In the aftermath of an American tragedy, a small tiki bar located just blocks from the site of the Boston Marathon bombing decided to give back to the city that it regularly serves by raising money for the victims the best way it knows—by making great drink.
You may not know The Tiki Hideaway.
Boston is a big city with a lot of bars. Sometimes little places like this—tucked inside a Howard Johnson Hotel in the shadow of and overshadowed by legendary Fenway Park—don’t garner the kind of attention other bigger, fancier venues might. It relies on regulars and ballpark employees and everyday Boston folk to keep the doors open. So it’s not surprising to find a venue like The Tiki Hideaway giving back to those very same people following the horrors of the April 15th marathon bombing by raising money for the victims and their families.
You may not know The Tiki Hideaway. But you should.
“It’s an old style room,” says bar manager Brandon Muroff. “We have a capacity of 45, we serve Chinese food, and we make good drinks. Some might call us a dive bar. But we offer ‘the greatest deal at Fenway,’ which is $2.50 PBR’s, and our most expensive drink is Patrón, which would be around $8.00. So we beat most prices in the area.”
Located on Boylston Street and adjacent to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, The Tiki Hideaway is exactly that—a hideaway. “We’re not necessarily a destination spot,” says Muroff, whose grandfather owns the Howard Johnson Hotel in which the bar is located. “We don’t have giant TVs or even HD TVs. We’re just a little Tiki Hideway by Fenway. We’re a small place. Right now there are three employees. There’s Benny, who has been working there for years and years; there’s Casey, who has been there for three or four years; and myself.”
Muroff, an attorney by day, has worked at his grandfather’s hotel since he was 16 years old. Just like the customers who frequent The Tiki Hideaway, he is a regular, someone who has known this space most of his adult life. That is what shapes his view of the bar’s purpose, and also his notion of giving back to the community following the deadly marathon bombing.
“Before and after Red Sox games we see big crowds,” Muroff explains. “The crowd that comes to our bar is made up of regulars. You don’t just stumble in here. They’re all regulars. Fenway workers are always here. They get off around the 7th inning and they’ll come through after their shift. One of my other regulars, though, is one of the top surgeons in the country. He drives by the bar every day on his way home from work, and whenever he’s not on call he’ll come in for a drink. So really, the crowd that comes to our bar is made up of hotel guests, restaurant people, Fenway folks, and the comedy and jazz crowds, plus a world-class surgeon. It’s really an eclectic collection.”
