Texas Tiki Week: Rainey Street Crawl

Friday arrived, and with it the Texas Tiki Week tiki crawl along the Rainey Street historical district. There is a wide variety of bars here in old houses and the like, with Lei Low from Houston scheduled to hold a pop-up at Half Step, and Hot Joy from San Antonio to do the same at Anthem. Alas, Anthem backed out of the deal at literally the 11th hour, really stirring up a shit storm of epic proportions, and I'm not even aware of what went on behind the scenes. Maybe they had their reasons, but it's still a dick move to back out on something that's been advertised for a month, leaving Hot Joy high and dry. Fortunately, the hole-in-the-wall bar Little Brother stepped up and gave Hot Joy space for the afternoon. The bad news was that it was the afternoon, when most of us working folks were working and unable to enjoy their cocktail menu. And staggering the offerings kinda defeats the purpose of a crawl. Geraldine's also participated in the crawl, although they're a couple of blocks over.

I arrived around 9 p.m., and after braving the traffic and crowds (which aren't as bad as 6th Street, but still a bit rowdy and cross-eyed drunk for my tastes) I found Little Brother. I wanted to patronize them for stepping up to host Hot Joy. Inside, well, I was surprised by how little inside there was. It reminded me of a cramped, dark hot dog stand. There was a crowd around the bar, where a bartender was concocting a massive fishbowl drink for "7-10 people" although he confided in one of the girls there that he could legally sell it to as few as five people. Someone else inquired about one and the bartender said he couldn't make it because they only had one fish bowl, and it was in use. Clearly, this was not a craft cocktail bar and the patrons weren't well-versed in tiki. Still, I looked over the menu and settled on their Jaws 2 cocktail, a rum-and-coconut mixture. It came served in a hollowed-out coconut cup with a bamboo straw. The got points in my book for using a real coconut and not a plastic one. The bamboo straw was a nice touch, as was the silly gummy shark garnish. The cocktail itself wasn't bad. It could've used maybe a touch more sour for balance, but it wasn't cloyingly sweet. I finished it and move on to Half Step as the party people were still working on their fish bowl.

Half Step was crowded. I went inside and realized the crush of people at the bar weren't there for tiki drinks. I forced my way outside and was greeted by more people. There was a small satellite bar set up with a sign that said "Not Lei Low" so clearly there was no tiki to be had there. Where then? Around the side I discovered another bar, with another crush of people. This one, however, was staffed by the good folks from Lei Low, serving up a heaping helping of Donn Beach classic cocktail recipes.

Don't believe me about the crowd? This below is the scene that greeted me. Huge crush of people, with the line moving very slowly. One woman behind me complained loudly about the line's pace, and looked to be spoiling for a fight with anyone who might've even thought about cutting. After an extended period of general griping, she burst out, "How long to I have to wait for a f#@&!^% beer?" At which point another woman in the next line over said, "This line's for the tiki pop-up. You do know there's another bar serving beer inside, don't you?" The cranky lady then stormed off in a huff. In her defense, though, there was no exterior signage explaining things to anyone. The cool menus Lei Low had printed up explained things. And there were signs inside the Lei Low popup bar proclaiming it to be "Donn's Half Step Hideaway." But beyond that? Not so much.

When I finally got to the front of the line, my first cocktail was Don's Own Grog. The menu card described it as St. Lucia Aged rum, 110 proof Agricole, French blackberry liqueur, hibiscus grenadine, lemon juice and Angostura bitters. I can assure you, it was delicious. A blue rock candy stick was included as a garnish, and I chewed on this most of the evening.

My final cocktail was the Tahitian Rhum Punch, described as "Exotic fruits admirably mixed with Mexican limes and Jamaica and Martinique aged rums. It was quite delicious as well. It really showed how skilled the Lei Low staff was, rapidly making all of these Donn Beach drinks that weren't on their regular menu in Houston. I regretted that I couldn't sample everything they offered, as I had to drive home (yes, I pace myself by drinking water between cocktails and keep an eye on elapsed time). The Pearl Diver was an exceptionally flashy drink, served in a half-shell mug that people with know prior knowledge of tiki kept gravitating toward. I love a good Pearl Diver, and would've loved to try it.

I saw a number of friends there, including David and Jennifer. I'd really wanted to catch David playing with his band, the Phantomatics, bet because I am dumb I misunderstood and thought they were playing all night. Instead, they did one set earlier in the evening and by the time I got there, the Boss Jaguars were tearing it up onstage with surf guitars (they were quite good, although I was still miffed about missing the Phantomatics).

So here's the thing: For the Rainey Street tiki crawl, maybe 95 percent of the people there had no clue it was going on. The actual number of tiki folk was relatively small. I had one person ask me if I was in a group or club or something because of the "patterned shirts" he'd seen a few people wearing. The people standing in line for tiki cocktails more often than not ordered beer or vodka and soda when they got to the front of the line, utterly indifferent to the tiki cocktails being offered. I can see the thinking behind the event--expose more people to tiki who might not otherwise encounter it. Grow the tribe, so to speak. The trouble is, the crowd out on Rainey Street on a Friday night isn't looking for complexity and craft cocktails. They're looking to get shit-faced and laid. Full stop. I think it was a disservice to the great bartenders and cocktails being served that night. A slower night, with less "get drunk as quickly as possible" attitude would strike me as a better opportunity to draw in folks and convert them to the cult of tiki. Maybe. I can't guarantee Thursday or Wednesday night would work any better. What I do know is that Friday was a mess, with roving gangs of bachelorette parties shotgunning beers and taking tequila shots, and most definitely not looking to savor the grassy complexity of Rhum J.M.

I think the real problem rests in the fact that Austin does not yet have a real tiki bar to serve as ground zero for Texas Tiki Week. By this time next year, Tiki Tatsu-Ya should be open, and if the fates are really smiling on us, Quiet Village as well. Either or both would alleviate Texas Tiki Week's dependence on bars and patrons who have no interest in tiki. My fingers, they are crossed.

(I still had a good time, though, in case you were wondering.)

Texas Tiki Week: Opening Night
Texas Tiki Week: Eekum Bookum
Texas Tiki Week: Tiki Market

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Jayme vs. Lei Low

For the most part, my tiki excursions have taken place far afield. Texas has never been what one would consider a hotbed of tiki action, so the biggest and most interesting places are those we've had to travel to. But in recent years, there've been a few new tiki spots open up. Alas, not all of them survive. Howie's Tiki, in Spring, was open only a few years before closing its doors last month. Despite the fact I used to regularly visit Spring in the past, I never had a chance to visit the place. Another location with good word-of-mouth is Lei Low in Houston. When I found myself in Houston for a lecture a couple of months back, I made sure to block some time into my schedule for a visit.

People who've been to Lei Low will tell you it is easy to miss, that it's in a strip mall and doesn't look like much from the outside. They understate things, if anything. The "strip mall" hardly qualifies, it's that tiny. The North Houston area, just inside the 410 loop, doesn't look like one that supports any type of socially-oriented business. I was looking for Lei Low and missed it completely on first pass. The sign at the edge of the parking lot (right) doesn't grab your attention. The parking lot's small. Even after parking and seeing the neon "Rum" sign above the door, and "Aloha" mural painted on the wall, my natural inclination was to wonder if I'd found the right place.

It was! It was the right place! I stepped through the door and immediately entered that sensory-immersion all good tiki bars exude. The lighting was appropriately dim. The thatched A-frame behind the bar was a nice touch. The walls were covered by bamboo and matting and cluttered--if neat--decor. Float lamps and netting hung from the ceiling. A rattan peacock chair surrounded by carved tikis and plant life awaited just inside the door. There were several groups of people inside engaging in friendly conversation and cocktails. It immediately felt like a tiki bar.

Okay, so the decor passed the smell test, what of the cocktails? I took a seat in the middle of the bar, and Caitlin immediately told me that since I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, I automatically got Happy Hour prices (which I knew in advance, but it's nice that she went out of her way to point this out). I looked over the menu, and immediately went to their original cocktails. I'm not the biggest mai tai fan, so judging tiki bars on their mai tai is The Wife's responsibility. I wanted something that I couldn't get anywhere else, and their Pride of Barbados caught my eye. Described as a mix of passion fruit, poppy and amber rum that's force carbonated, it sounded like a bright, refreshing drink (I'd been on the road for hours, and pretty wiped out by this point). I'm a lover of all things passion fruit, and have to say this one hit the spot. Crisp, slightly tart, with a carbonation that wasn't overpowering. I liked it quite a bit.

After following my first cocktail with a glass of water, Caitlin figured out pretty quickly I was one of those tiki people, so she didn't have to explain things to me. We talked about the mai tai test, and how the Lei Low has a Hawaiian mai tai on the menu instead of the 1944 Trader Vic original. Caitlin said when I came back with The Wife we should order her off-menu mai tai, which is based on the 1944 original and "way better" than the pineapple-centric Hawaiian version. After discussing how my tastes tend toward complex and spicy cocktails, I ordered the Creole Swizzle. Caitlin said she's been about to suggest it for me. The cocktail, described as mix of rhum agricole, mint, lime and pamplemousse liqueur, was indeed a good choice. Not in Three Dots and a Dash spicy category, it was more in line with a ti punch, although there was a good bit more going on, flavor-wise. Another winner.

Because it was late and I was tired after a long drive, I'd intended to only try two cocktails. But the conversation was so entertaining and the atmosphere engaging that I broke down and decided to have a third. It was hard to make up my mind with 13 original recipes to choose from, but Voodoo Shark caught my eye. Caitlin warned me that it had a slight touch of Absinthe in it (my dislike of licorice/anise having come up during conversation) but after a moment of consideration, I decided to brave my aversion and try the drink anyway. Served in a shark mug, this was one of those where a single-serve bottle of rum is inserted in the drink, kind of like a reverse float. Described as rum, Louisiana satsuma rum, mango, spice and lime, I have to say the cocktail wasn't bad to start with. It was fruity and spicy in good ways, with the Absinthe buried under all the other flavors so as not to bother me. What I should've done is take the bottle of Louisiana satsuma rum and mix it all together with the rest of the cocktail. I didn't. I'd consumed more than half of the drink before realizing the mini bottle was still mostly full. So I mixed it at that point, but the result was harsh and unbalanced. It felt like my final few sips were pure rum, and this was not what I'd describe as a sipping rum. Live and learn. I suppose I could chalk it up to user error, but Voodoo Shark was my least favorite cocktail of the night and not one I'm inclined to order again.

The back corner, with a booth, stone wall and dark bamboo was the most classically-retro tiki spot in the place. The black velvet paintings were perfect mood-setters. This is where I felt most transported back to tiki's 1950s heyday.

Music wasn't as much of a high point. They had a DJ when I visited, and while I heard a handful of Martin Denny/Arthur Lyman tracks early on, the vast majority of music was of 80s pop/rock variety. I grew up with that sound, so I didn't dislike it, but as I've commented elsewhere, it's not a good sound for setting an escapist, tropical mood. It was not as bad as the Alibi playing 70s guitar rock, but that's setting the bar pretty low.

Sadly, they did not have any souvenir tiki mugs for me to buy. Because of space limitations--no storage to speak of--they only produce limited edition mugs for their anniversary parties. I can understand that, but as someone who likes to collect mugs from the tiki bars I've visited, it's still disappointing. Caitlin must've sympathized with that disappointment, because she gave me a bunch of custom swizzles instead. "I know people trade these, so you should be able to get some cool ones," she explained. All in all, Lei Low was a positive experience. The atmosphere was good, even if the music was not idea. The drinks were mostly excellent and the bar staff--mainly Caitlin--made me feel like a regular. The worst thing I can say about it was that the walls and decor were just a bit too neat and tidy, but the aura of a decades-old tiki bar doesn't happen overnight. They've still got time to accomplish this. I'll definitely be returning the next time I'm in Houston to work my way further through their menu of originals.

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