Step out of Paso Robles and into the tropics at new island-themed Cane Tiki Room
You can now travel to the tropics without leaving the Central Coast by visiting the Cane Tiki Room, a new restaurant and rum bar that recently opened in downtown Paso Robles.
The restaurant is the fourth establishment by Troy Larkin and Donovan Schmit, who own restaurants Fish Gaucho and Pappy McGregors and the speakeasy Eleven Twenty Two in Paso Robles.
Similar to the duo’s other establishments, Cane Tiki Room offers an immersive dining experience.
But, instead of a visit to Oaxaca or the Prohibition era, Cane Tiki Room helps patrons sail away on a rum float.
“It’s been exciting to introduce the Central Coast to sugar cane-based spirits and the tiki atmosphere and lifestyle,” general manager and bar director Jeff Kennedy said. “It’s been really fun so far.”
The decor offers a modern take on retro tiki bars, with a neon sign out front that beckons patrons into a dimly lit restaurant where bartenders pour colorful, spirited and sometimes smoking cocktails, and groups can order platters of Polynesian-style classics.
The restaurant had a soft opening in early February and since then has been packed with customers within about 30 minutes of opening almost every day, Kennedy said.
“We can’t wait to get in here and give it a try and it’s really been a delight,” first-time visitor Lucy Smith said during a visit last week. “The service was great, they recommended a drink that we can try. It was just delightful.”
Escape the everyday at the Paso Robles tiki bar
The idea to open Cane Tiki Room came about in the summer of 2021 as coronavirus precautions had bars and restaurants moving patrons outdoors.
Due to indoor capacity limits, the speakeasy cocktail lounge, Eleven Twenty-Two, moved operations to the back patio of sister restaurant, Pappy McGregor’s, and went from speakeasy to “teak-easy,” Kennedy said.
The owners bought a bunch of tiki-themed decorations to liven up the space, Kennedy said.
It soon became clear that there was a niche market for tiki bar lovers in San Luis Obispo County, he said.
After the “teak-easy” on Pappy McGregor’s patio closed for winter, the owners decided to try and make a tiki bar in Paso Robles a permanent reality, Kennedy said.
Eventually, the space next door to Fish Gaucho became available for rent. The owners jumped on the opportunity to open an authentic, permanent tiki bar, Kennedy said.
What came next was about a year of plotting to bring the vision for Cane Tiki Room into reality.
“There was just a lot of construction and a lot of details that went into making sure Cane was up to our standards,” Kennedy said, noting the construction and decor process took longer than anticipated.
Every detail is designed to help the customer check their baggage at the door, kick back and relax, he said.
“Tiki is a kind of escapism, and I think we hammered that home,” Kennedy said. “Most of the guests, too, just kind of forget about the outside world as soon as they get there.”
Patrons walk past the pineapple lights and tiki statues flanking the entrance and grab a seat at the bar. Inside is a restaurant with lots of eye-catching details and colorful lighting, he said.
The decor transports the diner to the islands, with a bamboo and thatched-roof ceiling, a tiki mug collection and colorful glowing orbs, as well as at least one puffer fish light fixture.
“You can come back day after day and you can notice something new,” Kennedy said. “It’s a really well-put-together restaurant.”
The restaurant even hired Daniels Wood Lands in Paso Robles to build a custom Tiki waterfall that sits behind the bar, he said.
In the end, the team is glad they didn’t cut corners on decor just to open a few months earlier, Kennedy said.
Cane Tiki Room aims to give rum a reboot in SLO County
Kennedy said he thinks Cane Tiki Room is one of the Central Coast’s only genuine tiki bars. It’s also likely the biggest rum bar in the region.
The restaurant rolled out its first craft cocktail menu, and about 99% of the drinks are rum-based, he said.
They include classics like mai tai, mojitos and painkillers, as well as frozen favorites like the strawberry daiquiri and piña colada.
The menu labels the cocktails with a skull and crossbones that ranks the cocktails based on their level of alcohol — from “mild” to “yikes!”
“I like to say the more skull and crossbones, the more adventurous the cocktail,” Kennedy said.
The bar also has punch bowls, which serves anywhere from two to eight drinkers.
“They’ve been an extremely big hit,” he said.
While most rum lovers know what to expect from a tiki cocktail, there are also lots of guests who are rum newbies or rum-scarred after a rough experience with mainstream brands like Malibu or Sailor Jerry’s, Kennedy said.
He reassures patrons that there is a rum for everyone and none of the cocktails at Cane Tiki Room are made from the mainstream rum brands.
“There’s so many dimensions to rum I don’t think people in this area have gotten to try or been exposed to,” he said.
Kennedy recommends rum newbies try the tiki bar’s No. 1 seller: the mai tai.
“You can’t call yourself a tiki bar and not have a really, really good mai tai,” he said. “I think ours speaks volumes for the time and effort we put into this.”
For people looking for a spirit to sip or shoot, Kennedy said to try the Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple from Plantation Rum.
“It’s incredibly smooth,” he said. “A nice little intro to what rum could be.”
Meanwhile, patrons who are feeling rum-shy still have options.
“I ordered a wonderful beer,” first-time visitor Rick Smith said.
“It’s an IPA and it tastes very Polynesian,” he said jokingly.
Guests can soak up their cocktails with some of the shared plates on the menu.
The kitchen at Cane Tiki Room dishes up a twist on traditional Polynesian cuisine including spam musubi and ahi poke plates, pork and shrimp egg rolls, chicken lettuce cups, Hawaiian kebabs and more.
Cane Tiki Room is located at 1240 Park St. in Paso Robles and is open daily from 4 to 10 p.m.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
