Look Inside Tiki Rock Bar

Tiki Rock bar. / Photos by Toan Trinh

If you’re looking for respite from the cold and likely more ice this weekend, a bright beacon beckons in downtown Boston. Tiki Rock opened earlier this week on Broad Street, Eater Boston reported.

“Tiki’s all about escapism,” says owner and general manager Christopher Straub. “We really want people to feel like, when they come in the door, this is a portal to a new world.”

Tiki Rock does that with tropical rain against backlit Polynesian scenes, flanking a carved wooden door in the entryway. Inside the dining room, there are bright blue bar stools and orange banquettes, hand-painted scenes by Boston artist Joanna Ciampa, carved tiki-style totem poles, and a wall of scallop shells—culled by Straub’s mother in Chatham—near the restrooms.

Diners will find a sushi bar, helmed by master sushi chef Minggan “Tony” Wu; and seasonal, updated Polynesian-inspired dishes from chef de cuisine Matt McPherson (South End Buttery, Porto). Appetizers and shareable plates include a pu pu platter with crab Rangoons, coconut shrimp, winter squash dumplings, and more; chili maple-glazed pork belly buns with uni mayo; and puffed rice chips; and there are entrees, like Woking sea bass with white turnips, lotus root, and mango-bonito puree; ginger-soy chicken okonomiyaki; and coconut fried rice with green curry.

The central bar, with a stacked team of mixologists led by beverage director Charles Smedile (Waypoint, Uni, Clio), is making fresh juices and syrups to bolster a menu of fun, classic and new tiki-style cocktails. Check out the full food and drinks menus online.

Taking over the majority of the Place, a long-closed nightclub in the Financial District, “scared us a bit, and we thought of it as an opportunity as well,” Straub says. The hospitality veteran, who comes to Boston after opening several Hyatt Hotels properties in New York and Chicago, is excited to bring something totally new to the area. “Everyone’s going into the Seaport right now, there are some cool things happening in Downtown Crossing, of course South End has a bunch of small spots. But we didn’t see anyone making a destination in this area.”

With over-the-top cocktails, high-quality sushi and island-inspired fare, and a colorful cavern reminiscent of a docked pirate ship, Tiki Rock is warmly welcomed this winter. It’s open nightly from 4 p.m.-2 a.m., and Straub says lunch service will begin by February 1.

2 Broad St., Boston, 617.670.0107, tikirock.com.

The sushi bar at Tiki Rock. / Photos by Toah Trinh

The sushi bar at Tiki Rock. / Photos by Toah Trinh