Bahi Hut Lounge in Sarasota, FL

Bahi Hut was opened in 1956 by Bill Johnson, and remains a beloved neighborhood bar and local landmark. These days it operates as more of a beer bar, though some tropical drinks are available. Much of its vintage charm remains, and its historic bones are worth treasuring. It is part of the Golden Host Resort, a vintage roadside motel.

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Tikibaz

Tikibaz has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

July 2, 2019, 11:52 AM

Just visited last week. I would affectionately refer to it as a "divey" tiki bar. With a quirky location next to a motel, its interior is intimate, dark, and with just enough touches of tikis and decoration that you definitely get the feel of a tiki bar, even though its also clear that they aren't putting in a 100% effort. A fairly limited drink menu does offer up some tiki classics, although even as an experienced mai tai drinker I found their version of it to be almost too strong to enjoy. The other drinks were very enjoyable though, and the bartender was friendly and attentive.

On the downside, although its definitely a non-smoking joint now, you can still detect that it wasn't for many years. And they committed my one cardinal sin of tiki bars, which was displaying multiple large screen tvs playing sports and tv shows. Still, definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

Whaia-Muri

Whaia-Muri has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

June 4, 2019, 12:34 PM

It's time to give Bahi Hut another try people!!!!!

Used to be a smokey dive, but things have changed! The new owner apparently cares about this diamond in the rough.

1. NO SMOKING! We can all breath easy and not have to dry clean our prized bark-cloth shirts!

2. Good drinks! They have a decent menu with 10 or so drinks. I went with a group of friends and was able to try almost all of them. I was pleasantly surprised. The bar tender was super nice. Although she didn't know much about tiki culture/drinks, she was really trying!

3. The atmosphere was great. The decor isn't as dense as a Tiki-Ti style bar, but everything in there is from the golden era. They have made an effort to restore rather than update and I think that's fantastic!

4. The music was atrocious. Pulsing club stuff. Gross. BUT, I should mention that we walked in shortly after they opened and I think the lone bartender got so busy (there was a pretty big crowd) that she forgot to turn off what she was listening to while prepping for the night? I have it on good authority that the music is usually more appropriate.

5. The "vibe" was pretty good. Again, we were there early in the evening, so I don't know if that was the usual crowd or not. No other tiki people in there, but everyone was cool and got a kick out of the kitsch.

Will definitely return! Very happy to see this place revived.

Luau Lili

Luau Lili has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

April 30, 2019, 1:59 PM

Great old vibe local tiki bar. The bartender made our visit so much fun! Very knowledgeable about tiki, local history and drinks. Although I do need to buy him some nutmeg for the Painkiller. 👍 We got there early and it was still light out but it has the feeling of a vintage place.
Would definitely recommend Bahi Hut if you�re in the Sarasota area,

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