out and about: grass skirt sippin' santa pop up '24

It’s that time of year again. Holiday pop ups and festivities abound. And one of our yearly favorites is back at it again. Sippin’ santa once again reigns at the grass skirt.

This year we made a double date out of it with friends who have never been before - and it was so much fun introducing them to a local staple. Not gonna over step and say they enjoyed it - but they did say they were going to bring visiting family back before the season was over. Which pretty much speaks for its self.

draft ipa: piki mai cascade

merry spritzmas: prosecco, aperol, tawny port, cognac, lemon, falernum, fig preserves, cardamom bitters

Cheers.

New ipa alert. And it was an enjoyable one. Grass skirts hosts a rotating tap, so hopefully it’s still there on our next visit.

The merry spritzmas was a new cocktail this year, and it was delish. A little heavy on the ice for my taste… but that’s pretty much the par for course in a tiki bar.

okonomiyaki fries: bonito flake, scallion, qp

Finally! The fries are back on the menu.

A favorite from when the grass skirt first opened, the fries disappeared after covid, and have recently reappeared on the menu and we were so excited about it.

Well - three out of four of us. The fourth found the bonito flakes to be too fishy. But that’s merely a personal preference.

shrimp lettuce wraps: tomato, cucumber, cilantro, red onion, avocado, yuzu, black pepper

We loved the shrimp lettuce wraps. It was almost like a shrimp salad with all the good things… tossed together, and then served with lettuce. Think a japanese pico de gallo if you will. And also? A future dish to recreate in the future.

spicy tuna tar tar cones: avocado, tobiko, sesame, bonito

So we’ve had the spicy cones before - but the presentation and ingredients were completely different this time.

The cone seemed similar, but the tuna was finely minced this time, and mixed with the spiciness. The tobikko replaced the osetra, and the sesame and bonito were in lieu of truffle.

Another year, another excellent bite.

And I love that they keep the same basic main dishes, but have changed up the ingredients.

shrimp & pork wontons: spinach, corn, mixed mushrooms, chili garlic

Another dish we’ve had before, but that’s had an ingredient overhaul.

And, I gotta tell you - I much prefer the corn to the butternut squash.

One thing that hasn’t changed? The fact that the mushrooms are the star of the dish. Yes wonton filling is on point… but the mushrooms? I think grass skirt needs to do a mushroom only side dish with these exact mushrooms. Just saying.

sugar plum mai tai: haitian and nicaraguan rums, lime, oregat, cinnamon syrup, plum mix

Now this was a clever take on the mai tai… and I love that they did a straight up holiday version of the tiki classic.

pig mac “bao”: heritage pork belly, lettuce, cheese, onions, special sauce

Yes we’ve had this one before. Yes I have my own version. Albeit with out the cute face.

And it is worth it.

Just note, only one comes per order - so you’re prolly gonna want to order more than one for the table.

“california roll” tacos: spicy kanikama, avocado, nori, cucumber

This is one of those occasions where you want the krab with the k. It just works in this scenario.

And the deconstructed cali roll - plus the crispy taco? So good.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, grass skirt does tacos well.

grilled korean marinated hanger steak: kimchi puree, cucumbers, bibb lettuce, ssam jang

Gotta be honest. I miss the pre-covid hot rock hanger steak. Different types of cabbage wraps, you got to cook the steak to your own temperature and there were multiple dipping sauces.

All that being said. This was still a fantastic bite. But don’t skip on the cucumbers - they add such a welcome pickled aspect to the lettuce wrap, and great contrast to the sauce.

korean beef short rib tacos: beef short rib, corn tortilla, avocado, cilantro, kochujang bbq, sour cream

Once again - fantastic taco.

Pro tip. So technically it’s only two tacos per order - but they spread out the two corn tortillas per taco (side note: why do corn tortillas always come in pairs for tacos?). It makes it really easy to create 4 decent sized tacos for sharing. Versus two overly large and messy tacos.

I’m already looking forward to next year, and seeing what new variations of our old favorites they will come up with. I mean… as long as they keep the fries.