The cold month of February is now paired with tropical vibes and ocean-themed decor at Little Jumbo’s pop-up, The Tropilachia Club. Through Feb. 28, Little Jumbo’s annual tropical pop-up is letting customers go someplace warmer to combat the winter blues.
“So about three years ago, we decided to start a tropical pop up, and thought the correct time would be February, right when everybody’s getting a little fed up from the winter,” Millita Gonzalez, Little Jumbo’s lead bartender said. ” Everybody wants to be ready to take a vacation, ready to get down to somewhere warm.” Tropilachia Club aims to do just that.
This is the third year Little Jumbo has hosted their February tropical pop-up. The interior of the bar has had a transformation, including the addition of hanging jellyfish above the bar, multicolored lights, and the cherry on top: a limited-time cocktail menu matching the vacation theme.
“Since I’m the lead bartender, I’ve curated the menu for all three years, and this year my inspiration was underwater,” Gonzalez said.
Tea Spasic, bartender and social media manager at Little Jumbo, said the pop-up gives a change of pace for employees and customers.
“We try to make it warm and inviting and something exciting for people to do. Because I think this time is hard for a lot of people, for a lot of different reasons,” Spasic said.
Spasic said people associate Little Jumbo with being vintage, posh, and serious which could intimidate some people, but the new theme shows the bar’s fun side. Spasic said the new vibe will be more inviting to a wider audience to grow the community that is Little Jumbo.
“The menu is definitely the best thing next to the decorations. The menu, every single year, is something new. All new flavors than last year,” Spasic said. “This year we have some of the same effects as last year, but definitely different scopes, I feel like there’s something for everybody every single time.”
Little Jumbo has not strayed away from its big attraction. The bar still hosts their live jazz nights on Mondays and Tuesdays, but The Tropilachia Club will be hosting a Valentines day dance.
“We have a dance party this month that we encourage people to come to. It’s on Valentine’s Day so it’s going to be a love buggy, tropical Valentine’s Day dance. It’s gonna be so fun, I’m super, super excited,” Spasic said.
Local jazz musician Jason DeChristofaro performed on the first jazz night of Tropilachia, DeChristofaro said this was his second time at Little Jumbo and it’s always good to play with his friend Will.
“Any chance I get to play with Will is a good time.” DeChristofaro said. “Last week, he said, hey, I got a gig near downtown. You want to play?”
DeChristofaro said he’s been playing the vibraphone for 20 years and playing live is always worthwhile.
Spasic said February is one of their most busy months, but the work during the pop-up is always more enjoyable.
“I do know that February is a lot more work than it usually is around the year, and that can be daunting, but it’s not, because this is so fun for us. We finally get to step out of our scope and do something that we don’t usually do, which is to be goofy. We get to be tropical and decorate for 10 hours together and just bond,” Spasic said. “It’s worthwhile seeing the look on people’s faces, how they gasp and the drinks that they all end up loving, it’s always worthwhile and it’s my favorite time of year.”
