“A tiki bar is never finished. Never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.”

That’s what Ed Rudisell told me as we toured Inferno Room hours before its Sept. 11 debut in Fountain Square. Rudisell and his business partner, Chris Coy, have filled the 902 Virginia Ave. restaurant and lounge with significant artworks that transport you deep into the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

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“We probably only have a quarter of what we have out,” Rudisell said of the pieces he and Coy obtained from the estate of a man who spent years interacting with Papua New Guineans.

Coy and Rudisell will continue tweaking the decor, meaning you’ll see something new every several weeks. While lingering over mai tais and nibbling cheese-sauced yuca nachos, here’s what to look for right now.

The spirit house

“This is really a homage to the tribal artwork of in Papua New Guinea,” Rudisell said of Inferno Room. He and Coy bought more than 500 art pieces from the estate of a man who spent around 15 years, through the late 1970s, with Middle Sepik River region tribes. “There are no kitschy shops there,” Rudisell said. “There are still tribes that practice cannibalism. There are still head hunters. They still do crocodile ceremonies (where a male’s skin is covered in deep cuts to resemble crocodile skin) and spirit houses (built to host good spirits and ceremonies)." A sofa lounge in an alcove opposite the bar mimics a spirit house. Palm panels lining the wall were made by tribes and are used to decorate spirit houses. “It’s a living museum in here,” Rudisell said.

Skull racks

Some Papua New Guineans believe skulls contain spirits of the dead that protect families. Are any of the skulls at Inferno Room real? “Maybe,” Rudisell said with a grin. “Someone did offer to sell us a shrunken head.”

Luau Room

One of America’s tiki heroes is Crawfordsville, Ind., native Steve Crane. The B-movie actor, who died in 1985, illegally married Lana Turner (Crane already had a wife) and once played alongside Rita Hayworth in “Tonight and Every Night,” but he's a tiki hero thanks to Luau, the Polynesian-themed Beverly Hills restaurant and celebrity hot spot he opened in the 1950s. Crane’s business expanded into the posh Kon Tiki chain at Sheraton Hotels in Montreal, Portland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Honolulu, and Boston. His tiki businesses continued into the late 1970s, and Crane tableware continues to define tiki style in America. Toast Crane in the Luau Room, where you can see his photo, read his story and check out the replica Luau logo.

The deal with all those phallic symbols

It’s hard to miss the um, large noses, that, um, hang from the masks covering walls above the staircase. Papua New Guinea's patriarchal tribes emphasize male-only gatherings, such as the social and ceremonial activities inside spirit houses, and rituals marking transitions from boyhood to manhood.

The wicker man

The imposing face with eyes illuminated by red lights hanging over the staircase is a real-deal, ceremonial dance costume. The small head on the top would likely rest on the wearer’s head, and he would look through the lower set of eye holes. The side openings appear to be arm holes.

Easter eggs

Look for the hidden gems. A red and black skull behind the bar is a gift from revered American tiki artist Glen “Pop Tiki” Helzer. Paneling behind bar stools represents an entire collection of work by Milwaukee artist Dave Hansen of Lake Tiki Woodcrafts. Hansen hand-carved much of the new art at Inferno Room, including the giant mask overlooking the first floor and individually carved skulls decorating each step of the staircase. Almost every new artwork in Inferno Room has ties to the Midwest, Rudisell said.

Are you a rum geek or a tikiphile?

If you're a tikiphile, then you remember or know of Knobby's Mai Tai and Kahuna Lounge, a tiki restaurant that served flaming drinks alongside beef manhattans in the 1960s and 1970s at a couple of Indianapolis locations. Some Inferno Room drinks are served in original Knobby's ceramic cups. Many drinks contain rum, the spirit that inspired Inferno Room.

Rudisell and Coy started building a rum collection at Rudisell's Black Market restaurant on Mass Ave. when it opened in 2011. They wanted to differentiate the restaurant from so many others focused on bourbon. The men’s constant requests for different rums helped bring more rums to Indianapolis. “Then it’s a hop, skip and jump down a slippery slope” from rum geek to tiki lover, Rudisell said. “Not all tikiphiles care about rum and not all rum geeks love tiki, but there’s a pretty good cross section that like both.” As Rudisell and Coy studied rum, Coy’s dream of opening a tiki lounge started to take shape. Coy ended up doing much of the carpentry work, including the bamboo stair rail.

Why there are no drink descriptions

“It’s a throwback to the really old-style,” Rudisell said. “Trader Vic’s menus, they kind of have this air of mystery to them, and we wanted to kind of channel that energy. And it’s fun…It requires adventurous imbibers, and I have faith that everybody is going to be interested in the mystery because if you look at the menu, it’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t know. This says I might end as a cannibal’s dinner. I’m going to try that. That sounds cool.’”

The Suffering Bastard

Ninety percent of 28 drinks on the menu have been around since the 1930s and ’40s, and some have fun stories worth Googling. Beloved World War II barman Joe Scialom created the bourbon-spiked Suffering Bastard in 1942 at famous Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. He created it as a hangover cure for British officers, but Scialom suffered, too. After fire destroyed the hotel in 1952, Scialom was accused of espionage, imprisoned and then thrown out of Egypt. Hired by hotel magnet Conrad Hilton, Scialom’s job was to open a bar in Havana, Cuba, which he did, only to be ousted again, this time by Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, and on Facebook. Call her at 317-444-6264.