Bahi Hut Lounge in Sarasota, FL

Bahi Hut was opened in 1956 by Bill Johnson, and remains a beloved neighborhood bar and local landmark. These days it operates as more of a beer bar, though some tropical drinks are available. Much of its vintage charm remains, and its historic bones are worth treasuring. It is part of the Golden Host Resort, a vintage roadside motel.

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Scorpion Bowl Bobby

Scorpion Bowl Bobby has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

March 7, 2020, 2:08 PM

I came here once or twice a year going back maybe a decade, and it was more a token visit to a place I had a soft spot for, but the bar has reclaimed the proper tiki mantle and visits from now on will be because it's good! My bartender was extremely knowledgeable, and even happy to openly pan a drink on their menu (he described the taste as "gasoline and Hi-Ci") and offer a better one off menu (an old Beachcomber version of Mai Tai). We had a couple drinks each, all great, and talked much more with our excellent bartender. There's no waterfalls or fire dances, but there's some classic touches for decor and, most importantly, great drinks. Definitely worth a visit, and the best bar I've been to in town.

Duevelocita

Duevelocita has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

February 29, 2020, 1:07 PM

Opened in 1954 and not updated since then. The claim to fame for their premiere drink, a Mai Tai, is that it has more alcohol than any drink in town. Still, we had a blast and went back a second time while in Sarasota. Bartenders were a lot of fun.

Tikibaz

Tikibaz has visited Bahi Hut Lounge.

July 2, 2019, 11:52 AM

Just visited last week. I would affectionately refer to it as a "divey" tiki bar. With a quirky location next to a motel, its interior is intimate, dark, and with just enough touches of tikis and decoration that you definitely get the feel of a tiki bar, even though its also clear that they aren't putting in a 100% effort. A fairly limited drink menu does offer up some tiki classics, although even as an experienced mai tai drinker I found their version of it to be almost too strong to enjoy. The other drinks were very enjoyable though, and the bartender was friendly and attentive.

On the downside, although its definitely a non-smoking joint now, you can still detect that it wasn't for many years. And they committed my one cardinal sin of tiki bars, which was displaying multiple large screen tvs playing sports and tv shows. Still, definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

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