Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #88 Camo Cat Tiki Bar And Lounge – Golden Valley MN

Always look before you sit down!

You may just sit on your cat, especially if your cat’s fur matches the fur of the chair. This was how the name of Joyce and Richard Bishop’s Witco filled tiki bar was named. Before Joyce and Richard discovered tiki, they were collecting Witco, and they have a lot of it! Once they got their Witco bar, their space evolved more into a tiki bar but they still preserved the Witco vibe. Elvis Presley may have the Jungle Room, but Joyce and Richard have Camo Cat. Elvis, eat your heart out!

What is the tiki scene like where you live?

Almost nonexistent — for tiki bars there’s Psycho Suzi’s and in Stillwater (east of the cities), there’s The Tilted Tiki which has the superior drinks. There’s a local Facebook group of like-minded tikiphiles that’s a great resource called MN Tiki.

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

We became official empty nesters about ten years ago and were looking for something we could both enjoy together. We moved from the exurbs to a nice inner ring suburb that had a MCM vibe. We actually started collecting Witco first before transitioning to a full on tiki lifestyle.

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

We found a listing on Craigslist for a Witco bar that I followed for a while hoping the price would come down. We eventually pulled the trigger and that was sort of impetus for starting the Camo Cat Tiki Bar And Lounge. We had purchased some Witco before but hadn’t really thought about putting them all together in one room until we stumbled on the bar. Then it became an adventure that had us going from Wisconsin to Iowa to South Dakota in search of Tiki (and more Witco!)

Any story behind the name of your bar?

We were down in our bar drinking one night and one of our cats (Shimmer) was sitting on one of our Witco chairs, so well camouflaged by the faux fur on the chair that we almost sat on her! We started calling her camo cat and when we decided we needed a name for our bar, that seemed the most appropriate (the bar is a shared space with our cats) Down the line we bought another Witco chair that just happened to camouflage our other cat very well.

What is your favorite Tiki drink?

For Joyce, it’s a Three Dots and a Dash. She likes the spiciness of the drink. For Richard, it’s a Singapore Sling (debatably tiki I know). He likes that it’s not quite as sweet as most tiki drinks and certain packs a wallop

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

Psycho Suzi’s for the vintage vibe and close location.

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

Lighting, the right music and good company. We’re trying to implement better lighting in our bar (it’s a slow journey) and that’s really kicked it up a notch for the overall experience.

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

More Witco! A good tiki bar is always evolving and changing and ours has started to spill over in other parts of our house (downstairs bathroom, hallway and even outdoors)

Anything else you would like to add?

Our biggest regret is not getting into Tiki even sooner! We’re definitely not Tiki purists (not that there’s anything wrong with that) so our bar will always have our own unique interpretation of tiki.