{"id":32857,"date":"2025-11-01T02:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/32857\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T02:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:07:09","slug":"the-bamboo-club-turns-spooky-for-the-season-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/32857\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bamboo Club Turns Spooky for the Season \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the Long Beach tiki bar Bamboo Club, a warm orange glow spills from string lights and flickering lamps, reflecting off wood walls and cobwebs stretched across the ceiling. Plastic skulls and masks peek out from behind bottles, while a faint fog drifts through the space as if the air itself has absorbed the spirit of October. Outside, the sun is still high, but within these walls, day feels like night. It\u2019s easy to forget where you are once you step inside. That feeling is exactly what the bar leans into this season.<\/p>\n

The mood calls to mind the myth of the Lotus-Eaters, travelers who tasted a fruit so intoxicating they lost all sense of time and place. \u201cIt\u2019s very fun,\u201d says beverage director Dustin Rodriguez, who\u2019s been with the bar since it opened in 2019.\u201cWe like to get down with the tropical drinks and have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month, Rodriguez and his team have reimagined their menu around classic horror. The cocktails are \u201cloosely inspired by the universal monsters: Dracula, Mummy, Werewolf, Frankenstein, the early years of horror on film,\u201d he says. The Bamboo Club\u2019s spooky cocktail menu has become a Halloween tradition. Rodriguez said the team has introduced a new-themed lineup each October for the past few years, keeping regulars excited about what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

\"DustinDustin Rodriguez inside the Bamboo Club. (Photo by Rosaura Wardsworth) <\/p>\n

One of his favorites is the Ecto Cooler, a bright green \u201cSlimer-influenced cocktail from Ghostbusters,\u201d as he describes it, made with green apple, kiwi, coconut tequila, and Belizean rum. Another is the blood-red Batman Rising, a lychee daiquiri with hibiscus and cinnamon. And for those who prefer something moodier, there\u2019s Spirits of Darkness, \u201cour tribute to Ozzy Osborne, the Prince of Darkness,\u201d Rodriguez says. \u201cIt\u2019s champagne, navy-strength rum, peach liqueur, and cinnamon simple syrup. Really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Rodriguez invited me behind the bar to try mixing one of the Halloween cocktails myself: Dead and Loving It, a chocolate-and-raspberry pi\u00f1a colada inspired by Dracula. He talked me through each step, laughing when I overfilled the jigger. \u201cThat\u2019s solid,\u201d he says as we added crushed ice and topped it with vampire teeth. The drink tasted like October should: sweet, strange, and a little over the top.<\/p>\n

Even the crowd feels part of the spectacle. \u201cI\u2019ve been coming to Bamboo since they opened,\u201d says Tara Deaton, a regular seated near the bar with a black drink in hand. \u201cIt\u2019s like a dive bar, but with a good vibe. The crowd\u2019s always great, you can make friends here every time.\u201d Her favorite Halloween drink, Creature Feature, is \u201csimilar to their Painkiller,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s got a little activated charcoal, which is what gives it that black color. And I\u2019m partial, because I\u2019ve got my own little Creature from the Black Lagoon tattoo.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"MakingMaking friends at the bar with Tara Deaton (on the far right). (Photo by Rosaura Wardsworth) <\/p>\n

On Saturday nights, the creatures come to life in the form of burlesque dancers. One of them, Luna Lovelee, has been performing burlesque since 2018. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in vintage glam showgirls,\u201d she said. Lovelee started performing at the Bamboo Club when a friend invited her to join a Valentine\u2019s Day show. \u201cNow that we have our Halloween residency, Trick or Tease is here at the Bamboo Club,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just have this awesome partnership: spooky drinks, girls dancing, and custom costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LuneLuna Lovelee at the Bamboo Club. (Photo by Rosaura Wardsworth) <\/p>\n

The burlesque show is a seasonal addition, created just for the Bamboo Club\u2019s Halloween lineup. Each show brings a twist: new themes, music, and choreography so that no two nights feel the same. One weekend, dancers rotate through the bar and patio, dressed as classic Halloween icons, performing together to 80s hits. Next, they might switch things up entirely, blending new costumes, sets, and spooky energy that make each weekend feel new.<\/p>\n

Their show isn\u2019t the kind of performance that stays on stage. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like strip go-go dancing where we have someone stationed in every area of the club,\u201d Lovelee says. \u201cAt 10:00, the song comes on, and all of us just start dancing at the same time in our little areas. Then at 10:30, we do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described the crowd as alive and responsive. \u201cSometimes you\u2019re dancing and people just want to eat,\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut here, it\u2019s not like that. Everyone\u2019s vibing. There was a birthday party last night, and I swear, that table had the best night they\u2019ve ever had in their entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her, the joy comes from connection. \u201cEvery time I come here, I leave with new best friends,\u201d Lovelee adds. \u201cThe vibe here is just so awesome. The drinks are so big. The owners are incredible. They really work with other small businesses around the area. I love this place and I love seeing it thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back at the bar, Rodriguez adjusts a garnish on a bright green drink topped with mint. He looks up and smiles. \u201cEvery time we launch a new menu, the people come out,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve become pretty well known in the world of tiki and tropical cocktails. People are excited when new things happen here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DrinksDrinks at the Bamboo Club. (Photo by Rosaura Wardsworth) <\/p>\n

The bar\u2019s spooky cocktail menu and burlesque nights won\u2019t last forever; they\u2019re here only through November 2. So if you want to catch the glow, the fog, and the magic for yourself, this is your moment. Inside, between the flicker of the lamps and the laughter rising from the tables, the spirits feel both literal and figurative, proof that for a night, at least, everyone believes in a little bit of magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the Long Beach tiki bar Bamboo Club, a warm orange glow spills from string lights and flickering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[585,131,133,132,23725,23724],"class_list":["post-32857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-halloween","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-places-to-go","tag-tiki-bar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}