Our visit to the Grass Skirt was after the intro Luau for Tiki Oasis 2026: we walked our way from the Catamaran hotel (which has a nice Polynesian decor as well. ) Entry was through a small kitchen, Speakeasy style, through a large walk-in fridge door! Apparently they have a second Speakeasy on the other side... Once through this magical door, we stepped into a dark and well decorated tiki bar. Two very large open tiki god mouths house booths, the bar is backed by skulls with pineapple fronds. A central fireplace was off for our visit, but hosts some skulls nestled inside. A large mural with a hula girl takes up a good portion of one wall. It was very loud and busy when we arrived, not shocking with Tiki Oasis just starting! We were already decked out in Hawaiian fashion and leis so fit right in. It took a while for a server to come help us, but the place was packed. We are pretty sure our server was "baked" as they had a hard time counting how many of us (6) were at our booth and eventually forgot to put our order for drinks in. They did make up for it by giving us all a ChiChi slushy that was quite tasty while waiting a second time for drinks. Drinks were very tasty, with many takes on classics that had a bit of a different spin. They do have food but we did not have any of it due to just finishing a big luau spread! Vibe: 7/10. Service: 4/10. Drinks: 8/10. Overall score: 7/10.

More tiki bar travels in California! On 8/2/26 we stopped at the Bamboo Club in Long Beach on the way to Anaheim. This is a more recent tiki bar opening in 2019 (just in time for Covid). The place has plenty of bamboo along the walls and bar to fit the namesake. Probably a bit less decoration than some tiki bars (floats, puffer fish etc.) but still plenty themed. Some nice booths in the other side of the place, but we were at a high top table. At first we were right under a speaker that was blasting out Dio's Holy Diver: I was happy with this, but our group was less so. Once the server noticed this, the music toned down and switched to a more ecclectic tiki/60's list. They have an enclosed patio area with a huge mural by Big Toe, as well as a larger outside seating area. Service was very good, especially considering we were just getting one cocktail and going. The drink list was extensive with a mix of classics and new cocktails. I had the Doctor Bamboo (made with the funky Dr. Bird Jamaican rum) and liked it. Overall our cocktails were good but not the best of the trip.
Vibe: 7/10. Service: 10/10. Drinks: 6.5/10. Overall Tiki-tastic score 7/10.

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, with Trader Sam's nestled within it's courtyard. We ended up visiting this place 4 times in 2 days. The first visit was very late at night, as the queue for inside was quite long. Inside is beautifully decorated with carved totems (whose eyes slowly move if you pay attention,) windows that look out over islands and active volcanoes, and plenty of tiny touches from the jungle travels of Trader Sam. Every little picture, postcard, etc hanging in the place is perfect and on-theme. The bartenders had some flair and certain drink orders prompted theatrics from staff as well as special effects in the room. Our service inside was mixed. The first time it took 20 minutes for someone to come take our order, and we probably would have had a second if we had had some more attention. The second night we were inside, was a better experience and our server was attentive and fun. Outside the bar is a Trader Sam's patio area which blends into the Tangaroa Terrace (a not-as-tiki pool bar and counter service restaurant.) We had one late night drink out here and our server was just terrible. He shambled around, did not check on us, in fact barely grunted to our attempts at conversation and ordering. Possibly the worst service we have had at any Disney restaurant/bar. Impressively bad. And the final visit was breakfast on the patio. The food was nice and a morning cocktail was a pretty pleasant way to open the day! Overall vibe (inside) is 9/10. Service averaged for 4 visits 5/10. Drinks 7/10 (perhaps a little light on the booze). Overall Tiki-tastic score: 6/10. I thought this was going to be higher based on experiences at the Trader Sam's in Florida, so a bit disappointed. Oh, and they no longer serve the drinks in the special ceramic mugs! You can still buy them, but it is not as fun drinking a Zombie here without it in the zombie head mug.

On our trip to Disneyland, we made time out to visit this tiki bar. Set on a 1800's sailing ship with curved ceiling and bird portraits along the walls, this has some of the strongest theming of any tiki bar we have been to. There are many small touches as well as large (a big kraken tentacle!) A back bar area is creepily decorated with skulls and would be fun to sit in at some point. Our booth included a plaque that Jeff "Beachbum" Berry had sat there in the past. We are practically best friends now that we've shared a seat in this place! We ran into some other fine folks heading to Tiki Oasis while here as well. The service was very attentive and more or less in character. They do have a time limit but are good about reminding you to order one last drink if you need it and not making you feel rushed. We did eat here and the food was quite nice (the Loco Moco burger was perfect!) The bar has their own rum blend which they use in several cocktails, as well as an extensive list of classics, riffs, and originals. I had a wonder Zombie King served in a creepy skull mug. Vibe: 9/10. Service: 10/10. Drinks 9/10. Overall 9.5/10. So far this is my highest rated tiki bar!

This was the first visit of an epic 10 tiki bars in 10 day trip to Tiki Oasis in San Diego. Opened in 1958, this is an original place and has an old school vibe to it. Nude velvet paintings vie with huge tiki heads and Witco decor for attention here. Very dark but lots of secrets hidden here. Outside there is a large net-covered patio area that would have pleasant other than the 90 degree heat. We had a 90 minute reservation which the staff enforce pretty consistently. Instead of servers coming to you your booth or bench, you had to stand in line for drinks at the bar, resulting in a huge line of about 10 or more people at any given time. We spent a good 20-25 min of our allotted time here waiting in line (and we hit it before the crowd got bigger.) At the time, there was one bartender, but I think they added a second about when we were leaving. The host out front was very pleasant and gave good advice of other places to check out. Drinks were quite good, including the huge Tonga Hut Treasure bowl served in an epic sized flaming clamshell. I wasn't convinced we would be able to get that thing back to the booth intact. Vibe: 9/10 Service: 7/10 Drink Quality: 9/10 Overall Tiki Score: 8/10

This was our second Tiki Bar in the LA area and it did not disappoint! It took us a few minutes to find the secret entrance hidden behind the classic Tail-o-the-Pup hotdog restaurant, but we figured it out! Once the door opened, we climbed a well decorated set of stairs to the upstairs tiki bar. As with most, this was dark and moody, but with a good sense of humor and modern tiki added in. I really like the smiling mascot and ended up buying a shirt to take him home with me. Lots of great decorations here. Also the Doors recorded in this space, which is pretty cool. Service was excellent and the bartenders were showing off with some fire effects at times. A couple of ladies from Appleton Estate Rums in Jamaica were there and sampling their rum and and Old Fashioned made with this was half price. I got one that was smoked and presentation was impressive (see pic of blue light and smoking chest). Drinks overall were very good, but classics Mai Tai and Rum Barrel were a bit on the dry side for me. Vibe 9/10. Service 9/10. Drinks 7.5/10. Overall Tiki-Tastic Score 8.5/10.

OK, so third tiki bar in one day in LA: this time General Lee's Bamboo Room. This place just opened in the past month, and we were sent here by the hostess at the Tonga Hut. We got there fairly late (10 PM) after a long day of tiki bars and dinner. The place had a live DJ and was just starting to get busy when we got there. The music was not terrible, but more club music than tiki for sure. We were able to get a drink fairly quickly. The decor was pretty spare with a few booths and a lot of open space for dancing. Walls lined with wicker/bamboo, and ceiling had brass colored decorative tiles. Very cool bar backsplash. The menu had classic tiki drinks and some new and interesting concoctions. All four of our drinks were quite good and unique. I really enjoyed the Jade Smoke (Mezcal, lemongrass, kiwi, and lemon.) However, by the time we were thinking about a second cocktail each, the place had filled to bursting with young club folks and I gave up on the fight to elbow my way to the front of the mass of humanity to the bar. There were two bartenders and 2 barbacks and they could not keep up with the demand. Vibe 4/10. Drinks 9/10. Service 6/10. Overall Tiki-tastic score 4.5/10. I wonder what this place might be like on a slower weekday night...