Drift Lounge

interior does not match exterior, thats not to say it is bad though. outside has all the makings of a great tiki beach hut with the thatched a frame and plenty of drift wood. inside is still very nice but a little more organized but none the less very cool still. unfortunaley they will not have any mugs for a while due to the fact that munktiki is either shutting down or just not shipping mugs to them anymore. i didnt have any food but the price was moderate to way overpriced like the $22 fish sandwich. the drinks are pretty good and priced accordingly. the bartender actually took a lot of pride in mixing them and serving them up tall and strong. the evil bastard, at $14 is the most expensive drink but well worth the price. have 2 of them and you'll know why they are called that! i got it in a mug that is about 10inches tall served up with plenty of fruit garnish an umbrella and even a flaming sugar cube sitting atop a little orange raft. the only down side is no navy grog but when i asked for it i got a positive response from the bar tender and the owner on how to make it and where to get it. i really enjoyed this place and all the patrons there when i was there were all very pleasant and nice to talk to. i would reccomend going from 4pm to 7pm as some drinks are 2-4-1 and they have free food. they said they have plans to rip out the parking lot put in a pool with a giant waterfall. i come to phoenix/ scottsdale once a year and already look forward to my next visit!
on a side note, good luck figuring out which is the mens and which is the girls bathroom after a couple drinks!

I stopped by Drift around 6 pm on Saturday, after a somewhat underwhelming visit to the Scottsdale Trader Vic's the previous night, and was pleasantly surprised. I think the timing was key: you get the sense that the management is going for more of a club feel later in the night (low lighting, techno music in the background), but at an uncrowded time, it was a great place to have a drink and soak in the modern tiki flavor.

First of all, the exterior is exceptional - you enter under a thatched A-frame with torches blazing on both sides, a large overhead light suspended in a fishing net, and ribbed roof overhangs ... not to mention numerous palm trees, this being Arizona. I've seldom been more excited to enter a tiki bar based on the exterior alone.

The interior is also cool, though in a different way ... you can either sit at semicircular beige vinyl-covered booths along the side wall or at wooden tables with curvy black vinyl and silver chairs in the middle of the room. The overall effect is retro-futuristic - think cutting-edge design from the 1950s (as seen at the nearby, not-to-be-missed Hotel Valley Ho).

The outstanding feature of the room is a lovely gray moai, lit from below, by the back wall (of dark stone, in more classic tiki style). There are also small tikis along the wall behind the booths and a couple of larger ones as you enter, along with a blowfish lamp, by the maitre d' stand. The pillars supporting the ceiling are covered with thick rope for a nautical effect, and instead of thatch, the walls and ceiling are adorned with a thin screen of bamboo (as is the bar itself). In general, I thought the decor and lighting did a good job of giving the room a firelit, mysterious appearance, despite the unhelpful music.

I should make special mention of the walk to the bathroom (between stone walls, one with two crossed clubs, red fire-like lighting) and the bathroom itself - gender-identified tiki on the door and one of the most creative sinks I've seen anywhere.

Drinks were good (I had the Painkiller) and service was friendly, if a bit slow. The drink list had a nice selection of rums, organized by island. Drift isn't perfect, but I think it's a good example of how to create a more modern-feeling tiki bar without losing the tikiness - as opposed to the Scottsdale Trader Vic's. The slightly clubby atmosphere is a little off-putting, but I'm still looking forward to my next visit.

The Drift Lounge closed as of November 2011.
I went to the Drift five or six times and had a great time. The exterior was so promising, I was ultimately a little let down by the scene inside. They tried too hard to cater to the Scottsdale club scene by appearing "upscale": playing inappropriate dance music or Top 40 stuff, DJ sets on weekends which were always cool, but just not what I like to get out of a tiki joint. I want to hear Martin Denny records or at least some Don Ho!

But it was by no means a bad place: the drinks were pretty good, the decor was cool. They had some of the mainstays - a giant tiki head inside, burning tiki torches, and a great signage outside the door.

Bon Voyage, Drift Lounge!