Raising Hell: ‘Morally Repugnant’ Tiki Bar Is Back in New RiNo Location

“The Disco Dick is new,” notes Lexi Healy, pointing at a giant phallic sculpture that shimmers above the resurrected Hell or High Water, a destination for tropical drinks that recently opened in a new location at 3542 Walnut Street, next door to Tracks (aka one of the horniest bars in town).

While Tracks is phallic in its own way, Hell or High Water made its own penis-filled splash when it originally debuted on Blake Street in 2022. “A gay pirate ship meets Land of the Lost,” is how Healy described the watering hole’s theme at the time. And while the spot was beloved for its endlessly creative tiki-style drinks and over-the-top decor, the concept was nearly overflowing its tiny mezzanine-level space. So at the end of 2025, Healy shut the gates of Hell and began concentrating on moving it to a larger home.

The Walnut Street address was formerly home to Millers & Rossi, an art gallery in the front with a speakeasy behind a hidden doorway, but that concept shuttered last September. Now, Healy and her team completely transformed the environment, wielding hammers and saws, building the Disco Dick, and pouring epoxy over the new fuzzy-looking pink leopard-print bar top.

“Everybody came out the other side of this so much more confident and capable of things they never thought they could do, including myself,” Healy notes of the long hours it’s taken to ready the bar for its debut. “This place wouldn’t be here if not for them,” she adds of the Hell or High Water crew.

Enter Through the Glory Hole

This project marks Healy’s fourth — and fifth — as a bar owner. After years in the industry, she and two partners opened the Electric Cure in Edgewater, followed by the original Hell or High Water and Honor Farm, the concept that occupied the main level of the Blake Street location. Along with closing the OG Hell and Honor Farm, Healy also decided to step away from the Electric Cure, which is now run by her former partners, rebranded as the Cure.

“It was my baby, but I knew if I wanted to do this right, I had to let that go,” she says.

Part of doing this endeavor right includes creating a separate bar that occupies the front of the bar. Dubbed the Glory Hole, Healy envisions this as more than just a glorified waiting room. Instead, it’s a destination in its own right, with free pool, a confessional-inspired photo booth, and drinks designed to be served quickly.

“Everything will be super fast,” Healy notes. “Beer, shots, milk punches, clarified things that are just pour-over but the prep is all done ahead of time.” She’s also working on “trashier stuff” for the Glory Hole menu, like a Piña Colada made with coconut Gatorade.

A ticket booth next to a neon “donkey show” sign marks the entrance to Hell — though no tickets are actually required. (There is, however, a donkey show of sorts waiting for those who venture to the bathrooms…)

The Return to Hell

While the original Hell or High Water was nestled into tight quarters, here, the concept has room to flourish and evolve — as it’s sure to do, evidenced by Healy’s ongoing list of ideas for the space.

Much of the decor from the previous location was repurposed, including some strategically placed dinos and the OG Gary (the phallic snail mug that has been stolen and returned not once, but twice, earning it a safe spot on a rotating pedestal). The vintage light fixtures that hang over the bar came from a church — a find that Healy, who has self-funded this whole project, is particularly proud of.

“Morally repugnant,” is the description she uses for Hell 2.0. “It’s a collective of weird shit by weird people,” she notes. “But with really good drinks. We go all out with everything, but we take that so seriously, and everything else is just a fucking joke.”

While there are some tiki classics on the menu — including the Jungle Bird, which comes with a side of pyrotechnics — Hell or High Water is incorporating some high-end techniques and flavors into its libations.

Over the last year, Healy has traveled to places like France, Finland, Puerto Rico, and Mexico to get an idea of what’s going on in the cocktail scene globally. She’s also been “getting into the more nerdy, science-y part of it — I have to make everything harder,” she jokes.

But that attention to detail results in some damn tasty libations that avoid the typical tiki cloyingly sweet pitfall. The Ball Gag, for instance, is a briny and balanced blend of cantaloupe-infused cornichon gin, dill aquavit, orgeat, Falernum, and lemon; or the peanut butter-washed cachaça-spiked Spread the Dead with notes of hazelnut, grapefruit, and passionfruit.

Not that you have to sit around discussing flavor profiles. In fact, you shouldn’t. Instead, settle in and let yourself be transported by the punk rock tunes and the chants of “cuck” that ring out whenever someone orders the Cuck Cabana, a strawberry coconut spin on a Negroni that the menu warns is “interactive” and requires a location change.

The menu will continue to transform — with additions like a red-hued drink Healy is working on, to be served in the set of “uterus decanters” waiting behind the bar. The space will keep shifting, too, she assures, evidence that “there is an actual person behind it,” with real passion and a whole lot of ideas.

“We’re stoked to be here,” she concludes. And we’re stoked to return to Hell.

Hell or High Water is located at 3542 Walnut Street and is open from 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and Sunday, and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. For more information, visit hellorhighwatertiki.com or follow @hellorhightiki on Instagram.