Ryan F.
Yelp
Ended our Sunday night at Aku Aku Tiki Bar. If you adjust your expectations and come in looking for fun, this bar can be a very good time. Though more frequent clean-up could really improve things.
Quality: Aku Aku Tiki Bar is a kitschy spot, which prioritizes style over substance. This is not the spot you should expect a stellar cocktail, it is a dive bar with a theme, and it is a pretty easy to enjoy theme. During our visit we tried two cocktails, each served in a unique cup. First was Monkey Business, with pineapple rum, coconut, banana, and pineapple juice. Maybe a little heavy handed on the banana, but a perfect sweet fruity tropical drink, served in a monkey-shaped tiki cup. Next was Coconut Cocktail, with spiced rum, coconut, pineapple, and bitters. Very close to a pina colada, and served in a coconut shaped cup. Not drinks that will amaze you, but ones that can be part of an amusing evening.
Quantity: Gimmicky drinks that are high in sugar and light on alcohol. There may be some hidden heavy hitters on the menu, but it certainly wasn't the batch we tried.
Value: $10-$16 for the Specialty Cocktails.
Ambiance: Aku Aku Tiki Bar is located a little east of Downtown Orlando. From the outside nothing stands out about the bar, you would probably think it is a typical dive bar. And that is what it is, except someone went overboard on tropical decorations. Fake straw huts are build on the walls, tikis can be found in every direction, leis and pineapples fill empty spaces, and Hawaiian music plays in the background. They also have some absolutely absurd paintings on the wall, hulu dancer lamps, and every drink order adds additional decor to the space because of the unique cups they are served in. They went all in and it is very very fun.
Crowd: It is not a big space, but nearly every seat was filled. This is a bar that gets rowdy, which is surprising considering the drinks don't seem very strong. I do think this is a popular last stop on a night out drinking.
Service: One slightly inebriated bartender taking care of the crowd, but it did not really impact the speed of drink preparation or the quality. It also appeared like this was a pretty standard situation. The bigger issue to me is no one was there to wipe down the gross sticky mess left behind from these sugary beverages, which brings up bigger questions of cleanliness.
Parking: A short walk to find street parking.