When Douglas "Fini" Finical and Scott Mencke first took over The Hut in 2006, fire damage from the 2001 rioting on North Fourth Avenue was still evident.
"The windows were cracked from the heat; we repainted the whole place," says Finical. "I can still see when it was all black."
Over the next couple of years, the former reggae bar was insulated and tiki-fied into the thatched, beach-themed bar it is now.
"We originally thought we were just going to be big in the college bar scene," Finical says. "But when we insulated the inside, it became an acoustically true room and we were sort of discovered by the bands. It was a happy accident."
Joining the ranks of Plush and Hotel Congress, The Hut is now a favorite venue for some local bands.
"We played here when it was tin and a reggae bar, and it was like the band was in a megaphone," says Dave Zamora, 26, guitarist with 8 Minutes to Burn, a band that plays regularly at The Hut. "This place has really grown since then."
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And with live music no less than three nights a week (usually Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and a huge dance floor, The Hut has become a great place for people of all ages and types to shake their groove things.
"There's a lot of dancing and a lot of different crowds that come through here, depending on the night," says Johnny Tellez, 26, the trombone player for 8 Minutes to Burn who was hanging out with some of his bandmates on a recent Monday evening.
But the boys from 8 Minutes to Burn aren't the only musicians who frequent the Hut. On Sundays, Tellez says, local musicians check out a variety of different musical acts that take the stage. Finical describes Sundays as a "sort of speak-easy scene."
"On Sundays I come here and everyone I know is from a different local band," Tellez adds.
Although it's on Fourth Avenue next to O'Malley's, Finical says he thinks the bar appeals to kick-back, mellow types looking to get away from the more rowdy college scene that tends to erupt on the weekends.
"We're kind of a chill place," he says. "When other bars are going off on a Thursday night with the college scene, we tend to be the place where people come when they want to get away from that a little bit, to be able to talk, mingle a little more freely."
The Hut, decorated with white sand, tikis and small palm trees, has a laid-back vibe that leaves you yearning for a mai tai.
The tiki vibe will loom large, literally, when the Hut becomes the new home of a giant tiki from the now-closed Magic Carpet miniature golf course.
"I'm kind of a tiki guy, so I always wanted to do a tropical place," Finical says.
And with a name like The Hut, which came from the previous owners, the opportunity to invoke a little paradise was too good to pass up.
But the décor is not the only connection to island life.
Many musicians and regulars are from Hawaii, including Anthony Trugman, who has been a bartender and sound man at The Hut for more than a year.
"That's why I work here," says Trugman, who is from Hawaii Kai, Oahu. "It's the closest to Hawaii I can get."
The Hut
• Where: 305 N. Fourth Ave.
• When: 4 p.m.-2 a.m weekdays; noon-2 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
• Price: Cover charges vary on nights with live music. No cover charge on Thursdays.
• More Info: 623-3200, www.myspace.com/thehut tucson.
