About half an hour outside of Orlando, Permanent Vacation is a speakeasy-type establishment hidden inside another bar – in this case, the Copper Rocket Pub.
Like many hidden Tiki bars, it is small, with limited seating, so you will want to make reservations well in advance to ensure getting a table. By well in advance, you need to know that reservations can only be made via Permanent Location’s OpenTable resource, from their website, 3-4 weeks in advance – they release open reservations in blocks.
The seats in Permanent Vacation are mostly all of the tall, padded barstool variety, so if you have back issues, it is going to be difficult to get comfortable seating while there. The booths have bench seating, but there are only two of them and they are probably issued by specific party size.
As long as we are discussing seating, it may also be useful to know that the bar’s fog effects issue from the cave-like booth at the back right corner, so if you are sensitive to this sort of stuff, that may not be the seating choice for you.
Once you have entered Permanent Vacation, it is an immersive environment, complete with sound, fog, and/or light shows for certain drinks on the colorful and entertaining menu – literally, there is one class of drinks, as a group, dubbed “Lick the Frog”. Our server Austin was super-friendly and helpful, and was more than happy to chat with this bar geek about homemade mixers and drink recipes. In addition, since like most Tiki bars Permanent Vacation is quite dimly lit, the staff hands guests little souvenir flashlights – a nicety that keeps the iPhones from coming out, and seemed a thoughtful touch.
Having eaten heavily earlier in the evening at Suffering Bastard, we only ordered a little food – first, the squid rings. They were unexpectedly spicy – there were actually pieces of fried chili peppers mixed in the dish – so Jeanie quickly paled before its spicy power, and I inherited most of that plate, while Jeanie ordered one of Vacation’s topped flatbreads – titled Shellfish Decision – which, covered in shrimp, she seemed quite happy with, while her hotmouth husband plowed through the squid rings.
The music? A steady stream of Exotica. Permanent Vacation’s mugs are made by a local artist (as was the bar build, done by someone called Dan – his work fooled us initially, and we thought Bamboo Ben had visited Dixie). We strongly suspect that “Dan” is the real first name of “Head Hunter Ray”, who lives in Orlando and does Tiki bar builds in the area. His company is called Head Hunter Props & Fabrication.
Regarding the mugs, when we were there they were in short supply, and none were available for sale; we suspect that there is maybe never a huge supply of them, and that this is the norm.
On to the drinks. There were three nonalcoholic options, but we were otherwise inclined. As I generally do, I ordered a classic first – a Zombie, which arrived in one of their special mugs.
Was it the best Zombie I have ever had at a bar? Pride of place goes to Taboo Cove in Vegas, now many years gone. Still, it was a fine Zombie, and I’d order another were I to find myself back at Permanent Vacation someday. Jeanie had a Pusser’s-fueled Painkiller, in a handled Pusser’s mug. It had a nice, smoky note to it, and the handled Pusser’s mug was a charming touch.
The Raw Safari was beautiful, striated layers of green in its brandy-snifter glass – a blend of rum, pineapple, melon. The Bends, a mix of overproof gin, vanilla, lime ginger, and soda, had plenty of botanical flavors going on, and came in a corroded-looking diver helmet mug. Both drinks were quite good; I think individual flavor preferences aside, it’s probably hard to go wrong with the quality of any drink ordered at Permanent Vacation.
Finally, I possibly took my life in my hands and ordered from the Tranquilizer section of Permanent Vacation’s menu – a barrel mug drink called the Powderkeg. As I hoped, it was one of those drinks that set off Permanent Vacation’s sound-and-light show. A blend of overproof rum, soursop, grapefruit, charred orange, falernum, and a Dominican fruit-and-herb liqueur called Mama Juana, the Powderkeg was smoky, funky, and coming to get you. I suspect it was even stronger than the Zombie; the rum was a powerful presence, in a good sort of way. After that, I was definitely done for the evening, and our allotted two-hour time at Permanent Vacation was over in any case.
Overall? If you expect yourself to be anywhere in or around Orlando, make that early reservation, and you are in for a well-crafted, top notch Tiki experience there!
Here is the Permanent Vacation Website