Edmonton tiki bar makes a splash as one of Canada’s best 100 bars

Local tiki bar Honi Honi placed in the top 50 of a list of Canada's best bars.

A tiki bar in downtown Edmonton has been named one of the best 100 bars in Canada, cracking the list in the 28th spot.

Tucked away in Ice District and opened two years ago, Honi Honi is an intimate lounge that seats 40 people in a space with thatched decor and twinkling lights hanging down from the ceiling.

The news came with a bit of surprise and mystery.

“We don’t know who nominated us,” Travis McKenna, a bartender at Honi Honi, told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

“As soon as we got notified that we were going to be on the list, it was a bit of a shock. It was very exciting.”

McKenna said this is the first day being open since the list was announced, so it is too soon to tell if business will be boosted.

“(Hopefully) it’ll help us stay in business (and) bring some more people to the bar,” he said, adding that they are a bit of a destination spot that stays true to their theme.

“We’re trying to stick to it and stay faithful to it and to the titans that brought tiki to the world in the first place,” McKenna said. “Trying to do as much as we can and without cutting any corners.”

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here.”

According to the top 100 list, Honi Honi upholds tiki tradition with “drinks served in the requisite coconuts and pirate-chest or skull cups.”

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Honi Honi staff say they plan to stay the course and stay humble.

“It’s encouraging to know that we’re on the right path and that we’re doing something correct,” McKenna said.

A new menu is coming out soon, with some old menu items being added to the mix and other drinks reimagined.

“Just excited to shake things up a little bit and go into the summer with some new drinks.”

The bar is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. until midnight.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Sean McClune