The old Carbon Athletic Club is like stepping into a time warp. While much of its surrounding neighborhood in Southwest Detroit has been ravaged by time, generations of folks have continued drinking at this old watering hole, which originally opened in 1947 as a hangout for the neighborhood’s ethnic Hungarians, Italians, and Poles. Today, it’s a members-only club largely surrounded by train tracks.
But on Saturday, the CAC will host Detroit’s hottest tiki party, a tradition the club has held in recent years to celebrate its anniversary. The Zug Isle Tiki party is named after the heavily industrialized nearby island and opens the club up to the public.
While it had long been a men-only club, in some ways the Carbon Athletic Club has changed with the times. These days it’s led by MaryBeth Beaudry, who became president of the Carbon Athletic Club not long after a friend brought her for the first time and she was instantly charmed. Since then, Beaudry has worked to bring more live music into the Carbon Athletic Club.
“I think it’s our funnest party of the year,” Beaudry tells Metro Times of the tiki party. “It’s also my birthday — I share a birthday with Carbon. I love that I can guilt all my friends to come because of that. Not that they need much encouraging!”
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While the CAC is typically more of a shot-and-a-beer “grandpa bar,” for Zug Isle Tiki it serves tiki cocktails. Beaudry says they will also be serving food like fried bologna sandwiches with a pineapple habanero glaze, a tiki-inspired take on the classic Michigan sandwich.
There will also be carnival games and even a dunk tank, Beaudry says.
But the main attraction is the music, which is performed on a “big-ass” tractor trailer stage in the back and a smaller largely acoustic side stage.
“We’re starting off acoustic, and then we kind of get harder throughout the night,” Beaudry says. “This time we’re ending with Child Bite, and I’m sure it’ll be very, very wild.”
Other local acts on the bill include Day Residue, Deadbeat Beat, Quitters, Don Duprie, Heavy Heart, Double Winter, Duende, Zem, Alison Lewis, Fernando Silverio Solis, Tony Paris & the Sugarburn, and Certain Death.
Beaudry says the Carbon Athletic Club will also be selling merch and hopefully signing up new members. Funds will go toward making much-needed repairs to the building, she says.
In addition to access to the club year-round, members also get discounted tickets to events held there. For Zug Isle Tiki, tickets are $15 for members and $20 for the public.
VIP tickets are also available for $50 and include two raffle entries, swag, and beers.
There is no cover for children 12 and under.
Beaudry says Zug Isle Tiki is the Carbon Athletic Club’s second biggest fundraiser of the year after its annual Christmas party, where guests ooh and aah at the festively decorated Canadian Pacific Holiday Train as it tours North America.
If you go, remember that they’re old school here: this party is cash only.
From 2 p.m.-midnight on Saturday, July 19; Carbon Athletic Club, 111 Gates St., Detroit; carbonathleticclub.com. Tickets start at $23.18.
This article appears in Jul 9-22, 2025.
