Tiki Bars
Ala Kai Motel
Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, United States
The Ala Kai Motel was opened in 1963. Its original owners were Kurt and Gertrude Burghold.
It is commonly referred to as being a part of the Doo Wop style of architecture, named after the popular music of its time, but this style is also referred to as Googie architecture in California and other parts of the country.
It still has its cool neon sign with a surfing hula girl and the basic structure is the same. Fake full-size palm trees adorn the exterior. It also has a large pool.
However, other than these details, it is a basic family-style motel.
Olu Oaksu - at The Oaks
Springfield, Massachusetts, United States (Closed)
This Polynesian themed bar and restaurant was located within The Oaks hotel. The Oaks was a family business -- apparently two large 3-story houses joined together in the middle -- and resembling a boutique Bed and Breakfast -- but was gradually developed into a larger construction.
Olu Oaksu was a single room within the hotel -- it had lava stone walls, spears, masks, and other decorations and apparently was considered quite swanky when it opened.
Their menu logo was taken directly from the Kon-Tiki Montreal menu cover Tiki from 1958 -- a popular image later used by the Tiki-Ti in Hollywood and a few others.
Also about 1958, The Oaks started accepting long-term guests and this signaled a decline.
The property was sold a few years later, and leveled, and in 1962 the site welcomed a new Travelodge motel. Sometime in the 80s or 90s, the Travelodge was re-named as the River Inn, which later devolved and became a crash pad for drug users and an eyesore for the neighborhood.
The River Inn was then torn down in 2013 and a few years later the property was turned into a Pride Convenience Store location.
Malahini Terrace
Willowbrook, Illinois, United States
Established in 1984.
"Malahini" translates to "stranger" or "newcomer" in Hawaiian. However, despite the Hawaiian name and several Hawaiian touches, this is primarily a Chinese Restaurant. It is located in a strip mall and the interior's white drop ceiling, white walls, and green glass pub shades over the bar do little to enhance the island feeling either. However, it does have some nice touches, including some vintage Orchids of Hawaii swag lamps, some tiki masks on the walls, and several frosted glass panels that show palm trees and other island images.
Their website and current menu does not include a cocktail list.
Tiki Chick
New York, New York, United States
Opened in January 2020.
This is a very sparsely decorated location without the large carvings and layers that you would expect from old school locations like Trader Vics. They do have some jungle monkey and hula girl wallpapered accent walls, some rattan furniture, and a few rattan ceiling fans. However, the peach-painted exterior, poured concrete bartop, and simple white globe lights in the front windows could call to mind any of hundreds of other differently themed gastropubs around the country.
Drinks are served in appropriate glassware or in generic tiki mugs and their drink menu offers an equal distribution of classics, signature cocktails, and machine-blended slushie drinks. They also have an extensive catalogue of rums and other spirits.
Their food menu offers fried chicken sandwiches, spam, and hots dogs among other things.
By all accounts their food and drinks are on point (and although the Pickle Painkiller is questionable, the restaurant's owner is Jacob Hadjigeorgis, the man behind Upper West Side’s wildly popular southern comfort food restaurant Jacob’s Pickles, so it gets a pass). Despite the interior theming leaving a bit to be desired, it's still a very pleasant place to spend an hour or two in the city.
Tiki Docks - St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Opened July 28th, 2020.
There are 2 Tiki Docks locations -- this one in St. Petersburg and another one in Riverview, Florida.
This St. Petersburg location is a 5,000-square-foot spot and includes an indoor dining area with retractable doors leading out to a large outdoor space that consists of two sprawling patios and a bar overlooking the marina.
Tiki Docks - Riverview
Riverview, Florida, United States
Opened September 10, 2020.
There are 2 Tiki Docks locations -- this one in Riverview and another one in St. Petersburg, Florida. Both locations have indoor and outdoor waterfront dining.
The Riverview location is 15,000 square feet and has tiki murals on the exterior. The interior is a huge open space with blue painted support beams and blue floors, a large central bar with lots of televisions stacked upwards, and several Bosko carved masks behind the host area in front. The bathroom hall features a mural of an octopus that extends into both the men's and women's restrooms.
Raney's Kona-Kai Inn
Dumas, Texas, United States (Closed)
Circa 1960s.
This unexceptional 2-story hotel complex had a truly spectacular sign out front with a tiki head atop the main support pole and two spears on the secondary support poles. The hotel was located off highways 87 and 287 S in Dumas, Texas.
Orchid Island Hotel
Hilo, Hawaii, United States (Closed)
Built in 1967 at the site of the Legionnaire Clubhouse.
The hotel itself was a standard multi-story structure, but with the addition of an ornamental 6 story A-frame entrance and huge standing tiki next to it out front.
Inside was The Monkey Bar. Live monkeys were in a large cage behind the bar with a glass window.
Ownership changed hands a couple of times, and then the hotel went out of business and finally closed in 1977.
The building burned in 1986, and the lot was cleared.
The property is now part of Reed’s Bay Beach Park.
Undertow - at The Century Grand
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Previously at Sip Coffee & Beer Garage next door, Undertow closed their first location in December 2020 and re-opened in this larger location at The Century Grand in March 2021.
This larger space allowed Undertow to enhance the experience by adding more audio and visual effects, decorations, and a little bit more seating.
They've added six more seats to the bar, a second six-person booth, an additional two-person table, more portholes, and cinema-quality sound.
Some of the newest decorations include a new hand-carved bar by Tiki Diablo (Danny Gallardo) and "Emily," a real figurehead that was salvaged from the bow of a ship
As of October 11th, 2022, there is also a sister location in in Gilbert, Arizona.
House of Ming
Madrid, Spain (Closed)
House of Ming was a much venerated tiki bar and Chinese style restaurant located in Madrid, Spain. It opened around 1965 and is said by many to be the first tiki bar in Spain.
Some of the oft touted perks of visiting House of Ming were its: -Uninterrupted Hawaiian music -Tapa cloth from floor to ceiling -Incredible index of tikis per square meter -Drinks served in custom OMC vintage mugs -Waiter with jacket -Absence of TV
Closed in September of 2007.
Apparently the owners had three separate Chinese restaurants at one time, including one called China Doll.
Jungleland - at Storytown USA
Queensbury, New York, United States (Closed)
In 1954, Charles Wood invested $75,000 on five acres on the east side of U.S. 9 between Lake George and Glens Falls, launching Storytown, U.S.A., an amusement park themed by the Mother Goose rhymes. It closed in 1983 and is presently known as Six Flags Great Escape.
Jungleland was a walkthrough attraction at Storyland that was supposed to show the African jungle complete with animals, warriors, chiefs and temples. They incorporated South Pacific Style huts, bamboo fencing, and Witco carvings into their front entrance.
As the years went by other attractions were added.
Some of the exhibits would be considered politically incorrect by today's (or any) standards -- like the white explorer being cooked in a cast iron pot by caricatured African natives.
Eventually through multiple remodels, neglect, and a change in ownership, the attraction was in need of a major overhaul.
Eventually, Six Flags Great Escape took over and turned Jungleland into “Elmer Fudd’s Rabbit Seasoning”. A revamp to make Jungle Land fit into the Looney Tunes National Park children’s area. There is very little little left that resembles the old Jungleland.
Kontiki - Manama, Bahrain
Manama, Bahrain (Closed)
Kontiki opened as early as June 2014.
The Radisson Blu hotel is 6 km from Bahrain International Airport and 7 km from Seef Mall. There were also Kontiki restaurants at other Radisson Blu locations, including the island of Malta.
This location was replaced by BO.SABI Restaurant in June 2021.