š¹
Picture yourself on the beautiful pacific islands of Hawaii. The sun is shining, the trees shake and leafs rustle above. An exotic bird flys by. You stumble down a secluded road to the perfect beach bar filled with tiki-style drinks and Hawaiian shirted servers. You sip a delicious rum drink and waste away. This is not Lee's Hawaiian Islander. This is a made up place. Now picture yourself in New Jersey, its raining, you duck into a decaying red building to see bright blue cocktails, reasonably priced American Chinese food, fake leather crunching beneath your ass and a sterno burning in the middle of your poo poo platter. An elderly couple in matching, "I'm his. I'm her's" t-shirts sing Frank Sinatra on the karaoke machine. For a moment, a sip, a song, you've escaped the slog of tri-state living. You're at Lee's Hawaiian Islander.
Apr 14, 2025
Related Recs
Itās an Irish pub somehow located in the interior plaza of a FiDi housing complex. The blinds are down; the red vinyl booths are empty. Thereās an octagonal painting of the Twin Towers; Tiffany lampshades; a dim back room with stained glass windows; an ancient waiter who wears a suit; a horrific porcelain leprechaun. The wings are pretty good.One of the few bars in the vicinity to predate 9/11, Byrnes is a holdout against the mass extinction of normal places for normal people to get a drink in the city. For every haunt like Forliniās that closes weāre treated to half a dozen new TikTok-bait establishments called, like, Ghosted & Fried that serve TUNA POKE WONTON TACOS and MEXICAN STREET CORN RAVIOLI (real menu items at Beauty & Essex) to Syracuse marketing majors in Allbirds. And donāt get me started on the neon signsā¦Even more insidious are the places like Bernieās that mimic suburban taverns in order to sell homesick creative directors a plate of five mozzarella sticks for $17. Skip all that, go to Byrnes.
Jun 28, 2022
maybe the greatest tiki bar in the world, so immersiveā¦ huge menu of strong, creative drinks. the wait can be long though! (pic from my last visit)
Apr 11, 2024
š¹
Hear me out. Had 40ish minutes to kill before a late res last night so we found some tiki bar to sit in. The bartender told us our drinks would be brought to us in the back and didnāt charge us. They played great music and had some indeterminate early Tom Hanks movie playing, and everyone just seemed really friendly, but the bartender totally forgot about us. We chatted and had a great time and left after 25 minutes none the poorer and not way too drunk for a place with great cocktails.
Mar 3, 2024
Top Recs from @will
š
School made us think reading is a holy act. It is not. Its just something to do. Like watching a movie or sports. You arenāt going to be tested by anyone. Read high. Read drunk. Read 2 pages. Read half awake. Remember nothing or just some of it. It really doesnāt matter
May 2, 2024
š
Humbling. Nothing can stop this meat machine from rest.
Mar 25, 2025
šµ
Just do it who cares she probably knows better
Feb 27, 2025