A Tiki-themed lounge space will open on the second floor of Budd Dairy Food Hall in Simon’s Bar Saturday. Credit: Jack Like | Lantern Reporter
A tropical oasis is headed to Columbus.?
Simon’s Bar is launching a Tiki-themed lounge space Saturday on the second floor of Budd Dairy Food Hall. According to Nick Smith, a beverage manager at Budd Dairy, the Tiki bar stemmed from the idea of creating a space where people can escape the cold and unpredictable weather of Columbus.
?“I think it kind of centers around this idea of escapism,” Smith said. “The weather here could be shaky for a little while longer. People want that experience of a tropical feeling, right?”
Smith said the pop-up will make its debut this weekend, but they plan on running it for the foreseeable future.
“The pop-up starts this weekend, but our goal is to run it through summer,” Smith said. “Every Friday and Saturday for the foreseeable future, we’ll be running it from six [p.m.] to midnight.”
Jeremy Hughes, the manager at Budd Dairy, said the Tiki bar is hoping to draw customers in with its authentic and quality drinks on the cocktail menu, not just with the theme.
“I think the elevation with this one comes from the quality and the style of the cocktails,” Hughes said. “Obviously, you’re not seeing chai tea infusions or demerara syrups and things that we’re doing [currently]. That was one thing that we noticed, looking at other Tiki bars and even trying the drinks, is that a lot of times the theme was really what sold it, it wasn’t the actual quality and content.”
The cocktail menu includes 12 special drinks, which Smith said aren’t offered on other menus in the food hall. According to a press release, some of the special drinks include the Toucan Slam —? a mix of Middlewest Pumpernickel Rye with Campari, pineapple, lime and cinnamon — as well as a non-alcoholic N.A. Pier Pressure Colada, which consists of pineapple juice, coconut cream, lime and demerara brown sugar.?
“When guests arrive there, they can order these tropical, curated, Tiki-inspired drinks,” Smith said. “We have special glassware, ceramic Tiki mugs and some colorful and exciting garnishes as well.”
Hughes said his inspiration for a pop-up themed bar came to him on a trip, where he was checking out other food halls.
“One of the impetus behind this was when we went out to Denver, Colorado,” Hughes said. “We were doing some dining around, checking out food halls and just kind of looking at some of the themes and things they did. Tiki has always been kind of a theme that has been bouncing around, but we saw it in action out there.”
Smith said that the Tiki pop-up serves as a way to generate traffic to Simon’s Bar. What is now modeled as a bourbon lounge, he said that the bar has struggled to get business compared to the rest of the food hall.
“So that bar has been here since our opening,” Smith said. “[Budd Dairy is] coming up on our five-year anniversary …? It’s one of our slower spaces, so trying to drive people in with some fun decorations and a different menu than we have in the rest of the building could be a cool draw.”
Smith said that even though the Tiki-theme is primarily at Simon’s Bar, the food halls at Budd Dairy will also be holding specials on Friday and Saturday nights.
Hughes hopes that the Tiki pop-up serves as a way to open the Budd Dairy up to more of the Columbus community, so they can share their passion for food and beverage service.
“It’s that idea of genuine hospitality,” Hughes said. “When you care about something, whether you’re cooking a steak or you’re making a drink or you’re greeting a guest, it comes through. I feel like this gives us an opportunity to really show that fun and show off our talents. I think the guests are really going to respond well to us.”
