Say farewell to cocktails in pineapples, elaborate scorpion bowls, and all that rum. Tiki-nuevo bar Hogo will close after this Saturday. Douglas Development plans to construct a new office building on the block, which will eventually force The Passenger and other businesses out, too.
But Hogo isn't going anywhere without a giant goodbye bash. Stop by from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday for a "castaway party" featuring DJ SoulCall Paul. (Plus, owner Tom Brown says he might take over as DJ at the end of the night.) There will also be a tiki costume contest, and the person with the best outfit will get a $50 bar tab. The winner will be announced at 11 p.m.
While Hogo will be gone, the good news is that its spirit will live on at sister bar, The Passenger, during Tiki Tuesday nights beginning next week. And expect another bar from Brown. "I've got a lot of ideas and I've got a lot of different spaces available to me, which is really cool, but I just haven't really narrowed down on one solid thing yet," he says. "I was even thinking of doing a Mayan-themed thing and Paleolithic cocktails."
Whatever's next, it probably won't be a martini bar, Brown says. "I'm interested in doing things that are a little more fun and less serious."
Photo by Jessica Sidman