A Taste of Tiki

Tiki cocktails are all the rage these days, as evidenced by the popularity of Three Dots and a Dash and Lost Lake. But it’s not just tiki bars where you can get a taste of tiki culture. From a Tex-Mex lunch counter to a modern Italian restaurant inside an art museum, the tiki torch is burning bright around Chicagoland.

Dove’s Luncheonette is embracing the tiki trend with its new Tequila Sunrise series, taking place the first Friday of every month. For each iteration, the mod Wicker Park diner serves up a different modern take on this classic tipple, with unique flavors and housemade ingredients. Some versions will be Dove’s originals from house bartenders, while others will be made by guest bartenders from throughout Chicago and the country at large. The inaugural version, by The Violet Hour’s Eden Laurin, featured housemade coconut shrub and hibiscus flowers.

Schaumburg’s Asian fusion haunt, Tokio Pub, gets tropical for its annual luau dinner on June 29. For the June version of the restaurant’s monthly beer dinner, Tokio Pub embraces tiki culture with a full-fledged beachy atmosphere complete with ukuleles, whole-roasted Kalua pig, hula dancers, marimbas, and of course, tiki cocktails.

One of the most unlikely settings for tiki drinking this summer is Terzo Piano, the sleek Italian restaurant situated inside The Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing. As part of the restaurant’s Beats on Bluhm summer series, which features a different cocktail theme on the Bluhm Family Terrace the second Wednesday of each summer month, tiki takes the spotlight August 12. Guests can expect Mai Tais and Singapore Slings, along with bites like pork sliders and sweet ’n’ sour pineapple skewers.

Dove’s Luncheonette
1545 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago
(773) 645-4060
Website

Tokio Pub
1900 E. Higgins Road, Schaumburg
(847) 278-5181
Website

Terzo Piano
159 E. Monroe Street, Chicago
(312) 443-8650
Website