A new portable, shipping container tiki bar hit the road this past summer

by Alex Hatfield November 20, 2019

Tiki bars just keep moving up in the world, but Marie’s Tek-Tec in Long Beach might be the first tiki bar we’ve heard of that can actually move. It’s housed in a custom-converted shipping container that opens up to be a full-fledged drinkery, but can also fold up, hitch to a truck and be moved to new locations for pop-ups and events.When it’s not on the go, Marie’s Tek-Tec will be parked in the backyard of Roxanne’s Cocktail Lounge and Latin Grill and its attached speakeasy-style bar, which was the first of its kind in Long Beach. The Latin American influence will carry over from the main property to infuse the tiki drinks with an unusual sensibility.“It’s tiki with a Latin twist—so that means taking the Polynesian roots of the tiki cocktail and infusing as much as we can from Peru downward. We’re trying to blend the rich history of Mesoamerica—the myths, the deities, the art—into this bar,” owner Robert Molina told LA Weekly.

Typically, tiki drinks are heavy on the rum and Caribbean flavors, but at Marie’s Tek-Tec you can expect to find more agave spirits and Central American fruits showing up on the menu. To craft the drinks, Molina hired Josh Daclan from the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu and Kelvin Portillo from the team at the Walker Inn.

While the bar fits snugly into a single metal container, once it’s spread out, guests will be immersed in the full tiki experience, from thatched roof to bamboo dance floor. What makes the design of Marie’s Tek-Tec different from the shipping container conversions we’ve seen in the DTLA Arts District and at Long Beach’s own Steelcraft is that it can hit the road to go out to other locations. The bar just folds up and gets loaded by a freight trucking company which, conveniently, happens to already be a side-hustle of Molina’s, so he’s got it all under control.

Marie’s Tek-Tech at Roxanne’s Cocktail Lounge and Latin Grill opens in July at 115 East Wardlow Road in Long Beach.