Tag: SanJose

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Dr. Funk Rum Asylum September Meeting

We had a nice treat Sunday afternoon at the latest quarterly meeting of Dr. Funk’s rum club, the Rum Asylum. These meetings are open to anyone, including a bunch of folks who joined during Sunday’s session. The Rum Asylum is a self-guided journey through rum, where your purchased rum pours are tracked on a checklist.

The focus this time was on Barbados rums from the Foursquare Distillery, including the Probitas blended white rum, the aged R.L. Seale’s finest Barbados rum, and the flagship Foursquare 2011 Exceptional Cask Series. Chris from Altamar walked us through details of the distillery and production methods, and then provided guided tasting notes to compare and contrast. The session completed with a raffle of some bottles for those in attendance, including the 2011 ECS release.

There was also a speciality cocktail using these rums called Aster and Primrose, said to be “a rum lovers cocktail” and priced at just $11. I stuck with the poured rums since I was driving.

Several Rum Asylum members reached their next levels. Greg completed Level I’s 20 rums and had to pledge an oath to get the Level II list and a pin. Meanwhile, Nik finished Level III and received a pin and pith helmet along with the Level III list.

The next Rum Asylum meeting is December 21st at 3 pm. There’s additional info about the Rum Asylum on Dr. Funk’s website.

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Mai Tai and Tiki Bar Trivia at Dr. Funk

What a fabulous evening in downtown San Jose last night for our second hosted trivia event, this time hosted at Dr. Funk. We had a packed house of people testing their knowledge of arcane Mai Tai and Tiki Bar trivia, or maybe just load up on $8 Mai Tais and nacho fries.

We did four themed rounds of trivia, starting with Mai Tai Origins, South Bay Tiki, What’s in a Mai Tai, and Tiki Bars. Questions ranged from the simple (“In what city was the Mai Tai invented”) to deeper cuts such as the longest continuously operating tiki bar in Southern California. Hint: it isn’t Tiki Ti or Tonga Hut. Our last question about a British celebrity garnered a wild reaction when the answer was revealed.

16 teams were formed with up to four people, including themed names such as Team Finkonistas, Whiskey Business, Rum Believable, and the Two Swizzle Sticks. Prizes included a fab gift basket from Dr. Funk including a mug, tshirt, sweatshirt, and gift card – plus some tiki mugs and Mai Tai glasses from my collection.

Two teams tied for first so we went to sudden death with an obscure question about the number of issues of Tiki News. Congrats to Beachcomb Bubbies for winning and Rhum Island Provisions for also garnering an amazing score. Thanks to all who came out – I hope you had fun.

Winning team Beachcomb Bubbies
Second Place: Rhum Island Provisioneers

I was having so much fun I almost forgot to have a Dr. Funk Mai Tai, but I couldn’t leave without my reward at the end of the event.

$8 Mai Tai Monday
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Mai Tai / Tiki Bar Trivia at Dr. Funk

Join us on Monday, Sept 8 at 7:30 pm for a special trivia event at Dr. Funk in Downtown San Jose. Groups of up to four can compete for prizes and bragging rights, plus enjoy Dr. Funk food and cocktails including $8 Mai Tais. Consider a reservation to secure a table inside.

If you know tiki bars and Mai Tais you should do very well. We’d love to see you in San Jose on a weeknight.

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Value Mai Tais at Airport Bar?

Heading to Tiki Oasis in San Diego by way of the San Jose Mineta Airport, so I made sure to arrive early for some drinks and food at Trader Vic’s SJC to get into the mood. It was still before 10:00 am so while I could get a Mai Tai I couldn’t order off the lunch menu yet. No trouble, the Tahitian Toast with Salmon was quite filling, but I asked for the jalapeño spread to be omitted as spicy is not my thing. The waiter asked if I would like some avocado with it and after saying yes it arrived with avocado. “Some” avocado indeed. It was delicious and totally filling too.

My Mai Tai was just great and the Guava Tai I ordered was just as good. I enjoy the little bit of tropical juices that Trader Vic’s adds for these Tropical Tais. As seasoned mixologists know, a little bit of mango or pineapple or guava go a long way and Trader Vic’s doesn’t drown it with these juices like some places do. It’s the perfect amount.

The prices at Trader Vic’s SJC are not too bad these days, either. All drinks are $18.39 including tax, which isn’t cheap but no longer expensive when you account for the tax being included. We’ve seen Mai Tais and other cocktails well over $20 that aren’t nearly as good, which is amazing for a bar at the airport. Trader Vic’s SJC is a treasure.

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Trader Vic’s at Oakland Airport Coming in 2026

The Trader Vic’s Outpost location at San Jose Mineta International Airport has been a big hit since it opened in 2021, so much so that they even expanded the seating last year. Now the same concessionaire is working with Trader Vic’s Hospitality Group to bring the concept to the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport in 2026.

A recent article on SF Gate details some of the plans, noting that the Oakland Airport has done major transformations of its food options over the past couple years. Nearly all those projects have launched or are completing soon, with the Trader Vic’s being the last milestone. A spokesman mentioned that Trader Vic’s provides onboarding and training programs to ensure consistency, something we’ve been really pleased with at San Jose.

Trader Vic’s Outpost is one of a series of location concepts that the brand is running or rolling out, designed for airports and hotel lobbies. Notably, the operating hours at San Jose start as early as 6:00 am, so there’s plenty of opportunity to experience the venue before a flight. The use of large tikis, fish floats, and jade tiles at the San Jose location is an indication of the level of decor that is clean and modern, but still a significant investment that goes well beyond a plain design.

From the Trader Vic’s website:

“Trader Vic’s Outpost is the airport, and small lobby, version of the original brand that still offers table service but with a smaller menu offerings and may have a QR ordering system in place as well.

The food menu is adjusted to the location and may offer grab and go options as well. Easier, crowd-pleasing offerings are incorporated to the menu which gives it a sense of casualness.

The cocktail menu has about 25 drinks on it and is a mix of classic and new tiki drinks highlighting our signature glassware and mugs. Draft beer is also available.

The ambiance incorporates as many décor elements of the original TV as possible and may be replicated in some instances to stay within the brand. Televisions are allowed in these spaces if the location has a need for them. A gift shop, or retail element, should also be considered based on the location.”

 

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Indiana Jones Trivia at Dr. Funk

We sucked at Risky Quizness’ Friends and Office trivia, but finished in the top 5 for Disney Parks and Anchorman trivia – but a win eluded us until this week for Indiana Jones Trivia.

We enjoy the Monday trivia events at Dr. Funk and it was a pretty full house for this week’s event too. Our son Quinn picked the team name “The Boulder” and son Riley did most of the heavy lifting for the 40 questions covering all five Indiana Jones movies. It was a come from behind victory, thanks in part to better knowledge of the Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny films (my favorite: Last Crusade). Time to put the winning artifacts in a museum!

Monday is also $8 Mai Tai Monday at Dr. Funk and this week’s entry was pretty much perfect, vaulting it up several spots on our running Top Mai Tais of 2025 list. Still the greatest value Mai Tai you can buy on a regular basis.

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New Cocktails at Dr. Funk / Anchorman Trivia

We had a great time a couple weeks ago on back to back visits to Dr. Funk, first to check out the Monday trivia event which was the movie Anchorman. In a past life I used to have a podcast and blog about the Frat Pack so this was a seminal movie and one of my favorites. We finished second but I won the raffle for a bottle of Scotch (yes, you can say it… “I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly…”). This one was more sparsely attended than past events but lucky for us since it was the last night of the old Dr. Funk cocktail menu they were running specials on some of the drinks that were being dropped.

Jungle Bird

Dr. Funk’s new cocktail menu launched the next night, so we brought the family to give the drinks a try. I was especially interested in trying the revised Jungle Bird that dropped Cruzan Black Strap and is now using Worthy Park Select from Jamaica and so much better. The other new cocktails were well-received by the family including the Boozy Beachbum, Thai Chi, Espresso Oasis, and Myers’s Storm. The Lychee Luau was a little less sweet than when I sampled it during a preview, but it is still one that I recommend. And if you are looking for a Dr. Funk swizzle, you’ll have a hard time missing one.

During my visits I did take advantage of Tuesday’s all-day Happy Hour pricing to have the Mai Tai for only $12, plus a Hamilton White Stache Daiquiri off the Rum Asylum checklist. The DJ for this particular Tiki Tuesday was DJ Ship Rex who always provides an energetic set of vintage tunes.