Every year the grass skirt hosts a holiday pop-up.. sippin’ santa. And every year we try to make it. This year was no exception. While usually it’s just us girls, this year we did a double-date night and dragged the guys out with us.

It’s such a fun event with specialized menu items, and a whole slew of holiday drinks. The perfect way to get the holiday season kicked off. And considering we were all headed off to disney the holidays away two days later, start the season it did.

We (and by we, I mean two of us) started off with a holiday shot. If you want a cute holiday shot glass, you can purchase it separately… but we were just going for the booze.

The beginning of the shot was excellent, and felt very holidayesque… but the back end was a little thick and syrupy; and super nut forward, as if the shot hadn’t been mixed before service… making it almost to much to take at once.

I’m not saying i wouldn’t do it again, ‘cause I totally would… but, i definitely liked the beginning flavor the best.

Luckily there was a seasonal ipa. Although not a fast favorite; it was drinkable, and not a total throwaway.

The holiday yule tide however, was excellent. The flavors were perfect and definitely evoked a fresh holiday vibe. Only complaint? Way too much ice, and not very much drink.

We all loved this play on the big mac. It even has a cute little piggy face on one side to emphasize the pork belly.

I’m impressed enough that I’ve totally got a big mac bao bun in the works for the future, but with ground beef, because… classic. I just gotta nail that sauce.

What is not to love about this dish? tuna? check. caviar? check. truffle? check, check. I mean, unless you don’t like seafood… but then you’re out of luck and there’s just more for the rest of us.

You know that little bit of the cone at the bottom of the drumstick, where all the chocolate has run to the bottom, and you get this fully stuffed bite? Well that’s what they did here with the avocado. Excellent.

We all tried to figure out exactly what the cone was, it was almost translucent, but not, and yet it wasn’t solid like a chip or rice cracker. I could have had ten of these, no joke.

This is exactly what you would imagine a deconstructed california roll, stuffed in a taco to be. Krab with a K, shredded nori, avocado and cucumber all inside a taco shell instead of rice.

Great bite.

These were okay. The flavor profile was great, but there was no sour cream to be found. The tortillas were also way to big for the amount of meat and filling pilled on top of them. It really could have been just one taco - not 4. I don’t think anyone finished more than 1/2 their tortilla… there was just not enough to fill them with.

And yes, I know that usually corn tortillas are doubled, but these were too thick to be doubled, and plated as 4 separate bites.

This is a classic grass skirt dish. Always done well; not to be confused with well done.

In pre-covid days, they would bring out a mini flaming bbq, and completely raw steak so you could cook your own. they also had more sauces, and cucumber salad, with cabbage wraps.

Not better, just different.

Still get the dish, every single time.

This is a favorite from years prior, and we were super happy to see it on the menu, as it is not a regular menu item.

Absolutely nothing not to love about this, and I say that as a non-dessert ordering person.

And it certainly rounds out the first holiday meal of the christmas season.