Island Party Hut adds a fleet of fun to Chicago River Walk

“When you think about it, there’s nothing like this in the city,” says Mark Stern, one of three founding partners of the Island Party Hut on the Chicago River Walk. “A tiki bar on the water. What a perfect thing to do.”

Now in its second year, the Island Party Hut is a bar and restaurant in a bamboo-topped yellow shipping container. It’s attached to a wooden deck, which is next to a riverfront lawn where guests lounge in Adirondack chairs and play outdoor games.

“We’ve got giant checkers and we’re going to add bocce ball and the Bimini ring game,” Stern says. “It’s where you toss the ring and try to hook it on a hook. It’s very contagious.”

Besides offering a menu that includes grilled shrimp with tamarind cocktail sauce and the spicy “Rastafarian” Jamaican jerk chicken wrap, the venue also features live music. Regular performers include Vincent the Jamaican One-Man Band, who Jenny-the-bartender describes as “amazing,” and Samuel Wyatt, who fronts a group “that plays ‘Sweet Caroline’ and all those feel-good tunes.”

When it comes to rum, Mixologist “Z” transforms the spirit into a tropical daydream. After arriving from the British Virgin Island of Jost Van Dyke last year, he introduced the Painkiller, a specialty that was invented “in a little place called the Soggy Dollar.” A mix of dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and Coco Lopez, it’s topped off with ground nutmeg straight from the islands, adding a flavor that “Z” describes as “a cross between nutmeg and fresh cocoa.”

For those who like to get nautical, the Hut is also home to the river dock of Island Party Boats, the establishment’s sister operation. Founded in 2012 by the same partners who own the bar, it is a fleet of ten 6- to 65-foot pleasure cruisers available for rent.

This year’s additions include the Ohana, a 35-foot Gemini Catamaran, and the Island Time, a 65-foot, 90-passenger Skipperliner that includes two bars, a 58-seat dining room and enough space on deck for 40 people.

To maximize the good times without sacrificing safety, the company employs nearly a dozen captains who have earned 100-ton licenses. “I don’t think you can run a boat business without having someone who knows boats,” says partner Steve Majerus, who earned the captonial distinction four years ago. The expertise came in handy when the company transported the 65-footer on the voyage from its former home in St. Petersburg.

“We did one day of man-overboard drills and training on the boat and then we headed out,” says partner and captain Joey Koronkiewicz. He and a crew of five handled the first leg of the journey through the Gulf of Mexico, then switched out to allow the company’s other captains and crews to complete the 1,790-mile trek over four rivers and one lake enroute to Chicago.

For most of the trip, the seas were friendly, although they did kick up a storm in the Intracoastal Waterway near Pensacola. “There were like six to eight foot waves,” Koronkiewicz remembers. “She’s not meant for that, so we couldn’t power through it.”

After consulting a map, he says, “we heaved to and went to the nearest sand bar, which was breaking the waves.”

When the work was done, the crew relaxed with Skinny Pirates, a river worthy cocktail of Diet Coke and Captain Morgan.

Island Party Hut:

355 Chicago Riverwalk · (312) 600-0488 · www.islandpartyhut.com

— Daniel Patton, Staff Writer