please delete this secondary and unnecessary post, web-meister. Danke.

[ Edited by: Carmine Verandah 2010-02-18 22:55 ]

Thank you, TikiMike and TikiFink for a most satisfying celebration of Chinese New Year, tiki-style.

Dale -
Been doing any carving lately?

On 2010-02-18 22:57, Carmine Verandah wrote:
Thank you, TikiMike and TikiFink for a most satisfying celebration of Chinese New Year, tiki-style.

You are quite welcome!! Hope to see you on the FOM site soon!

[ Edited by: Tiki Fink 2010-02-27 11:15 ]

Hey Moai man......Howz ya been? Hope the family is doing good.

No I haven't carved in quite some time. I just spent the last year overcoming all the ugly symptoms of divorce. There are so many changes and repairs for both the house and the family that have to get done. But its getting better every day. Amy and I are still friends..and we share the babies equally. The kids are actually doing better with it than we are.

So between work and the kiddos I only have one day a week to do all that I need to. So carving has taken a back seat. But thats o.k. It'll come back when the gods tell me they need out.

BUT....I have been doing more of my steel work that I have always done and will do. So I haven't and won't give up art. It'll just take more time than it used to. All in all its gonna be good.

Are you still painting? You need to show at the Mod. show next year. You really have some crazy talent.

Take care brother......

Hey Denver Tribe...

Taking advantage of Denver's Restaurant Week Tammy and I took a trip to 8 Rivers, the Rum and Caribbean place in Lodo that CucamongaChango and I were discussing earlier.

Well I am pleased to report that my worries about it being a trustafarain wannabe place were not correct.
Very nice what I would expect of a high end Caribbean resort, not just a Bob Marley Bar.

The Rum selection is just what the website claims and the Owner and Bar staff were very nice and happy to talk Rums with us pulling down several bottles just to get the "nose of".
They were also quite honest about comparing/describing the different types by the same distillers.
I was also able to make my own "Flight" to compare 4 different rums that they have that I have never tried.

on to the food...

Some of you are aware that I spent some time living down island in the land of Jimmy...(they didn't play any)
I am very happy to report that the menu items that we tried were some of the best island fare I have ever had not just the standard throw some jerk on chicken and call it Jamaican.
Portions were large not what I would expect of a Lodo cuisine place

Tammy and I will be going back for sure.

Hey Scott,

Joyce and I also took advantage of the Restaurant Week to sample 8 Rivers. I did not try the rum flight as the server was understaffed for the night. However, I did find the food to be very good and the ambiance was very nice, not a Reggae/Rasta spot at all. However, the Painkiller was not that good. I did enjoy seeing the number of rums available.

Last night we went to Black Cat Bistro in Boulder and had a lovely pre-prohibition cocktail the Corpse Reviver that was fantastic.

Nice reviews on 8 Rivers, I'll have to finally get over there some day soon.

For ye olde school cocktail ambiance, my wife and I got our fix last week when we stopped by the Cruise Room downtown. Wow! What an awesome old bar. I drank Sazeracs and the wife had some martinis. A little pricey, but a really nice evening, too.

The place sounds great....and the rum selection on the website has definite possibilities...Gotta love the El Dorado 21 year and of course the 1703.

Anyone try the Mehkong from Thailand?

Dale - We still gotta talk mugs sometime man.....

[ Edited by: Helz 2010-03-01 21:50 ]

Helz....thanks for coming over and putting away a few Hurricanes the other day....I think we saved Arvada from flooding.

Hell yes...we need to talk...Maybe at this 8 rivers place thats so popular here. Sounds good yes?

Aloha Denver tribe -

I'll be visiting your fair city from Monday, March 29 through the morning of Thursday April 1.

Anyone want to give me the skinny on things to do/see in Denver on a weeknight?

Tiki, craft cocktails, anything retro/vintage/mid century... damned good food... local color...

Also:
Can I get around this city on public transport (used to car-free Chicago/NY city living...), or will need a car?

Could also use a recommendation for a cheap motel in a fairly safe neighborhood...

mahalo

Howdy!
Not a lot of tiki here... as in practically none.

What is here, is beer. Dunno if you're a beer person or not, but I am a fully certifiable beer geek and I can recommend to you Falling Rock taphouse, which is one of the world's great beer temples. Also, there are so many excellent home-grown breweries that I can also strongly urge you to try a couple of them. Downtown are several, but I would recommend Great Divide and Breckenridge. Both have an array of styles and will allow you to taste to find the right one for you. Great Divide is my current favorite, and they are doing some wonderful things over there right now. The Claymore Scotch Ale and the Hoss Rye Lager both blew me away.

For cocktails, try the Cruise Room. It's been there since 1933, and has a beautiful decor designed by the guy who did the Queen Mary. Classic cocktails like Sazeracs and Old Fashioneds are the things to have here. It is a treat.

Food-wise, I haven't been here all that long, but I'll tell you what I know.
-Mead St. Station is a neighborhood pub that has startlingly good food. The baseball sirloin is excellent, as is the ham/brie/pear sandwich. Friendly folks, good beers on tap, full bar... great place.
-Fogo de Chao is a chain, I'll put that out there first and foremost. But, if you're a carnivore, I can't think of a better place to go. This is one of those Brazilian steakhouse places where gauchos come to your table with endless skewers of meat. Heaven.
-Cherry Cricket is said to have the best burgers on the planet. I haven't had one yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
-Carl's Pizza is an old school dive Italian place that warms my heart just thinking about it.
-Cheeky Monk is a Belgian beer bar with excellent fries, mussels, and sandwiches. the beer menu is the star here, if you like Belgians, but the food is good too.

Not much Tiki beyond a few Chinese places that serve exotic drinks in the mugs- The best decor, drinks and food is at Twin Dragon- http://www.twindragonrestaurant.com/- but we've got a few great craft cocktail places poppin up. Steuben's is the best, featuring vintage and classically minded coctails using fresh ingredients and small batch spirits http://www.steubens.com/plus there food is terrific.

The Cruise Room is a vintage dream serving vintage coctails with fresh juices. Their cocktail menu is very fru-fru, but you can skip it and just have them make you any cocktail you can think of http://www.theoxfordhotel.com/dining/cruise-room.php. They're attached to a McCormick's restaurant, with great seafood.

South Broadway has some great vintage clothes and bookstores, plus the amazing Mayan Theatre and Beatrice and Woodsley's http://www.beatriceandwoodsley.com/(more great coctails, incredible design, local and super interesting/delicious food and their happy hour features half price drinks). They have a sister bar downtown called Double Daughters, not far from the cruise room that's worth a look http://doubledaughters.com/

Root Down http://www.rootdowndenver.com/in Denver's Highland neighborhood and Colt and Grey http://www.coltandgray.com/on the west side of downtown both have incredible food, and amazing craft cocktails.

Also in the highlands A Cote, a quaint french absinthe bar with a full shelf of different absinthes. They have wonderful cocktails and light french fare- and next door is Z cuisine, a full (and terrific) french restaurant. http://www.zcuisineonline.com/

There's some really cool mid-century modern neighborhoods. They're outside of central Denver, but well worth the taxi fare http://www.milehimodern.com/modernTour.php

I'd recommend the Curtis downtown- it's centrally located, has a great restaurant with good cocktails (The Corner Office). Every floor has a different pop culture theme. http://www.thecurtis.com/ Not super cheap, but sometimes they have special rates. The Ramada on Colfax is a good deal with comfortable rooms 1150 E. Colfax Ave and it's known as the 'Rockmada' for it's proximity to several music venues that put their performers up there. In the 1960's it was home to a tiki bar, that is sadly long gone. The 15 runs up and down Colfax, one of the main streets in Denver, and connects to broadway's 0 bus and the light rail.

Colfax was once the main road into the mountains and there are amazing vintage hotels, bars and restaurants with their original signage all along the road (which is the longest continuous street in the US). If you take the 15 or a cab at night, most of them still light up and they're pretty awesome.

Also on west Colfax is one of my favorite places, Casa Bonita- a fake Mexican wonderland/restaurant. The food's not great (they make it palatable to kids, so lots of velveeta) but the 2 story waterfall, volcanic rocks, silly shows and mariachi make the 8 bucks (for dinner, or you can just pay that entry fee) well worth it. They do make a decent if candy-like Pina Colada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Bonita

Depending on where you want to go and do and where you stay, the busses and light rail plus an occasional cab might be just fine.

If you have any more questions feel free to contact me! [email protected]
Michelle

Hey, JT.

There are some great suggestions here from Michelle and Chango.

I'd bring you over to the Kona Luanii (my basement) for a few cocktails, but I'm taking my kids down to Arizona that week for Spring Break.

Zulu

Holy smokes!
I'm gonna print out Burleyque's post and hit the town.
Great stuff in there.
Thanks!

Thanks so much for the info!

Lots of really enticing stuff there.
I wonder if I can hit it all?
Just may try!

Cruise Room was also recommended to me by The Jab a while back, so it's a must visit.
Cheeky Monk and Carl's sound interesting, and I'll probably hit as many of the places Michelle listed as I can - they all sound right up my alley.

Thanks also to the pointers towards vintage clothes, neon, and bookstores... all three categories are must-explore topics for me. With all of that plus the art museum, it seems like my itinerary is nearly full already.

Any pointers towards parks or hiking for further afternoon activities that might let take advantage of the terrain? I'm not super-sporty, but hiking trails or something might be good...

If any of you want to meet me out Tues or Weds, I'd love to say hi to the Denver 'ohana.

mahalo

I'm a big-time hiker, but I've only been here a couple of months and haven't gotten out all that much yet. One hike that I think is a must-do, however, is Red Rocks.
Extremely easy to get to, just head out West on the 70 to Morrison and follow the signs, you can hang out and see the world-famous ampitheatre and walk the steps and all that... but there are lots of trails around there, too. There's a loop that starts around the lower visitor center (Red Rocks Entrance 2) that'll only take you about 45 minutes to do, but will give you pretty good immersion into the beauty and geology of the region.

That same trip, you could go up the winding road to Lookout Mtn from Golden and visit Buffalo Bill's grave.

For another local park, a friend of mine recommended Roxborough State Park off of the 25 south of the city, and it looks pretty great. And then there's also the Flatirons up in Boulder.

If you want to take the time and get up in the mountains, the only place I've been yet is Rocky Mtn NP in Estes Park. There's a lot to see there, and well worth the drive.

[ Edited by: CucamongaChango 2010-03-17 07:37 ]