A literal hole in the wall in an “up and coming” neighborhood.
As soon as you step inside, you are greeted by a cozy and adorable tiki space with the soothing sounds of exotica playing in the background.
The bartender Danielle was so sweet, answering all of my questions and tolerating my excessive picture taking.
The space is about 25 feet deep by 12 feet wide and it has adorable half booths and seating against the wall in addition to the three stools at the bar.
Once at the bar, if you glance to the right you’ll see a dozen or so hanging aloha/ Hawaiian shirts. They are for sale! Such a cool idea to sell vintage Hawaiian shirts in a tiki bar. What a way to have folks join in on the tiki pop culture. Apparently, these shirts fly off the shelf. It invites you to join in on the participation of the tiki world.
To the drinks …
Tiny Tiki is known for their Nitro Mai Tai, but it wasn’t ready as I came in right as they opened. So, I got the Navy Grog. It was light pink and I am not sure what kind of rums they used. It wasn’t great, the drink was perhaps a 3/10. I will say that I am a Navy Grog fanatic, so perhaps this is too harsh of a score.
Then the Nitro Mai-Tai was ready. It takes a while for the nitro to prime. It was far better than the Grog. It is frothy like a Guinness and you can feel that nitro texture. I would probably make it like a daiquiri and use ice to get it cold but leave it out so you get more of that “nitro” drink feel.
It was just Danielle and I by this point, and we were chatting, so I felt comfortable enough to ask her if she would make my version of a Navy Grog. She complied and it was delicious … how is it made you might ask? Well you’ll have to come to my home tiki bar to find out!
A quick note, I was warned before I went that the Tiny Tiki is in a rough part of town and this sentiment was repeated by Danielle the bartender.
Overall I had a great experience, Tiny Tiki felt intimate and it would be a great place to go as a regular if you live in the Spokane area.
I’d like to thank Gabriel Bowman for his write up on the Tiny Tiki …
Here is the Tiny Tiki website
And Facebook page