MaiPai Tiki Bar

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Opened in February 2020.

This is a combination mash-up of Detroit style pizza restaurant and tiki bar, owned by Salar Madadi.

Salar describes his pizza:

"So with a Detroit-style pizza, they're cooked in a rectangular pan. Ideally, it's like a seasoned steel pan. It's like a hydration dough with a higher hydration. Like when you bake it off, you'll get more air into the crust and it'll come out crispier. Your sauce goes on top, if you're using a sauce, and you have cheese that goes edge to edge. So you get like a crispy cheese crown all the way around. I enjoy eating foods where each bite is different and different in texture and flavour. The crispy cheese crust was, I think like the first time I had it, I was like, 'Oh, this is awesome.'"

About the decor:

Salar spent a good amount of time sourcing Polynesian art to decorate the place. He built a considerable amount of the furniture himself. He was buying bamboo from all over Canada to carve and build some of the posts, assembling vintage lamps. There is even a booth in the restaurant dedicated to Spam and all the variations of Spam.