With the wild success of last year’s Miracle on Monroe pop-up holiday bar, which is back for a second year with a second location to boot, it’s no surprise other Atlanta cocktail bars are getting into the Christmas game. Not letting Midtown and Buckhead have all the fun, Decatur fan favorite S.O.S. Tiki Bar has been hosting its “Tiki Holiday” all month long.
“Tiki and Christmas kind of go hand in hand, so it’s a very like fun, Christmas-in-July kind of thing,” says owner Caleb Wheelus. “We decided to go full-on tacky Christmas.” As a result, the bar has outfitted itself in cheesy Christmas decor including a giant, illuminated teddy bear that is perfect for photo ops. Arrive when the bar opens and you’ll hear typical Christmas tunes, but it gets a little weird around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. when the songs change to hymns sung by cats or synthesizer-heavy tunes. Wheelus calls it “obnoxious fun.”
S.O.S. offers a full menu of special holiday-themed drinks, such as the Christmas Morning, a mixture of pisco, tequila, dark rum, orange, lime, pimento dram, and Amaro bitters which is served in a 3-D Santa mug and garnished with, we kid you not, a sprig of Christmas tree (complete with ornament), a crazy straw, a candy cane, and a toasted marshmallow. Others have just as much flare—one drink is is doused with powdered sugar after upon serving for the perfect “falling snow” effect. While there are no special dishes, chef Jarrett Steiber runs Eat Me Speak Me out of S.O.S, which means there is plenty of good food to pair with your drinks. But plan ahead—the bar is small and has limited seating. The patio does have heaters for milder winter nights if you cannot get a seat inside.
“It’s been a pretty much a hit, and we’re really happy we did it,” Wheelus says. “We’re just trying to have fun with it. The music, and the experience, is completely like Christmas obnoxious and the people that are coming in are having a blast.” By the looks of the Instagram photos hitting the interwebs, the customers concur. S.O.S.’s Tiki Holiday specials run until New Year’s Eve. 340 Church Street, Decatur, 404-377-9308