Mesozoic Tiki Bar brings tropical-ish vibe
“So this is my inner monologue about this bar,” Josh Migliore said. “Imagine what the hotel lobby bar might be like in Jurassic Park. But then there’s dinosaur trouble and the park is shut down; the island is shut down. The only thing left intact is this bar, and all the nature is creeping in. It’s kind of like that.”
That’s where the name “Mesozoic” comes from.
“The Mesozoic was like the entire era of the dinosaurs,” Migliore said, “so Jurassic, Triassic, Cretaceous — all of that is the Mesozoic. So it just basically spans the era of the dinosaurs. And we like that word because if you know the word, you know what, you get a hint of what to expect. And if you don’t know the word, it’s just a cool-sounding word, Mesozoic, it’s just a fun word.
Migliore and his partner Aaron Shelton were working to get their new bar, Mesozoic Tiki Bar and Lounge on Main Street in Nashua, ready for its opening.
“We call it a tiki bar,” Shelton said, gesturing at the decor of tropical plants and fossils, “but we’re not deep-diving into the typical like kitsch of Polynesian stuff. Dinosaurs allow us to play on a jungle theme and a tropical aesthetic. And so it allows us to be a tiki bar, in the sense of like the drinks and the fusion of the food. But it’s not what I would call your stereotypical tiki bar.”
Which isn’t to say that there won’t be tall tropical drinks in over-the-top glassware, Shelton said.
“One of our signature drinks is called The Five Deaths, which is inspired by a classic Zombie. There’s a lot of rum in it, and in my opinion we balanced it really nicely. It’s strong, but it’s flavorful. We went through a little trial and error of balancing, but that was the one when we were testing drinks, that was the one that was like, ‘Oh, this is the one!’”
The menu at Mesozoic has been centered around the idea of shared small plates, Migliore said. “Obviously, we’ll have pizza,” he said. “There was a great pizza oven in here when we took over, and my background is in pizza, so we kind of wanted to bring that concept in here a little bit. But also the rest of the menu is very Asian fusion, with a lot of shareables. Obviously, this type of bar brings in a lot of groups of people. We wanted to create a menu that gave people the opportunity to try everything rather than being kind of like beholden to one item. So we’ve got baos [Asian steamed buns], we’ve got skewers, we’ve got egg rolls and spring rolls. We’ve got loaded fries and wings. We’ve got a bunch of stuff that people can choose from, almost like an a la carte type setup where if they want to order one thing and just order, you know, five of one thing, they can do that, but this gives them the opportunity to kind of try everything and switch it up every time they come back.”
“I think, dish-wise,” Shelton elaborated, “I think our bao buns are really going to be a staple here. We have two different ones to start with right now. After we’ve been open for a while we’ll be able to expand the menu, there’ll be more options. Right now both versions are steamed. One option is filled with char siu [Chinese barbecued pork]; it’s absolutely incredible. It’s dusted with our house-made cool ranch seasoning, and we’ve got a nice barbecue sauce. And then we have an orange chicken one. We wanted to make the menu accessible for everyone; everyone will be able to recognize some of the [items on the menu].”
“Our long-term goal,” Migliore said, “is to be part of making Main Street a food and entertainment destination.”
Mesozoic Tiki Bar & Lounge
97 Main St., Nashua, 204-5236, mesozoictiki.com, will be open Tuesday through Saturday, with expanded hours later in the fall.
Featured photo: Mesozoic Tiki Bar. Courtesy photo.
