Two tickets to Paradise: The Blue Palm is opening soon in Strawberry Hill

Blue Palm Tiki. // Courtesy photo

Strawberry Hill lost a real one a few months back when Mockingbird Lounge unexpectedly shut its doors. We were huge fans of the great patio and laid-back vibe, and many fans crossed their fingers to see if a worthy follow-up could fill the space. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. The Blue Palm, a Tiki bar created by a team of KC hospitality veterans, is moving in soon and aiming to bring a little slice of paradise to the KCK neighborhood.

The co-owners behind The Blue Palm are Dan Doty, Roxie Danner, and Hunter DeFoe. Doty has worked for decades across all facets of the service industry, and DeFoe’s most recent restaurant venture was as an owner of Shooter’s Tavern. If you’re familiar with the local bar scene, especially any Tiki comings-and-goings, you’ve probably run across Roxie Danner. Her Tiki concept, Hellfire Tiki, has run pop-ups across the city for a few years, and she’s been the lead bartender at The Brick and several other spots around town.

Doty says that the three absolutely love the Strawberry Hill neighborhood and have been patronizing the businesses there for years. They had been kicking around the idea of bringing Danner’s Hellfire Tiki pop-up into a more permanent home, and they decided to go for it when Mockingbird Lounge closed.

“When the opportunity presented itself, it all just worked,” Doty says.

The trio hopes to open The Blue Palm’s doors before the end of the year, but getting licensing and permits could push the date to early next year. Lucky for all of us, the process is a bit fast-tracked: Mockingbird Lounge already had a great set-up and view, so they aren’t planning to do much major construction.

They plan on using the patio as the main entrance and slightly shifting how things are set up accordingly, but will largely keep the layout similar to how it already is. That said, they still have some work to do: Tiki aesthetics are their own niche style, and Danner has pushed her brand into an even more specialized area with a bit of a classic horror slant. The Blue Palm seems to be leaning more into a traditional Tiki vibe, but it’s hard to imagine elements of Danner’s Hellfire brand won’t make their presence known.

Of course, the vibes are fun, and the aesthetic is great, but it’s the Tiki drinks that will get butts in seats.

“We don’t want to give too much of our menu away before we open,” Doty says. “But we are excited to show people a combination of classic Tiki offerings, some older drinks that have been lost over time, and some seasonal offerings using the best products available to us.”

Tiki drinks are known for using multiple rums as a base, lots of fruit juice, and elaborate garnishes. They may not taste overly boozy, but a couple of Fog Cutters or Zombies are usually all you need to give you a headache the next day. We’ll expect to see a Mai Tai and a Jungle Bird on the menu, and hopefully some of Danner’s more out-there creations. At some of Hellfire’s previous pop-ups, she put out a dark rum cocktail with falernum, lemon, and taro coconut cream. That’s one we for sure would not mind making its way onto The Blue Palm menu.

Blue Palm Tiki will be open for service from 6 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Reservations will be available, but walk-ins will be welcome. The team will work to make the patio more of an all-year offering but may not have that in place when it comes time to open the doors.

As the weather warms up and the patio becomes more inviting, the team may revisit their hours to give people more time to soak up the sunshine. They’re also planning on reaching out to local food vendors to possibly have some special events since there won’t be an operating kitchen at The Blue Palm. However, the goal for the team is to get the doors open and start slinging the rum as soon as possible.

Keep your eyes on The Blue Palm’s social media pages for the latest info on when they’ll officially start pouring drinks. Hopefully it won’t take them too long—nothing keeps out the winter chill like a little Navy Grog.

The Blue Palm is located at 204 Orchard Street, Kansas City, KS, 66101, in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood.