Behind an unmarked alley door off Lake Avenue, Saratoga Springs now has its own slice of tiki culture. The Grotto Tiki Lounge opened in September tucked behind The Night Owl at 17 Maple Avenue Rear, with the only way in found down Straus Place, the narrow passage off Lake Avenue, where a single neon sign marks the entrance.
The hidden bar, built inside what used to be The Night Owl's Red Room, is the work of Night Owl co-owners Alex Straus and Matt Pedersen, who partnered with cocktail-program leader Freeman Lattin to pull it off, according to Saratoga.com. The trio turned the old DJ dance-party space into what the outlet describes as a standalone immersive tiki bar, while the rest of The Night Owl keeps running as usual. The concept leans fully into speakeasy-style seclusion, with the Red Room's past life as a venue for years of DJed dance parties giving way to tropical drinks and South Pacific-inspired bites.
What's Pouring Behind the Alley Door
Lattin's cocktail program pairs tiki standards with original house creations built around rum and tropical fruit, and the menu is split into four categories: Classic Creatures, Hidden Treasures, Large Format, and Zero Proof. Prices run from $10 up to $77 depending on what's ordered. A Mai Tai runs $13, while a Painkiller goes for $17, and the Kingston Spritz, made with Jamaican rum, guava, hibiscus, and prosecco, also costs $13.
For bigger groups, the Scorpion Bowl serves two to four people for $52, and The Leviathan, the lounge's largest pour, serves four to six people for $77. Those who want the tiki experience without the alcohol can order the Florecita, a zero-proof drink made with Seedlip Spice 94, hibiscus, and pineapple, priced at $13.
Food, a Future Rum Club, and Sunday Plans
On the food side, longtime Saratoga chef Brady Duhame consulted on a menu built around South Pacific-inspired dumplings and shareable plates, with planned items including crab rangoon, barbecue pork bao buns, and shrimp wontons. The owners also plan to bring in guest chefs and exotica DJs on Sundays, though the same report does not specify dates for those events.
Looking ahead, the team has plans for a rum club offering in-depth tastings and education, to be led by Lattin alongside Charles Grabitzky of First Fill Spirits. It is pitched as a deeper dive for guests who want to go beyond the cocktail menu and learn more about the spirit driving most of the drink list.
Tapping Into Saratoga's Tiki Past
Straus has framed The Grotto as a nod to the region's tiki history rather than a one-off gimmick, pointing to The Trade Winds, a former Saratoga tiki lounge, as part of those roots. In a separate conversation with Saratoga Living, Straus went further, also citing the Tiki Resort in Lake George as evidence that upstate New York has its own tiki culture lineage worth reviving.
The 17 Maple Avenue address itself has cycled through nightlife eras before. The same space once operated as The Metro, a lounge and nightclub, during the 1980s and 1990s, according to Saratoga Living. It later became Sinclair Saratoga, a neon-lit barcade known for dancing that drew crowds for a couple of years in the late 2010s, per that outlet's account. The Grotto is simply the latest identity for a building that keeps reinventing Saratoga's after-dark scene.
