Even though Scott Dodds had been a bartender for more than 20 years, he was unfamiliar with tiki bars and drinks until he visited Tiki Tolteca in New Orleans in 2017. It had all the hallmarks of an authentic tiki bar: bamboo and thatch decor, smells of fresh citrus and spices, breezy music filling the air, and intricate cocktails served in fun mugs.
“I’d never had a drink that good before,” Dodds recalls. “The smells, the music — everything got stuck in my head for a bit.” While there had been tiki bars in Edmonton in decades past, there was nothing of the sort at the time. “I couldn’t shake the feeling that a tiki bar would do well back home.”
Dodds tried to bring his tiki dreams to life earlier in the pandemic, not unlike when Don the Beachcomber opened the first tiki bar during the Great Depression. With bars and restaurants closing rapidly, Dodds could not secure a loan from a bank. Instead, he sold his townhome to self-finance a bar. “There was nothing special about my townhome, but this would be special.”
Dodds spent six months transforming a small space downtown into his very own tiki bar, Honi Honi Tiki Lounge. “The last time I touched a power tool was in eighth grade shop class, but somehow I thought I could design a bar myself,” Dodds laughs. “I’m not handy, but I couldn’t afford to do it any other way. It was a labour of love.”
Dodds and his father sourced and built most of what is there today – torches, carved wood panels, vintage posters, colourful lights in fishing nets – and many fixtures have been made and/or donated by customers. His cousin built the back bar, his electrician brother- in-law did the wiring and his mother painted and cleaned along the way.
The decor is always evolving, but what remains the same is the feeling of stepping inside a welcoming tropical oasis. It doesn’t take long to feel like you’ve escaped to somewhere not in Edmonton.
When Honi Honi popped up on social media before it opened in January 2023, tiki enthusiasts started politely inquiring to find out if it was going to be a “real” tiki bar. “They were excited but wanted to make sure it was being done right,” Dodds says. “I love that people cared enough to reach out.”
Honi Honi is, in fact, a “real” tiki bar. It’s got well-executed cocktails with ingredients like fresh juices, homemade syrups and high-quality rums. Honi Honi’s drink menu features classic tiki drinks including Mai Tais, Zombies and Navy Grogs, perfected by its lead bartenders Travis McKenna and Xavier Aleba.
“There’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” Dodds says. “We follow classic recipes and make sure our drinks are done right, we don’t cut corners.” Dodds leaves the shaking and stirring to the pros, but he’ll be there to greet you when you walk in through the unsuspecting entrance, bring food from neighbouring restaurant, Smoke BBQ, to your table, and is always happy to talk tiki.
If this is your first time hearing about tiki, you’re more than welcome at Honi Honi. “A lot of people come here not knowing anything about tiki, then they love the drinks and leave fans. Many are blown away by the room because it’s so different from what other places in the city has to offer. It feels like you’ve stepped back in time or stepped into a vacation. People often make a reservation before they leave, or they’ll mention someone they want to bring here.”
Since opening Honi Honi, Dodds has met hundreds of local tiki enthusiasts. “I opened a tiki bar and it allowed me to discover a community of people who already love this stuff,” he says.
“Whether you’re visiting for the first time or meeting up with a fellow fan, there’s a real community feel. Everything is expensive and maybe a trip isn’t in the cards right now, but you can come here for a couple hours and pretend like you’re on vacation.”
Tiki bars and culture are an amalgamation of influences, originating in California in the 1930s as a means of escapism, with a focus on tropical-inspired aesthetics and drinks.
This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Edify
