This tropical tiki bar in Springfield is brimming with character

Walking into The Monkey’s Paw in Springfield feels like stepping into another dimension. At first, it is pitch black inside, with gentle tiki exotica tunes playing over a hidden speaker, luring patrons inside like a siren song.

Tropical scents of pineapple and coconut hang in the warm air. The room comes into focus: walls crammed with nautical knick-knacks, pufferfish hanging from the ceiling, carved tiki heads leering from behind the bar. The creature from the black lagoon, The Monkey’s Paw’s unofficial mascot, peers out from seemingly every corner.

According to co-owners Jameson Cowman, Scott Mapa, and Teren Baker, this bombardment of the senses is all according to plan. “[The Monkey’s Paw] looks the right way, smells the right way, and sounds the right way,” Maps said. “All those things kind of help create an authentic tiki experience for customers.”

The three co-owners hope that The Monkey’s Paw can transport customers out of Springfield, even if it’s only for a couple of hours. The trio met working at The Pint Pot Public House in Eugene and decided to strike out on their own during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mapa explained that COVID-19 played a large part in their opening. “We couldn’t fly anywhere or do anything during the pandemic, but people wanted to experience something new,” he said. “We could kind of provide that escapism experience for them.”

Baker, Cowman, and Mapa are proud to uphold the long legacy of tiki at The Monkey’s Paw. The genre of restaurant is characterized by the Americana hybridization of drinks and flavors from the Caribbean and aesthetics from Polynesian and Pacific Cultures.

“Tiki originates from the bay area, where bar owners would trade out drinks for trinkets,” Mapa said. He and his co-owners uphold this tradition at The Monkey's Paw… sort of. According to Mapa and Cowman, a lot of the trinkets and decorations in The Monkey's Paw are brought in by patrons.

They have customers who bring in nautical items, like compasses and shells. One patron even painted W.W. Jacobs, the author of the Monkey’s Paw short story. Cowman and Mapa happily hung the portrait up, which stares gloomily at over the bar from behind a booth today.

“It gives [customers] partial ownership of the space to bring trinkets into the bar,” Mapa said. “They bring friends in and point out what they contributed to the bar, which we love. It cultivates community.”

Like tiki itself, the menu at The Monkeys Paw is a mishmash. It has the standards: the Painkiller, Scorpion Bowl, and Mai Tais are must-try-classics.

But the owners have also been able to incorporate their universal monster theme into the menu with drinks like Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Zombie, which comes in the Monkey's Paw’s unique zombie mug.

Baker, Cowman, and Mapa collaborate on all of the cocktails. It’s easy to picture one of them standing behind the bar, adding dashes of this and spritzes of that, while the other two sit on stools waiting to workshop the drink.

“I always like to start with a base spirit that’s exciting and interesting, and then see if we can pair it with something unique or totally off-the-wall-random,” Mapa said. “We always want to make the most unique cocktail we possibly can, even with the classics.”

The shared drinks are a highlight of the menu at the Monkey's Paw. The scorpion bowl serves two to three people and combines gin, rum, brandy, orange juice, lime, and house-made almond syrup for a unique flavor. The drink comes lit on fire, and cinnamon is added to garnish and create a sparking effect on the beverage.

The Lost Pineapple serves two and is a blend of two rums, macadamia nut syrup, coffee liquor, pineapple, and lime, served in a cold hollowed pineapple. Although the mixture of flavors may seem unorthodox, it creates a creamy beverage similar to a pina colada.

The Monkey's Paw, located at 420 Main Street in Springfield, is open from noon to midnight Sunday through Wednesday and from noon to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. They have weekly karaoke on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. and monthly events like live music and DJ sets. They will be hosting a life surf rock band and crafting specialty cocktails for the upcoming Springfield Block Par ty on Sept. 6.

Samantha Pierotti is a food, drinks, and things to do reporter at The Register-Guard. You can reach her via email at spierotti@gannett.com with ideas for stories or tips on local happenings.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: This tropical tiki bar in Springfield is brimming with character