TIKI BARS

I LOVE THEM

I never go to them, though ;_;

What are your favorites? The worst one you've been to? Basically I'm looking to compile a list of places to visit/avoid.

Hala-kahiki in River Grove, IL, just outside Chicago and conveniently located by o'hare. Have a drink right after or right before you fly.

The Tonga Hut - north hollywood, CA. L.A.'s oldest tiki bar iirc, opened in '58. Great!

They opened one of these near me about five years ago. It looked utterly ridiculous on a pissy December evening in Greenwich, and closed down after about three months.

Hala-kahiki in River Grove, IL,

The joke here is that you have to wear boots to get through all the girls night out upchuck. I've never been, but my wife has, and said the place is huge, just table after table full of groups. Nearby there is also Chef Shangri-La, whose trademark Dr. Fong is a great drink. Downtown Chicago just got Three Dots and Dash, which is probably as "nice" as a tiki bar will ever get. The man in charge is a sweetheart and drink master, but the place reminded me of Space Mountain with the lights on. Just too clean, too new, too nice, too sterile. I could also sense how horrible it must be at meathead peak.

I once read that car culture killed the tiki bar at large in LA. It's hard to settle in for a night of getting sloshed when you have a lot of time in the car ahead of you.

fortunately I can walk to/stumble from the tiki-ti in L.A., the only issue with it being it's the size of an average apartment living room.

hala-kahiki IS huge, I was kind of stunned by its size.

gr8080 took me to Three Dots and a Dash and it was excellent

I'd absolutely put in as a must-visit for guests. Me? I'd go again if someone wanted to go, but I do not personally feel the need to go again.

The Tiki Ti in Los Angeles is a ton of fun if you get there early enough to get a seat. It's tiny. It's also only open for part of the week - maybe Wednesday through Saturday, if I remember correctly? One thing that's either a perk or a godsend depending on your stance is that it's one of the (or maybe the only?) bar in L.A. where you can smoke inside, because the only employees are also the owners.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1388/1189466154_fc2912251e.jpg

(sorry, I somehow missed the mention a few posts above!)

love the tiki bars! used to go to PKNY a lot but sadly i think it's closed now due to it being a shithole.

I'm envisioning a city sticker posted to the front door: "Closed Due To It Being a Shithole."

Photos from Three Dots and a Dash.

looking for tiki bars in Boston, Yelp is suggesting shit like The Pour House, which is just no

Kowloon OTOH has been one of my favorite places in the entire metro area for 20-some odd years and it's criminal that I don't go there once a month (although last time I went it was kind of gross)

I've never been but the tonga room in SF sounds cool, there'a an indoor mechanical thunder storm that happens every so often.

Rainforest Cafe for adults! YES

nyc has the excellently named and thouroughly divey Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge

which isn't really a tiki bar. apparently there are old school shitty chinese food and rum cocktail places in queens and staten island.

it's a drive from Boston but the HuKeLau in Chicopee, Western MA is the real deal.

Tonga Room is alright but really pricey. I miss the old beverly hills trader vic's.

i've been to to the Tiki-Ti. great place! local guy sitting at the bar tried to sell us his horse wagering system

i've been to this place in columbus ohio, it was torn down to build a walgreens or something

http://www.critiki.com/images/locations/33/1349_large.JPG

they should have left the building and renovated it into a Walgreens

I love tiki bars! Although Austin doesn't really have one... we have the Hula Hut, which will do in a pinch, and is actually great in the sense that they have tiki bar-like drinks and Tex-Mex cuisine. I went to a lovely one in Denver, and I guess I went to a tiki bar on Easter Island, but they just called it, you know, a bar.

http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2001/02/curtis.htm

I entered the Kahiki, said to be modeled after a New Guinea men's meetinghouse, between a pair of twenty-foot-high Easter Island idols with flames spouting from their heads. Inside, after crossing a low bridge and passing through a damp grotto, I wandered into a series of dining rooms filled with thatched "dining huts." The main room, a conical structure with a towering ceiling, was presided over by an eighty-foot-high tiki goddess with glowing red eyes and a fireplace for a mouth.

rip

The only one I've been to in LA is the Purple Orchid (in El Segundo). Pretty authentic looking, medium sized.

And there's a Tiki bar review web site (who knew?). Here's the Purple Orchid write-up. Critiki

looking for tiki bars in Boston

sadly there aren't many. the kowloon obv, a place i can't remember the name of out in malden/medford that's supposed to be real shady, and this place which use to be visible from 128 before they put a fence up:

http://www.agilitynut.com/03/bali704.jpg

we went there once and it was pretty weird, like time totally forgot about it.

that one looks like a combo Tiki bar/IHOP!

love the tiki bars! used to go to PKNY a lot but sadly i think it's closed now due to it being a shithole.

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, November 15, 2013 11:50 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm envisioning a city sticker posted to the front door: "Closed Due To It Being a Shithole."

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, November 15, 2013 11:52 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

for real tho!!

http://i.imgur.com/VLjKVqJ.png

Psycho Suzi's has lost its greaser/hipster edge since moving to its new bigger digs down the street in Nordeast; it's now pretty close to a straightforward Tiki bar.

aw fuck i always wanted to go to pkny

to all the Boston peeps in this thread:

did you guys ever go to Aku Aku back when it was around? It was never very good, yet it always held a magnetic appeal for me and my friends.

Also, on a similar note, though not exactly tiki: On my last trip up there, I was very sad to see that Weylu's had tanked. That place was mind-blowing.

Tonga Room in SF *is* cool, but mainly filled with tourists/ppl staying at the hotel. I liked it though.

did you guys ever go to Aku Aku back when it was around? It was never very good, yet it always held a magnetic appeal for me and my friends.

omg YES WE DID, Aku Aku was MY SHIT (helped that my dorm was a 15-20 minute walk away from it)

They really lured you in with their cool signage that was very visible from Fresh Pond Pkwy.

I haven't yet been able to find the sign I have in mind but I did find these gems:

http://tikiroom.com/img/8169x4980b272.jpg
http://tikiroom.com/img/3224x4acf9bfe.jpg

i love the tiki ti in LA and the tonga room in SF

local one is the bali hai, home of the mr. bali hai mug, aka THE KOOK

http://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/tiki-mug-bali-Hai_29321.jpg

http://www.boydrice.com/tikiboyds/about.html

The Kook looks like the alien on American Dad.

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110416194216/americandad/images/c/ce/Martinsugar.png

cleveland's only stab at a Tiki Bar, lolz

http://critiki.com/images/locations/264/4954_jumbo.JPG

looks vaguely like a Turkish working mans hall

When is that photo from?

76, no longer in existence

Mai-Kai in Ft. Lauderdale is still glorious and apparently unchanged since the 1950s, with floor show (including fire-dancing) and stroll-through jungle. Given the tiki atrophy happening in the rest of the country, this place must be one of the very best we still have. Bring lots of money, though.

Critiki review