For years, if you ordered a drink at The Bamboo Club and it made you stop mid-conversation just to marvel at it, odds are good Dustin Rodriguez was involved in crafting it. Or maybe he showed off his uncanny ability to make you laugh as he talked as if he was doing a stand-up routine (though, of course, it was completely off-cuff, just the nature of the man). Maybe you saw him spinning vinyl there and didn’t even know he had a direct hand in making the (one of three too many) drinks you were sipping on.
Beautifully loquacious when given the moment, respectfully silent when reading the room right, Dustin was a man who didn’t just love tiki cocktails and music, he was the guy small business owners knew could basically handle multiple hats. General manager? Check. Beverage director? Why not? Head bartender? If you need him, sure. DJ? Obviously. Promoter? The man bought a Long Beach-centric matching top and shorts to ensure there was no misunderstanding that he was there to promote the city he loved, Long Beach.
Now, after more than two decades in Long Beach, Rodriguez is stepping away, headed back to his home state of Colorado—returning to be with his mom and family, and to start a new chapter.
Bamboo marked the moment the only way it knows how: with a dance-floor-heavy going-away party and a deep well of gratitude from the city’s hospitality scene. His departure doesn’t spell the end of The Bamboo Club—far from it—but it does mark the close of a foundational era. The bones of the place, from its cocktail DNA to its anything-goes, all-are-welcome vibe, carry Dustin’s fingerprints. As new bartenders step up and future menus roll out, Long Beach will keep sipping on the culture he helped build. Each Mai Tai, painkiller, and wild seasonal concoction is a quiet toast to the guy who made Bamboo feel like home.
How Dustin Rodriguez eventually became synonymous with The Bamboo Club and tiki culture.
“What I love most about this community are all its weird little quirks,” Dustin once said of the tiki community on the ZenTiki Lounge podcast. “It’s such a fun, loose group of people who come in here on the regular… They make me love my job.”
Dustin has been the beating heart of Long Beach’s punk-tiki institution since its earliest days, helping transform a former dive into the city’s defining tiki bar and one of Southern California’s most respected tropical cocktail destinations. A Colorado Springs native who started in the industry as a teenage busser and dishwasher at a Mexican cantina after working at a Tower Records, he eventually landed behind the bar, then behind the menus, becoming the person trusted to shape Bamboo’s drink identity from the ground up.
When owners and designers first began turning the old Liquid Lounge/Tidal Bay space into a tiki escape, they brought in bar masters Brian Noonan and Dustin to build a cocktail program that matched the room’s ambitious design. Dustin didn’t just write a list of rum drinks; he built a living, breathing bar culture.
As GM and beverage director, he curated a menu he considers his proudest professional accomplishment—one that draws guests from across Southern California and beyond—and steered the bar through the chaos of the COVID years, keeping both the team and the tiki flame alive while so many other spots went dark.
How Dustin created a culture behind that bar that garnered respect and followers.
“Be respectful of your guests, staff, and the culture you pay homage to,” Dustin once said. “Especially when it comes to Tiki bars. And be sure to create a culture within your bar, one that people will want to return to… And for us, those behind the bar, take your time to become the bartender you want to be. Study and pay attention to your guests. And what they drink.”
Dustin’s love of treating people kindly and fantastically complex menus are where Bamboo’s personality really crystallized. He’s described the bar as a “rambunctious little tiki bar” in the Zaferia district, and his drinks embodied just that. Playful but precise. Rooted in classic tiki structure while constantly pushing into new territory.
His Cloud Cutter riff on the Fog Cutter—with hibiscus-infused botanical rum and a bright mix of citrus and pisco—is one example of how he reinterprets canon cocktails without losing their soul. Seasonal menus. Tiki competitions (like the one I’ll never forgot my annual Long Beach Last Call event). Collaborations—like Bamboo’s amaro-driven cocktail contest where his own creation vied for a permanent spot—gave his crew room to flex and helped define Bamboo as a place where bartenders are creators, not just pourers.
That sense of experimentation spilled beyond the bar top and into Bamboo’s broader identity. Dustin’s other obsession—vinyl—fed directly into nights like Ritual Boogie, where he’d swap the jigger for the turntables and help turn the tiki hut into a packed dance floor. The result is a space that feels less like a themed bar and more like a community clubhouse: comedy nights. Live bands. Halloween’s haunted “Tremble Club.” Or, for the opposite, Christmas’s glitter-bombed “Tinsel Club,” (which features Dustin’s last menu at The Bamboo Club). And all anchored by a cocktail program that never phones it in.
Dustin’s unedited goodbye message in full…
In a social media post, Dustin wrote a beautifully detailed goodbye that showcased his ability to remain wonderfully human. Naming off multiple people individually—from his starting days in Long Beach to his last—
Dear Long Beach,
I really don’t even know where to start. It’s been almost 21 years since you welcomed me with open arms. Long Beach has been my home for as long as it has been my birthplace. A family was built, and the most wonderful people in the world are here. Chucho, Heddy, Christine & Damien, Mike WOODS! Tay, Shane & Eizelle, Kip & Christina, Travis & Marcy, Sam, Holly, Ryan, Anissa, Johnny & Nat, JU JU JULIO! Thank you for being my people for the last two decades. This family will last!
From Tower Records, Polly’s Coffee, Black Market, and the one that really made my world a better place, Fingerprints. To the Pike yes I’m not the most proud but you saved me and molded me into what I am today. Roe, Ashley’s, and my forever home Bamboo Club. All of these places hold a very special place in my heart.
I’ll never be able to name or thank everyone I need to, but I will do my best! Chris Baker my brother for eternity, thank you for showing me a world outside of mine. Thank you for being so understanding and so willing to love me for who I am. You were the kindest human I have ever met, and you will live with me until I am dust. Rest easy. Julio you’re the sweetest, strongest person I know! Chey, you put up with me in ways no will ever understand, you’re are a saint (mostly)!
To my boys Kev aka Sidewords, Vinnie Toma the Audible Aroma, Vincent Villanueva Feelin Tha Flava, London Guzman, Dokkodo tha Professa, Andrew Diehm aka my right hand man aka the god father of my unborn children aka DJ CARDIGAN! Thank you for always holding me down, thank you for inspiring me, for teaching me, thank you for allowing me to DJ alongside such talent and embracing my novices. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I’m at today without you all.
Sasha & Brennan, Zoe & Ian, Sreeee, Sekani, Christian (Jefecito), Rich & Daniel, Dooley, Sophie, Jeff (Yeff), Katie & Jenny Craig, Bre (you made me feel so welcome at Tower), Sarah! Casey (Case Double), Lindsay!!! Devyn (way more than 3rd key), Kenneth (I’ll never forget you big dawg), Mo, Jim, Jesse tha Playerrr, Monica, Ethannnn, The Ma’ams, Maxim & Brother Parks, JJ, Keila, Alana, Big Carl (not the burger)!!! Little Son, Leti! Hector, Jose, Gary, and Rand thanks for filling my shelves with the best wax! Izzy, Chloe & Blake, Jojo, Ian (Red Beard), Candace, Iano, Nate Isreal, Ian Zunich, Lili & Lono! So many people, if I didn’t mention you it’s not on purpose. I promise you’re in my mind!
Community has been such a huge part of this city and my longevity here. Que Sera, the first place to let me DJ ever. The most inclusive home to music from, in, and around Long Beach at the time. Ferns RIP, a place for the punks to be punks. Alex’s Bar our only proper not so big venue. Instores at Fingerprints, art shows at every non traditional art gallery ever! Literally wherever art could be put up it was/is! I can’t tell you how active this city is, all the time. It’s absolutely incredible!
No matter what was happening, what “genre”, what “medium”, what ever “scene” you thought you were a part of, everyone is welcome. This is one of the most open and understanding cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing/visiting/living. I didn’t think I needed my mind open when I arrived, but Long Beach did just that, and there is no one who could change my mind now! There is so much love in this city it’s crazy!
4th Street. What can I say, you are my favorite street in the whole world. I can walk up and down you forever, drive, dodging crackheads, double parked cars, vendors, emergency vehicles everywhere. The sweet smell of trash and beautiful food clashing. The heat and the rain, always activating something new to breathe. An actual wonderland of characters. I will never forget the adventures on these sidewalks.
I have so many stories, memories that will last a lifetime. I wish I could write something about everyone in here, but that shit would have chapters and chapters. If we’ve crossed paths, given each other a hug, shared a stage, or I made you a bev, thanks for being here! I hope to find the love I’ve found in Long Beach, in Denver.
This city has my heart, I can’t imagine a better place to grow. So to all the people, places, pets, and porch parties, thank you, thank you sooo much! I’ll do my best to make a big noise over here in Denver, loud enough for all of you to hear! You’re old pal D Train
Love,
Dustin
