Alicia Wagner Calzada | Contributor Tiki Bar's appetizer menu includes tasty treats like beef empanadas and mango ceviche. Or order a Tonga punch or a Wahine from the drink menu.

WHAT: Tiki Bar

WHERE: El Tropicano Hotel, %110 Lexington Ave.

THE DIGITS: (210) 223-9461

WEB: eltropicanohotel.com

GET YOUR DRINK ON: 4-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday

HOTTIES QUOTIENT: The newly renovated hotel is starting to garner some attention with locals, but most of the bar's patrons are hotel guests. That's not to say there aren't some young, hip out-of-towners barside. Tiki Bar is a great place to meet up with friends to start off a Friday night downtown or to escape the loud bar scene altogether to have an intimate conversation over drinks.

WALLET HANGOVER: Low to medium. The specialty drinks run in the neighborhood of $7, a domestic beer $3.50, but the price tag includes a secluded River Walk view and live entertainment Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There isn't a happy hour, but there are tropical daily drink specials.

THE 210 TAKE: Sip on fine tequila or rum in the historic hotel that used to be the hippest watering hole for presidents, movie stars and the San Antonio Press Corps back in the 1960s. The newly renovated “Texas Whitehouse,” as it was nicknamed during the Johnson presidency, still exudes its flashy retro look. The only thing that would make it cooler is if they'd bring back the pink flamingo mascots that lived in the river wandering through the lobby.

Olivia Doerge | 210SA Contributor