Bungalow Tiki Returns! Beloved Bar to Reopen at New Hutong Location, Jun 28

Tiki devotees, rejoice! After a heart-crushingly sudden closure of their then just-remodeled space in late April, the tropical venue will reopen at a new spot near its former digs on Wednesday, June 28, before holding a weekend-long welcome back party this Friday and Saturday (Jun 30-Jul 1).

The new Bungalow Tiki is situated a mere few meters east, opposite its prior spot on Jiaodoukou Beisantiao. Finding it is a bit tricky because the entrance is situated behind a newly laid brick wall. To find it, head towards Peiping Taphouse's south door, then turn east and walk into the space between that complex and the new wall. While such hastily erected barriers have been business killers for bars on Xingfucun, Sanlitun North, and other locales, there's enough space between this Jiaodaokou wall and the new Tiki's entrance for a handful of customers to enjoy a bit of outdoor seating, while maintaining enough of a boundary to hopefully keep drivers and nearby residents happy.

This new Tiki's interior boasts a sleeker, albeit smaller, space than its predecessor (which became so popular as of last year that it nabbed multiple top trophies at our Bar and Club Awards last year). On Monday June 26 co-owners Phil Tory (who also tends bar) and Oliver Davies gave the Beijinger an exclusive sneak peek of the new setup. Workers were at the time still undertaking finishing touches, but almost all of the quirky, gloriously floral decor that Tiki has become known for was visibly consistent. While the decoration remains the same, the one newest attribute is the striking – a single, sprawlingly long bar that can comfortably sit 10, if not a dozen patrons. Davies said that will work better than Tiki’s former layout.

“Obviously we were sad to see the other place go because we liked it, especially the Iguana Room,” Davies said of the expansion they made at their prior location earlier this year, not long before they had to shut down their operations because of a nearby fire. But Davies admits that the Iguana Room had considerable drawbacks, despite its bigger overall floor space, adding: "From a bar efficiency point of view, it’s much easier to have this new space and its one long bar, than to have two awkward shaped bars where we were. We needed a big team to operate all that and it caused functional problems."

Tory, meanwhile, said: "The vibe of this new bar will be better, I think, because people can chat more easily and freely with both the friends they came with and with new people they bump into. That didn't happen as much, with people at their own tables at the Iguana Room." Tory added that the cocktail menu, along with the decor, remain identical for now, in order to give Tiki fans the same experience they know and love and have missed over the past few months, though he does plan to make alterations to the cocktail menu once he and his colleagues have settled into the new digs.

Despite the recent turmoil, both Davies and Tory are very pleased to move into the new spot. They had scouted other locations across town, and were a bit wary to open another hutong bar given the volatility and rampant closures in those alleys as of late. However, Davies said Peiping Brewery approached the Tiki team with a very tempting offer that was advantageous to all involved, because the number of recent shutterings had driven down foot traffic in the neighborhood.

"We got a deal via the guys that own Peiping, in a commercial building sort of next to their brewery, and that’s one of the few reasons we decided to stay in the hutongs,” said Davies, still clearly frustrated by the snap closure of Tiki’s prior spot. He went on to add that the new Tiki digs are part of “an area that is a commercial property. Actually it’s one of the last remaining commercial zones in the hutongs. So because it has a commercial management office and has a built-in sprinkler system, and all the stuff that that you need to open a business and to apply for the proper food and beverage license, there was enough incentive for us to stay in the hutongs.”

With Tiki's third incarnation, many a regular will surely happy to have their favorite bar back, as well as take delight in a bit of good news for a neighborhood that's thus far this year withstood quite a trying time.

Photos: Tracy Wang, Kyle Mullin