Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #117 Kraken’s Bay Tiki Lounge Warren MI

From Parrot Head to Tikiphile…

Before Ed Schroeder discovered tiki, he was a Parrot Head. There’s a lot of crossover between the tiki, pirate and Jimmy Buffett subcultures. From an outsider’s perspective, they may appear all the same, but as Ed slowly discovered the world of tiki, he realized that tiki bars are the “real deal” and started to build his own! Kraken’s Bay Tiki Lounge is Ed’s basement but it feels like paradise. Here is Ed’s story…

What is the tiki scene like where you live?

Ed- There’s not a lot of commercial Tiki Bars options in the Detroit area, but having said that, it’s a pretty vibrant tiki scene. I belong to an active Facebook Group with many very knowledgeable folks that have been collecting for years and have amazing home tiki bars. Starting back in 2022 (and continuing through most of 2023), we organized a monthly home bar open house with people from our group hosting as many as 40-50 members in an evening. The events were opportunities to get to know other tiki-minded people in the area and I’ve formed some great friendships. We’ve put together other events for the group at Tiki pop-ups in the area, and even a bus trip for a tour out at Max’s South Seas in Grand Rapids, the obvious crown jewel of the Michigan Tiki Scene.  

There are many great artists in the area and consequently a pretty regular round of vendor markets which generally include these artists, live music and vintage sellers. The events include The Atomic Tiki Bazaar, Tiki Inferno, and a Christmas Market that started up again last year in a new spot after being held at Chin’s in Livonia for years. Detroit Tiki Company, Topes Art, Beave’s Tikis, and Savage Matt are all regulars at these events along with other local artists and vendors.

What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?

Ed- I stumbled into the tiki scene initially as an adjacency to my explorations as part of the Detroit Parrot Head Club. When I first got involved with the Parrot Heads, I quickly learned that somewhere in the country every month there was a weekend long music event being held by a local club. I began traveling to these events and it was a natural extension to explore tiki bars in the areas I visited. When I hit places like Hala Kahiki in Chicago, Tiki Underground in Ohio, and Kon Tiki in Tucson, I quickly learned there’s a real distinction between a typical beach bar style “tiki bar” and the “real deal”. The Jimmy Buffett crowd sometimes gets maligned by the traditional tiki crowd, but having been involved in both groups I can say that despite the different aesthetic, the vibe is very similar. They both attract fun people that enjoy cocktails, music, and good times together. 

Can you give a little history of how it all came together?

Ed- I’d been bringing a little portable tiki bar to Parrot Head tailgates and hotel takeover events and enjoyed slinging drinks for attendees. When I began looking for a new house in 2020, I knew I wanted to build a basement bar to continue the fun. My initial thought was more Parrot Head inspired (It was going for part tropical bar, part pirate themed, part tiki at first, and on a smaller scale). As I traveled around that year and hit more fantastic bars like Foundation in Milwaukee, False Idol in San Diego, and a few others, the plan morphed into a more traditional tiki space.  I had a vision in my mind of what my bar could potentially look like, and I started to shop for bamboo, matting, etc.

I found an ad from a local person on FB Marketplace that was selling some bamboo paneling and other items that were left over “from building a basement tiki bar” – just the kind of stuff I needed! I sent a message indicating I’d like to come buy some of the items and mentioned I was in the planning phase of a basement tiki bar and asked if I could check his out while I was there to get the items.  The seller, Bill Blatt (who is now a good friend!), replied that the items were gone, but said I would be welcome to come check out his bar sometime.  So that weekend I wound up sharing a drink with Bill at his fabulous Blowfish Lounge and I was completely blown away… the vision I had in my mind was realized in his fantastic bar and I was truly inspired to see what could be accomplished! Bill was a big help in the initial installation of some of the matting and other décor in my bar.

When I started the bar in 2020, my entire tiki collection consisted of around a dozen mugs that I’d picked up as souvenirs in my travels. During the first year, as I planned and built out the bar space, I was also in accumulation mode. I was constantly visiting vintage and antique stores, and scouring Etsy, eBay and Facebook Marketplace for cool stuff. I was lucky to score a few nice items at estate sales and started hitting tiki markets at events. One particularly memorable haul came from the huge vendor market at Tiki Oasis that year… I came home with an entire extra suitcase filled with a cache of fantastic treasures!

I had the main bar complete for over a year and in the run-up to hosting my next open house for the group in 2023, I decided I needed some space for overflow out of the bar. My friends Art and Maria Bronson spent a weekend at my place helping me convert the room in front of the bar into an “outdoor patio.” It’s still part of the basement, but the idea was to set it up like it was the fenced-in patio just outside of the bar. We also created a jade tile wall feature that weekend. Since then, I have continued to tweak and rearrange as new items make it into the collection.

Any story behind the name of your bar?

Ed- My initial thought was geared towards a pirate/nautical theme. I had a few cool octopus items including mugs and a menu from The Reef. Later, I found a large octopus wall hanging and I thought this would be a great centerpiece and that cemented the Kraken theme. While I eventually steered away from pirates and nautical decor as the central motif, the name stuck and if you look around, you’ll find over 30 octopuses throughout the bar!

What is your favorite Tiki drink?

Ed- I don’t know if I can pick a favorite drink, though right now I’m pretty keen on Donga Punch, which I recently discovered.  When visiting a new bar, I usually start with a Mai Tai then pick something that looks good off their menu. If I stay for a third, I’ll call for “dealer’s choice” and see what the bartender wants to showcase. 

What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!

Ed- As far as bars, I have to point to Hala Kahiki and Kon Tiki Tucson as huge influences. Every surface in those spaces is covered with matting, tapa cloth, sawgrass and thatch. It creates a very tactile space that I just love. I know lots of bars have that same thing going on, but these were early discoveries for me that really shaped how I did my space. I love how dark Foundation bar is and the cluttered look behind the bar. There’s so much to see and it’s impossible to register it all. Of course, I have to say Max’s South Seas Hideaway is an absolute palace and a gorgeous space. Their drinks are always top notch, the food is great, and their hospitality is fantastic. If I’m on the west side of the state, you know I’ll be stopping at Max’s!

Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?

Ed- I love it when every surface is covered in various matting and other textured elements. It makes the entire space part of the presentation. I enjoy that cluttered too-much-to-take-in vibe and being in some of my friends bars I always love when I see something and ask if it’s new and get told, “nope, that’s been there since your first visit!” It reminds me that there’s so much to see and I’ll constantly be surprised and delighted by their space. Of course, music is also a huge element. One of the main things that can ruin a commercial tiki bar experience for me is the wrong music choice. Chill exotica, surf, and swinging spy music are all welcome, but so many spaces – particularly on Friday and Saturday nights have DJ’s spinning thumping club music and the dissonance just kills me. It’s always a huge disappointment.

Another favorite element is the amazing lamps in tiki spaces. Each one can truly be a work of art and I especially love it when lamps are packed into a space providing that sense of too much to take in!  Snowbird in Montreal is a great example of this – tons of incredibly cool lamps!  A place that has a great “lamp game” is a marvel to walk around and I’m always envious because my 7-feet tall basement ceiling means I’m very limited in the number of lamps I can manage and where they can go. 

What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?

Ed- I host folks at least once or twice a month here at Kraken’s Bay Tiki Lounge and plan to continue that trend!  From just a couple friends to larger gatherings, to special events like a recent Old-Fashioned Night where four couples came with the ingredients for their favorite old-fashioned and then took turns behind the bar stirring them up for everyone to try. As I meet new people in the tiki community, an invite to the bar is never far behind!