Howie's Tiki

Eager to hit 2 Tiki Bars on the only day I had in Houston when they were open, we strolled into Howie's a few minutes after the door was unlocked.
Like going to the cinema, I prefer Tiki Bars after sunset, but beyond the glare of the glass door, this place looks promisingly charming.
The vibe was very mellow, with soft Hawaiian vocal music in the background...OK, it's Sunday afternoon, so it worked.
Were we the only non staff there?
We ordered food and drinks. The food was meh, and we were warned the bartender was not there, and so, the drinks looked and tasted like it.
We were very disappointed.
Had they comped the drinks or food because of this, we'd probably have been OK with it all.....but at full price it was not cool......
And for contrast, we went to Lei Low, and were delighted.
So Howie's: you've got a room for improvement. It's a new place and we hope they will learn as they ride the learning curve.
We seek out Tiki Bars for the entire experience.
The visuals, the aural quality, AND the drinks all are important elements.

Drinks are well made, with quality ingredients and care. Not much for fancy garnishes, the skill is in the mix. some of the tastiest drinks I've ever had. Ask for some "off menu" drinks for nice surprise. Howie is knowledgeable and friendly. The food is mostly Hawaiian poke and very good. Lots of free parking out front Howie's is in a strip mall.

Mark (Howie) is a great host. He knows his tiki drinks and is well versed in tiki culture. The music was a bit loud. I prefer a softer atmosphere when it comes to music. He has mugs from Tiki Farm on order and has some nice glass take home mugs in the meantime. Overall I would say this bar is great. Food wasn't available yet but it sounds like he has great plans for the future menu. In the meantime there is always Tommy Bahama restaurant in The Woodlands. Guys...make sure you use the restroom. Hubba hubba!

Howie's Tiki, Spring, TX Review: My first impression walking in was, "ok... this is good, I think we're going to have a real tiki bar here." The lighting was right, the décor was good as though you were at a tiki bar in Nor Cal or further north in Chicago with some original tiki art in Bamboo Ben frames, B&W pictures, thatch over hang above the table seating, and the focus was the beautifully lit bamboo tiki bar with glass floats and puffer lamps above.

Now it was time to order a drink, the owner over heard me order a Mai Tai and suggested I order a Mai Tai off the menu for $2 more and I was glad I did! It was great! And so were the many drinks that followed Three Dots and a Dash, Voo Doo, Test Pilot, Navy Grog, Zombie and Suffering Bastard. Now I'd be dead had I ordered all of those and drank them, three were mine I tried the others. While I rated them at a 7 on drinks the taste was all there without the flair. So this number could easily be a 10 with a few changes mentioned below.

The music was nice there was the occasional Martin Denny, Les Baxter and even Robert Drasnin (VooDoo, album), but it still left a little to be desired as in-between the tiki music was some that didn't make since; however, nothing was annoying and the owner knew he had opportunity there so no big deal. Speaking of the owner, he was very kind and lives in the community he serves! His staff was well trained for an opening night and very polite. He already has had tiki mug talks with Tiki Farm and a full kitchen will be open in a couple weeks. I'll be back and I'll be excited to watch this place evolve. I hope Howie's sticks on the traditional tiki path and the community will embrace the concept. I look forward to returning.

Room For Opportunity: Drinks were pricey (Mai Tai $11, Painkiller $13) AND had little to no garnish (it's hard to bring myself to pass this point: Tiki drinks have to have heavy garnish and be sexy), No bowl (sharing) drinks were on the menu, No full tikis to be found Jay Brooks you're being paged!!!), Take the "ok" Mai Tai off the menu and only serve the good one, No drink specials were noticed. None of this is stuff that can't be overcome, quite frankly I don't own the place and these are simply changes I would make but he has a GREAT start at what looks like a very promising tiki bar!