Best bar: Shipwrecked Tiki Bar

Shipwrecked Tiki Bar in Davis, Calif. The pirate-themed bar, known for its tropical drinks and immersive decorations, opened in 2023. (Andrew Huang / Aggie)

A Kraken, a captain and the best cocktails downtown

“As you step through those doors, you're no longer in Davis, Calif.,” Nadia Iwach, a fourth-year political science major, said. “You're somewhere much more magical.”

Indeed, as soon as you enter Shipwrecked Tiki Bar, you’ll be greeted by a palm frond canopy, beechwood paneled walls, wicker chairs and a healthy crowd milling around the DJ. At first glance, they appear to be drinking potions — beverages range from electric blue to deep, royal purple to bright green; all served in glassware that any island-based alchemist would envy.

The drinks reflect a deliberate philosophy.

"We're not the cheapest cocktail in town," Co-owner Nate Yungvanitsait said. "I'm going for the highest quality drinks in town."

That commitment shows up in the minute details: staff hand-squeeze up to six cases of limes a week for fresh juice, and the almond syrup in the 1944 Mai Tai is made in-house. The Mai Tai itself blends four different rums, modeled after Trader Vic's original 1944 recipe rather than the sweeter, grenadine-topped version most people encounter in Hawaii.

Katy Lawlor, a third year design and psychology double major, shared her love for the Lychee Green Tea Shooter.

“Even though it's a shooter, you could sip on that,” Lawlor said. “I would bathe in it because I love lychee. It's pretty rare to find some fun flavors like ube or lychee at the bars downtown: that's why I like Shipwrecked.”

On busy nights, the crowd becomes so dense that you’re in danger of losing your drink to a misplaced elbow. Still, Iwach explained that the Ube Espresso Martini is worth the risk.

“Someone bumped into me, I didn't even care that I was wearing half the drink: It was so good,” Iwach said.

To many students, Shipwrecked’s Zombie Jet Cocktail is one out of the three drinks in Davis’ holy trinity: the booziest drinks at three different Downtown Davis bars. Drink all of them in one night, and you’ll win both glory and a throbbing hangover the following morning.

As you forge past the sardine-dense crowd in the entrance and begin to find your sea-legs, you’ll reach a dark corridor. Here, the longer you stare at the walls and ceilings, the more you’ll notice: doubloons scattered around ancient pirate skeletons, preserved deep-sea fish, octopus tentacles creeping along the ceiling and hanging fishing nets casting purple shadows against the dark ceiling.

“The decorations are definitely the best in Davis,” Lawlor said. “It feels like you really are a mermaid at a real Tiki bar. It transports you to a beach, but indoors.”

What most patrons don't realize is that the decor follows a deliberate storyline. Yungvanitsait and Melissa Yungvanitsait, his wife and co-founder, flew to Thailand three times before opening the bar in order to source custom decorations built around a narrative: Captain Bad Luck Bob’s unfortunate, deadly encounter with the Kraken, a large monstrous squid. The first room is the beach where Captain Bob set sail — note the brown, sandlike floor tiles fading into blue. The second room, with floor-to-ceiling tiles and tentacles snaking along the walls and ceiling, is the Kraken's underwater lair.

Aside from the decor and drinks, many students shared their appreciation for the atmosphere inside Shipwrecked, which is far from the sticky-floors and beer-branded lamps characteristic of college-town bars.

“I really admire Shipwrecked's refusal to [adhere to classic expectations of a college bar]” Iwach said. “They always talk about art being resistance, and I think [the tiki bar] is a prime example. There isn’t a single television or billiards table within Shipwrecked — just palm fronds and leis.”

N. Yungvanitsait moved to Davis when he was 14 years old. After graduating early from Davis High School, he worked full-time in his mother’s Thai restaurant before opening his first bar — University of Beer — in Davis at the age of 24. To some, starting a business at 24 may sound like a massive leap, but N. Yungvanitsait credits much of his success to watching his mom work.

“By 24, I wasn’t new to the bar or the restaurant world,” N. Yungvanitsait said.

Now, he and his wife operate six University of Beer locations. Shipwrecked, which they opened in 2023, has since expanded to a second location in Sacramento. Its success is proof that a college-town bar doesn't have to look like one.

Written by: Miles Barry — mabarry@ucdavis.edu