I've been lobbying Santa Claus for a Tiki Bar in San Jose with an aggressive letter-writing campaign, sending dozens of cookies to the north pole, and doing my best to be on the "good list" for the better part of a decade. For this grown-up believer, Santa delivered a Christmas miracle, the very best gift of all, Dr. Funk, an authentic Tiki Bar.
Dr. Funk is a glorious gift to San Jose and the Bay Area at large. Dr. Funk is a carefully curated tiki bar that transports you to a fictitious amalgamation of Caribbean, Asian, African, and Polynesian influences with flotsam and jetsam decor, which is a welcome tropical escape from our daily silicon valley lives.
Lucky Tip: Plan ahead and grab an uber because the drinks are tasty and strong. It's 100% approved to wear a Hawaiian shirt or caftan regardless of the weather outside. WARNING: If you are going to Dr. Funk on a date--be careful--it's such an amazing experience; your date might be confused on just how much you are really into them. #stage5clinger
With complete transparency, my limited exposure to the "Dr. Funk Cocktail" it has never been my favorite. I am more of a mai tai, navy grog, or a rum barrel fan, but I figured I would give it a whirl at Dr. Funk (namesake.) Well, it turns out most of us have been only exposed to a cheapened version of the historical recipe. The SJ's Dr. Funk recipe is much closer to that of the 1879-1911 recipe, it has absinthe-like Herbsaint (New Orleans version of Absinthe created in 1918) with fresh lime and lemon juice, two rums, a splash of house-made pomegranate based grenadine, simple syrup, and soda water/seltzer. This makes a lot more sense if you think about the German Doctor Bernhard Funk in the 1920s making an old-timey elixir that would double as a refreshing drink with perceived medical benefits, like curing heat exhaustion. Dr. Funk's "Dr. Funk Cocktail" is now one of my favorite craft tiki cocktails.
Dr. Funk is a stunning world-class traditional tiki bar with fantastic craft cocktails. There is a subtle but very cool "medical theme" with active bubbling beakers and other early medical decor throughout the bar. The music is on point. Tiki bars are supposed to be darker with intricate decor--Dr. Funk is a master class in traditional tiki.
FYI -- in my "process" of lobbying Santa for a San Jose Tiki Bar, I even tried to "backchannel" Blitzen. You would think with a name like that, Blitzen would be interested in supporting a local tiki bar, but it turns out Blitzen is a square teetotaler! LOL. Happy Holidays.