The Tilted Tiki was opened in November 2016 by Chris and Patti Goetzke in downtown Stillwater, Minnesota, just east of Minneapolis. Its location in a historic building makes the decor an unusual blend of tropical thatching and lauhala and more traditional wooden trim accents. They serve a selection of tropical drinks, and small plates of food.
We were here for lunch on a weekday and were the only patrons, which makes it hard to tell the vibe. Cool decor. But everything was overridingly sweet - all of the food was sweet (sauces, breadings, fruit), as were the drinks (I like sweet drinks, but this was a bit much even for me). I like that they have their own drink creations and they're pretty, but are served only in plain glassware, with many orchids. Despite us being the only patrons, service wasn't overly fast or super-friendly. I really liked that they had a lounge area with tiki books, the old building is cool. My main issue is that I emailed well in advance to find out if they had a house mug and was told that they did, only to be told no when I got there and on top of it, the waitress seemed to have no idea of what a tiki mug was, not awesome for a tiki bar. I might give them another try if I'm in Stillwater, but I was really looking forward to this new place and was disappointed.
Stillwater, you've got orchids! Orchids, orchids and more fantastic orchids!! Yes, sometimes it's just the simple details in tiki that gets my attention. But that traditional and floral element wasn't the only thing to please my palette. But it was this simple gesture that told me there is more to the Tilted Tiki than meets the ...orchid.
For years, many of us city folks have made the trek to Stillwater, MN in hopes of being refreshed by it's unique setting by the river, the antique shops and various restaurant bars. But, for many of us, it has been a slight let down of midwest predictability. Until now.
The Tilted Tiki is a breath of fresh air. Simple, unassuming and yet, there's never been anything like it before in Stillwater. It's sure, to be packed during the summer.
The Drinks -
I'm a stickler for some the classics of exotica but also, am, open to some minimal interpretations. Seems like someone here knows just what I'm talking about. These are not your revamped, trendy mixologist types of tiki drinks that eventually have you going back to your favorite micro-brewery beer or margaritas. From the Mai Tai to the Zombie (awesome!), Kapu Kai and the Space Pilot, these are your stick-to-your-ribs kinda tiki drinks that have me sold that they'll have me back and can have something for everyone. Can't wait to try the rest of their drinks!
The Food -
Again, unpretentious but spot on! I was pleasantly surprised that they followed up on that unwritten tiki rule of tiki drinks + polynesian/asian edibles = exotica euphoria.
Yummy sweet & sour pork ribs, pineapple fried rice, teriyaki meatballs... forget 'bout it. I'm sold and this place was so new when I visited it, all I could see is even more potential. As far as I'm concerned, this is THE perfect place in Minnesota to get your first, most authentic taste of tiki.
Stopped in before the Holidays in December. Fantastic Zombie! Drinks from the Classic and Neo-Classic sections in general were great - like the Mai-Kai North! Not in decoration mind you, (it's more Florida tiki bar - which is what they're going for) but the classic and neo-classic drinks are on the level of any of the top places. Don't let the tiki-snobs ruin what really should be a 'go to' place for anyone who likes top-notch guzzling in the Twin Cities region. Food is very good too.
We were here for lunch on a weekday and were the only patrons, which makes it hard to tell the vibe. Cool decor. But everything was overridingly sweet - all of the food was sweet (sauces, breadings, fruit), as were the drinks (I like sweet drinks, but this was a bit much even for me). I like that they have their own drink creations and they're pretty, but are served only in plain glassware, with many orchids. Despite us being the only patrons, service wasn't overly fast or super-friendly. I really liked that they had a lounge area with tiki books, the old building is cool. My main issue is that I emailed well in advance to find out if they had a house mug and was told that they did, only to be told no when I got there and on top of it, the waitress seemed to have no idea of what a tiki mug was, not awesome for a tiki bar. I might give them another try if I'm in Stillwater, but I was really looking forward to this new place and was disappointed.
Stillwater, you've got orchids! Orchids, orchids and more fantastic orchids!! Yes, sometimes it's just the simple details in tiki that gets my attention. But that traditional and floral element wasn't the only thing to please my palette. But it was this simple gesture that told me there is more to the Tilted Tiki than meets the ...orchid.
For years, many of us city folks have made the trek to Stillwater, MN in hopes of being refreshed by it's unique setting by the river, the antique shops and various restaurant bars. But, for many of us, it has been a slight let down of midwest predictability. Until now.
The Tilted Tiki is a breath of fresh air. Simple, unassuming and yet, there's never been anything like it before in Stillwater. It's sure, to be packed during the summer.
The Drinks -
I'm a stickler for some the classics of exotica but also, am, open to some minimal interpretations. Seems like someone here knows just what I'm talking about. These are not your revamped, trendy mixologist types of tiki drinks that eventually have you going back to your favorite micro-brewery beer or margaritas. From the Mai Tai to the Zombie (awesome!), Kapu Kai and the Space Pilot, these are your stick-to-your-ribs kinda tiki drinks that have me sold that they'll have me back and can have something for everyone. Can't wait to try the rest of their drinks!
The Food -
Again, unpretentious but spot on! I was pleasantly surprised that they followed up on that unwritten tiki rule of tiki drinks + polynesian/asian edibles = exotica euphoria.
Yummy sweet & sour pork ribs, pineapple fried rice, teriyaki meatballs... forget 'bout it. I'm sold and this place was so new when I visited it, all I could see is even more potential. As far as I'm concerned, this is THE perfect place in Minnesota to get your first, most authentic taste of tiki.
Stopped in before the Holidays in December. Fantastic Zombie! Drinks from the Classic and Neo-Classic sections in general were great - like the Mai-Kai North! Not in decoration mind you, (it's more Florida tiki bar - which is what they're going for) but the classic and neo-classic drinks are on the level of any of the top places. Don't let the tiki-snobs ruin what really should be a 'go to' place for anyone who likes top-notch guzzling in the Twin Cities region. Food is very good too.
Drinks are great--the top section (classics and originals) are geared towards traditionalists. Drinks are not "batched" as mentioned by another commenter, but made to order with real juice, good rum and syrups. Lemon Hart 151 is a staple. Some ingredients are batched ahead of time, such as the three rums used in the Zombie. Navy Grog is terrific. The Mai Tai is a tad sweet but generally on point. The Zombie is a tweaked version of the Three Dots and a Dash Zombie.
The bottom section of the menu is geared towards customers with a sweeter taste profile; for the authentic tiki drinks stick with the top half.
Some original cocktails to try: The Tahitian Outrigger with pineapple, Maraschino Liqueur and Pernod--very unique flavor similar to a classic Gold Cup. Space Pilot is like a hybrid of a Test Pilot and a Q.B. Cooler. The Kapu Kai has nice dark rum and cinnamon flavor (similar to the Tiki Ti's 151 Swizzle). The Molokai Mermaid is a tasty, light rum drink with real guava and passion fruit, served in a stemmed glass. ALL of the drinks have nice garnishes--real orchids, pineapple chunks. Presentation is great.
Many of the cocktails are served in proper double old fashioned glasses (Mai Tai, Navy Grog) but a lot are in pint glasses, which I'm not a fan of. I would love to see them move to Collins glasses. They chose the pints at least for the short term, for cost reasons.
Stopped by after visiting the local Ice Castle. The drinks were all served in pint glasses (disappointing due to the images they show on the drink menu) and garnished with fresh fruit. The drinks are all batched (Not the worse thing, makes for quick pours). The bar staff was quite attentive and nice, but not knowledgeable about what they where serving just knew to put so much of bottle A in and mixer B. When asked they would just say " They are made traditionally" whatever that means. There was a lot of juice used in cocktails that shouldn't have them. Tried Mai Tai which is fine but nothing special. The Zombie was good but all the cocktails were very overly sweet making it hard to have more than one without worrying about gut-rot.
I tried some food which tasted good but unfortunately I received food poisoning from this place so it puts a damper on my thought of going back for any food.
The live music was great but the crowd of locals and college students was quite loud making it hard to hear the tunes.
Overall, I will probably go back and give this place a second chance because of how new they are but I hope they work out the kinks and train their staff better.
Tiki Monkey
MOETIKI
I,Zombie
Mnchuck
For years, many of us city folks have made the trek to Stillwater, MN in hopes of being refreshed by it's unique setting by the river, the antique shops and various restaurant bars. But, for many of us, it has been a slight let down of midwest predictability. Until now.
The Tilted Tiki is a breath of fresh air. Simple, unassuming and yet, there's never been anything like it before in Stillwater. It's sure, to be packed during the summer.
The Drinks -
I'm a stickler for some the classics of exotica but also, am, open to some minimal interpretations. Seems like someone here knows just what I'm talking about. These are not your revamped, trendy mixologist types of tiki drinks that eventually have you going back to your favorite micro-brewery beer or margaritas. From the Mai Tai to the Zombie (awesome!), Kapu Kai and the Space Pilot, these are your stick-to-your-ribs kinda tiki drinks that have me sold that they'll have me back and can have something for everyone. Can't wait to try the rest of their drinks!
The Food -
Again, unpretentious but spot on! I was pleasantly surprised that they followed up on that unwritten tiki rule of tiki drinks + polynesian/asian edibles = exotica euphoria.
Yummy sweet & sour pork ribs, pineapple fried rice, teriyaki meatballs... forget 'bout it. I'm sold and this place was so new when I visited it, all I could see is even more potential. As far as I'm concerned, this is THE perfect place in Minnesota to get your first, most authentic taste of tiki.
Aloha!