Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #72 Area151 – Indianapolis IN

Question: If you were really into UFOs and Sci-Fi and you also happened to love tiki, what would you name your home tiki bar?

Answer: Area151!

No one knows for sure what exactly is going on inside Area 51. Could there be top secret vehicles, weapons or planes? Is the government hiding aliens from us? Maybe there’s nothing at Area 51, but I can safely tell you that there’s a whole lot of tiki going on at Area151!

Area151 started as Dan and Donetta Huffman’s backyard deck but with a little help from their in-laws the deck quickly became a whole lot more! Area151 is a very tall A-frame tiki bar that looks like something right out of a movie set. There are a bunch of signs pointing to various far away tiki destinations, but once you step foot inside Area151 and take a seat at the bar, you won’t want to go anywhere!

 What is the tiki scene like where you live?

 Dan- The Tiki scene in Indy is good. It has really improved in the last few years. There are now three to four Tiki Bars in town we enjoy visiting.  There are also some folks with great home bars.  I do wish we would spend more time together as a group but it’s hard with everyone’s work and family commitments.

What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle” and how long has it been part of your life?

 Dan- My son Lance was in a car club in Indy with a guy name Eric Cain. Eric is the one that really introduced me to the Tiki Scene. We were at a car show at a tiki event in Columbus Ohio. At that time, it was called the Hot Rod Hula Hop. That is where Eric gave me my real full immersion. Mid century décor, mugs, surf and exotica music and Polynesia. I was hooked. It was one of their first events so it must have been around 2004 or 2005.

Can you give a little history of how it all came together?

 Dan- Area151 really all started with my wife Donetta finding a 5’ tall tiki idol fountain at a local garden center.  We had just purchased a new home and I didn’t have any idea where we were going to install it, so I built a privacy fence and a little planter to place it in. The rest is a classic story of “scope creep”.

We then poured a concrete patio for patio furniture around the planter. That wasn’t enough space for all of our furniture and Donetta wanted some privacy, so we added a deck and bamboo privacy fence. This all happened in the same year. We were fortunate to be able to build the Tiki Bar structure the first year as well due to a generous gift from my in-laws. They would come over to visit the first year and see our projects and were excited with the progress. We told them about our plans to add the Tiki Bar the next summer.

The other projects pretty much tapped out our construction budget for the year. The next weekend My in-laws brought us out a neon Tiki Bar sign along with a check and told us to build the bar now, not next year. Needless to say, that sign is one of our prized treasures!

Any story behind the name of your bar?

 Dan- Our friend Miguel named Area151. We are big classic Sci-Fi and UFO fans. We even have a 12’ UFO wall covering mural in our living room.  The morning after our first little party Miguel calls and says he has the perfect name. I remember when he told Donetta she screamed! So, from then on it was Area151.

What is your favorite Tiki drink?

 Dan- Rum Runner, love the banana and blackberry!

What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own! 

 Dan- I’ll have to cheat and give you two. Locally my favorite is the Tiki Bar at Revolucion in Fountain Square.  You walk through doors in the back of the restaurant to get to the Tiki Bar. They also have a large patio area that’s nicely decorated. It’s what I would call laid back, casual tiki. Great drinks, friendly staff and good music.

My other favorite Tiki Bar is Damon’s in Glendale California. It’s been around since the 1930’s and you can feel the history and “old school” dining vibe.  Amazingly decorated and great steaks and they still toss a salad tableside.  Good drinks and they even have a Dole Whip machine. Whenever I visit my son’s in LA we also spend an evening at Damon’s. It has great tradition.

Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?

 Dan- Good décor and proper lighting. Music is important. Classic surf and exotica are my favorites. Nothing kills a vibe more than the wrong music.  I love some tiki art.  Good friends and family really make it perfect.

What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?

 Dan- We are always looking at adding pieces to enhance the experience. We like creating “Easter eggs” and love it when folks discover them. I’m also a fan of WW2 history and the influence the war in the pacific had on Tiki culture. I’d like to add some more elements of that. My son built me some correct WW2 fighter planes and I need to get those installed.

Anything else you would like to add?

 Dan- I’d like to see less factions in the Tiki community. I love Bamboo Ben’s “No Tiki Drama”. I think he even made a mug. I need to get one of those. To me Tiki should be an all skate. Any Tiki is better than no Tiki.  There should be no Tiki gatekeepers.

All pictures used for this post were taken by Vinnie Manganello