The Tiki Easy Bar — Restaurant in Asheville

Festive and fun but a bit pricey. As others noted, the drinks are fairly expensive, about 16 bucks a pop, but they are also fairly boozy, as others also noted. There is a star rating, one being the least boozy, two stars delivers medium booze and three stars packing a punch (no pun intended on punch, because several of the drinks were punch related). I had a couple of drinks. The first one was a two star rating, and the second one was a three star rating, and that’s all that I really needed. It was interesting to note that the two star drink was much more complex and the three star drink was good, but felt like the booze was overpowering some of the complexity of the drink.

The place is very very festive. Wonderfully kitschy. About every 30 minutes a simulated rain storm (complete with wind and fake rain sounds) was played. It was really quite adorable. Very tropical and delightful and the drinks are festooned with the typical umbrellas and lots of fruit and beautiful flowers. I was a little worried we would be overrun by bridal parties, because it is the perfect place to host a “woo girl”evening, but it was a rainy Tuesday night, so perhaps that’s what kept folks away. There were only three or four tables seated and a couple of people at the bar.

The bartender was delightful, and I wish I remembered his name. When I went to pay, I saw somebody sitting at the bar drinking out of a shark! I was so jealous. And the bartender said that the people sitting at the bar get to pick their drink container. So next time I will sit at the bar and pick something unusual. It could be patrons are allowed to pick the drink container even when they take the drink back to the table; I was unclear on that. But the bartender was so nice that it may be fun to sit at the bar and chat with him. He was super knowledgeable, and he seemed to be having fun inventing new drinks for people.

Bottom line: festive but, yes, expensive, so this would not be my weekly bar as a regular, but I’ll certainly put it in...

First and foremost, the cocktails were all super, super good. My wife and I had 6 drinks between us and loved every single one. Tiki cocktails are pricey but you get what you pay for and we were definitely lit by round 3. There’s room for a lot of people but the bar part itself is rather small and since you have to order at the bar (no servers) it also feels even more crowded as people are standing and waiting behind you or squeezing between you to order a drink and I hate that kind of vibe, but they keep it moving and it’s not the end of the world. You have to keep braking apart from your party/table to get your own drinks all night though which stinks IMO. The decor was neat, there were some authentic tiki elements but there were also some aspects and decor that were not (if you’re a hardcore traditionalist.) The lighting and the mood were fun though, especially the special effects that hit; wish it occurred more often though. Finally, I didn’t understand the music choice. You won’t find exotica or thematic sounds here, but I didn’t understand the heavy influence of disco all night. I’ll acknowledge people seemed to enjoy it, but I prefer a different musical ambience for a tiki bar. All in all, I will 100% go back to take friends or try the other drinks I couldn’t get to. The bartenders were friendly, they were working hard, and the drinks were consistent and enjoyable and those are things that have to be done right and they accomplished that. We bought a bottle of their 4 year rum, which as I understand it will be a work in progress as they grow into distilling their own liquor but we haven’t tasted it yet to review but a neat item for the collection with a pretty label. I hope this bar sticks around for a long time and I hope they can do so while staying close to tiki roots and not having to subject themselves to some short falls I have seen other tiki bars fall to in order to survive. I want...

If you're in town looking for a new environment to get a picturesque drink, you'll probably find this place just fine. Neat speakeasy vibes. Fun decor, fun drinks. Enter at the back of the brewery.

But for the tiki revival enthusiasts and die-hard craft cocktails fans, don't bother visiting. We went early on a weekday and were the only two guests at the bar rail. We've visited tiki bars all over the country and we so excited to see Asheville get a little spot! Imagine our disappointment to see all the cocktails ON DRAFT. pre-mixed in a batch, poured right out of the tap. Sure my Mai Tai looks right, but it didn't taste fresh or homemade. I wouldn't mind a drink on draft made with cheap ingredients if the price reflected it, but these were $16 cocktails. If you're going to price like reputable tiki bars in New Orleans or San Fran, you need to make the drinks like them too. This place has so much potential though! Good rum list, neat space, good escapism vibes. But they didn't have the drinks to back it up, and that's what matter most to us. Theres impressive liquors and equipment, but all unnecessary. It was so sad see a bar with all the supplies and setup to make an amazing drink but then to just pour it out of a tap, which makes inconsistent drinks. They need to invest in making drinks with quality ingredients, the right way. Cut corners on the budget somewhere else, not the cocktails. Probably won't visit again, unless we see a major revamp...