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Devil's Reef offers visitors the darker side of Tiki

Since 2018, this Tacoma bar has offered more than spicy rum cocktails. They've also provided a shadowy escape from the world outside #k5evening

TACOMA, Wash. — Welcome to the darker side of Tiki!

Since 2018 Devil's Reef has offered more than spicy rum cocktails. They've also provided a shadowy escape from the brightly world outside.

"We want to make you feel like you've been transported to somewhere else and take the outside reality out of the equation," said owner Jason Alexander. He credits a novella, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft with the inspiration. 

As your eyes adjust to the low light, a dark nautical vibe makes itself known. And you may see things that tingle the spine.

"There's no sun here," Alexander said. " Just darkness."

There's also shelves upon shelves of Tiki mugs, a collection amassed over 17 years. There are private boothes with men wearing fezzes, and strong cocktails like one called "The Pile of Bones."

"It was inspired by an old exotic cocktail called the Shrunken Skull," Alexander said. "I just cranked it up a few notches and rebuilt it using the Fibonacci sequence of numbers so it's a drink built to the golden ratio."

If that sounds mathematical, it is.

"The layers are deep here," Alexander said. "It just depends on how deep you want to go."

Devil's Reef has drawn people from as far away as England, what a place to be run aground!

"You can choose how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go," Alexander said. "Or you can just sit here, have a drink and hang out."

Devil's Reef is open Wednesday through Saturday, opening at 5 p.m. and staying open as late as midnight. It is located in Court C, better known to locals as Opera Alley.

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