Whoo Hoo for Orinda’s BOO LOO LOUNGE

Tiki bars are beginning to spring up all over. One new one, still in its “soft opening” state, is the Boo Loo Lounge in Orinda, California. Fortunately, thanks to a tip from Mr. Kevin (“Ultimate Mai-Tai”) Crossman, I was able to visit and get in before its official opening (which will be sometime next week, apparently). Once this place becomes known, I think the line will be out the door.

The Boo Loo quietly opened its doors a couple of weeks ago in the site of an old wine bar. Located just to the left of the beautiful art deco Orinda Theatre (where bar patrons have to go if they need to use the facilities), you might not know the Boo Loo was there. There’s no signage (as of yet) except for a small white board leaning against the entrance, where a small patio area also resides.

Inside, the place has a nicely thatched and bambooed buildout. The space is small, but the owners have made great use of it. A small bar right inside of the door seats about 4 people. Numerous tables and chairs can hold about another 20 or so. Once the place is on every tikiphiles radar, it will be tight in there, but cozy.

The bar is tiki, but there is an underlying hint of a pirate theme to it (a pirate figure greets you right inside of the door and there is a pirate-like parrot figure that also greets guests).

Even stronger still is a CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON flavor, as evidenced by a French poster for the movie, the creature peeking in through a porthole on the wall, and the life-sized arms, head, and shoulders bursting from a wall. Originally to be called the Black Lagoon Lounge, the name was change to same-initialed Boo Loo Lounge at the last minute.

But digging deeper into the décor, an overall undercurrent of a theme does emerge. The bar, being located next to a wonderfully historic old theater, has movies as a tie in. In addition to the CREATURE ties, there’s an old insert poster for Abbott and Costello’s AFRICA SCREAMS, an actual prop from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, and a water feature featuring the screaming face of Janet Leigh from PSYCHO in its showering rain. But all of these tidbits only underscore the place. They are very subtle “Easter eggs” scattered throughout the much broader tropical ambience.

As the business is still in its pre-opening stages, the drink menu was very limited—just five cocktails available. Hmm. Decisions, decisions…

Despite its whopping $35 price tag, I thought I should go with the namesake Boo Loo as I can’t be sure when/if I’ll get to Orinda again. The drink is a combination of rums, pineapple juice, lime, mineral water and the mysterious Boo Loo Mix. (Whatever that is.) My friend Erich wanted to try the Ruby Daiquiri (Plantation dark rum Ruby port, agave nectar, and lime). We were then told the Boo Loo was intended for two. Erich said he’d drink some and then switch to the daiquiri he wanted. Cheers!

The Boo Loo was nice. It came in a hollowed-out pineapple. It reminded me of a Cannibal’s Revenge (Is there Jaegermeister in the mix, I wondered.), only smoother (due to the mineral water, perhaps?)

Erich found his Ruby Daiquiri pleasing, not overly sweet and different from your typical daiquiri. The sample I had did taste pretty good.

While Erich worked on his daiquiri, I enjoyed a Lady of Singapore, a cocktail that was new to me and had a delightful flavor profile, being a concoction of rum, lime, coconut, pomegranate, pineapple and cream. Mmm.

After a brief sojourn to score some food, we stopped back in for one more round before heading for home. Erich wanted to try a Lady of Singapore, while I decided to try a Mai Tai. The Mai Tai was good, very drinkable. Was it a 1944 Mai Tai? No. But it wasn’t advertised as being one either. I enjoyed it.

During our visit, we got to chat with the staff some and make observations. Zowie! Color me surprised when I spied general manager Maxton Kennedy slipping a vinyl exotica album on the turn table. Wow! They were using real records to add to the retro charms of the place.

Mr. Kennedy is well suited fo his position at the Boo Loo, having been general manager at sadly closed Tiki Tolteca (my favorite little tiki bar in New Orleans, hidden above a taqueria just down from Latitude 29), Oakland’s Kon-Tiki, and also works at Alameda’s Forbidden Island.

Our bartenders that day were PJ and Matt. PJ had just started the day we were there. Matt was showing him the ropes. PJ, however, was an old hand at things. He and Maxton had gone way back, having worked together off and on back in New Orleans and in California. Both PJ and Matt were on their game, and it was a pleasure to chat with them.

Just before we were going to leave, Matt brought out a tentative menu for the bar’s grand opening to show PJ. They let me take a look. Nice. It included five other cocktails, including classics (like their take on a Zombie and the Hurricane) as well as some new (to me) taste-tempting cocktail creations! One of the fellows said they were working on creating signature cocktail mugs, too. The thinking was that they would be shaped to resemble the the theater’s tall art deco logo out front, brilliantly tying in the subtle movie subtext within the bar.

As I was leaving, I warned them that their sweet little tiki paradise would be swamped once word of the place got out. The winter months may still be slow-ish, but come spring? Look out! The Boo Loo is bound to be a hit.

Boo Loo Lounge

2 Orinda Theatre Square

Orinda, CA 94563

(925)399-8454

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