Opened in 1958 by Pat Gilmore, the Islander Lounge is the oldest continuously open beach bar from Destin, Florida to Orange Beach, Alabama along that 70+ miles of Gulf coastline.

To put that in perspective, it was opened the same year as the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, California.

The Islander has expanded over the years. A game room area with its own bar was built years ago to adjoin the main bar. The club added an upstairs bar, the Cypress Bar, long ago, which is used for private parties and charity events, and open to the public on weekends. It leads out to an outside deck that looks south toward the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the striking remodeling from an immaculate 1950s Polynesian themed bamboo bar to a generically decorated neighborhood dive bar is disheartening for purist tikiphiles to look at. The gray walls and floor, not to mention the blaring televisions and signs for lotto and whiskey -- make it tough to spot any semblance of the former Polynesian theme.

Despite this, the bar is a survivor and still sports a few more modern tikis at the entrance and the upstairs deck. It is also much beloved by locals and doesn't need approval from outsiders who might disapprove of its decor.

The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood also saw a slide into generic dive bar status for several years, though, before being updated and refreshed. So, too, did the Bahi Hut in Sarasota, Florida. Perhaps the Islander Lounge also has a tiki remodel in its future?

The Mokhana Bar was located in Kokee Lodge at the top of Waimea Canyon, on Kauai.

It has long since been remodeled and no traces of the bar remain, although Kokee Lodge is still running.

The bar had Leeteg paintings on the walls, carved tikis, and served drinks out of coconuts.

Opened in 2010, in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

They pride themselves on being knowledgable about tiki cocktail history and in developing their own cocktails based on local seasonal fruits and juices. Additionally, they seek to please an Argentine palate and sometimes this means a tilt towards the bitter end of the spectrum. Cynar is popular, for instance. One of their popular cocktails, the Cynar Grill, is made with Cynar 70, roasted pineapple, lime juice, rosemary, elderberry and soda.

During Covid quarantines, when deliveries became the norm, they decided to put together special cocktail kit boxes which are delivered via a person dressed up as a sea lion with a captain's hat. See last photo. Since their mascot is a sea lion, it only made sense to run with it and lend a sense of whimsy to home deliveries.

Featured Polynesian and Cantonese dishes. Inside was a space designated the "Island Lounge". Host was Harry Lew. Open during the 70s, at least as early as 1973.

This Kahunaville was one location in a nationwide chain of restaurants, but it was the longest lasting.

It doesn't appear to be the case with the other locations, but this location had some actual Bosko tikis in one area, the elevated area on the right immediately as one walks in. They also had a few SHAG (or at least SHAG-like) paintings in one area.

The bar offered a variety of tropical drinks although not much that would be categorized as "craft cocktail" by today's standards. See the giant toilet mug in the last photo below...

Their eclectic food menu featured about 90 items, which included "Kahunaville-sized" sandwiches, salads and entrees with American, Mexican, Cajun and Asian influences.

The parent company of Kahunaville, Adventure Dining Inc., once operated nine nationwide locations, including homes in Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Tampa. The Las Vegas, Nevada "Party Bar" (2001-2016) was their last holdout before the chain folded.

This type of corporate chain typifies what many tikiphiles dislike most about corporatizing the Tiki aesthetic -- bending the decor more towards a Chucky Cheese buildout (or perhaps Rainforest Cafe if one is being kind) with cheaply molded and cartoony fiberglass and plastic decorations in primary colors, dumbing down the cocktails of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic into chemical-tasting slushy boat drinks (but served with "flair"), and offering a big scattershot food menu in hopes of appealing to every American tourist palate. For those that grew up with these, there is some nostalgia, but they were not terribly mourned by fans of traditional tiki bars and restaurants.

This venue was a bit better than the others, it seems, due to its location within the Treasure Island Casino. It also tilted a bit more to adults as evidenced by scantily-clad hostesses dancing on the bar tops, but nothing to blink an eye at when Vegas is concerned. They also hosted hula dancer shows and ran the Treasure Island outside pool bar, serving the same tropical drinks.

The Vegas location produced a great many ceramic tiki mugs, most of them from Poolside Pineapple, which was located in Las Vegas also.

This Kahunaville was one location in a nationwide chain of restaurants.

It was located in the Holyoke Mall (which is the 3rd largest in New England by retail space) from @2007-2008.

Like the others in the chain, this restaurant featured a synchronized water fountain show, waterfalls, caves, talking idols, a sophisticated sound system, an arcade, and a variety of tropical drinks. Their eclectic food menu featured about 90 items, which included "Kahunaville-sized" sandwiches, salads and entrees with American, Mexican, Cajun and Asian influences.

The parent company of Kahunaville, Adventure Dining Inc., once operated nine nationwide locations, including homes in Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Tampa. The Las Vegas, Nevada "Party Bar" (2001-2016) was their last holdout before the chain folded.

This type of corporate chain typifies what many tikiphiles dislike most about corporatizing the Tiki aesthetic -- bending the decor more towards a Chucky Cheese buildout (or perhaps Rainforest Cafe if one is being kind) with cheaply molded and cartoony fiberglass and plastic decorations in primary colors, dumbing down the cocktails of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic into chemical-tasting slushy boat drinks (but served with "flair"), offering a big scattershot food menu in hopes of appealing to every American tourist palate, and supplying loud video games and animatronics to entertain the kids. For those that grew up with these, there is some nostalgia, but they were not terribly mourned by fans of traditional tiki bars and restaurants.

It appears that this location now houses an Xfinity retail store.

Opened some time in the 1960s.

This bar and restaurant billed itself as "Metropolitan Washington's Best, Newest, and Finest Polynesian Restaurant" with three themed rooms (Hilo Room, Kona Room, and the Hula Room).

Apparently the Hula Hut changed names and/or owners in the mid to late 1970s to become the Tung Bor Restaurant which then moved to Wheaton Plaza, probably when the property was bought to develop the Wheaton Metro Station in 1990.

This restaurant offered Polynesian and Chinese food.

The decor, from postcards, shows they used tons of bamboo and natural materials, and that one entire wall was devoted to a Chinese dragon mural.

The ceiling was a framework of bamboo poles with pufferfish lights and other hangings.

Tiki table lanterns and a ton of flower leis were used to decorate the walls.

The decor was low on actual tiki carvings, although it looks as though they had some tiki poles at the front lobby entrance when visitors entered.

As of 2022, this site is home to Design Memorial Stone, a cemetery stone engraving service.

Opened July of 2018.

St. Petersburg local Peri Bandazian transformed the former LUX bar and lounge on Central Avenue into a tropical, immersive destination downtown. Bandazian’s Saigon Blonde is inspired by ’60s-era Vietnam and while it has tiki elements, is not exactly a tiki bar in the strict sense. It is best described as a fusion of 60s pop motifs centered around a quasi fictional background of Vietnam War era Saigon, wherein "The proprietor, a beautiful blonde of Vietnamese and French descent, had created an oasis for locals and soldiers alike."

The narrative look of the new bar features design elements like commissioned artwork and custom fixtures to create “a surreal setting unlike any other in the Tampa Bay area.” The owner partnered with Pinellas Park’s Creative Arts Unlimited, Inc. and St. Pete’s Wax & Hive to bring Saigon Blonde to life, and much of the art, which is a crucial component of the bar, was done by local contemporary realist Jean Michael Fait.

Saigon Blonde has five distinct areas for patrons to enjoy — showcasing symbolism and memorabilia, among other decorative details such as woven bamboo-covered walls and nods to folklore: 1) The outdoor walk-up bar. 2) The front bar with tiki totems and murals, plus an inventive cocktail menu that references the Pacific Rim in flavor and color. 3) Highlighting a sultry feel, the downstairs lounge with hanging lanterns, paintings and plush furniture. 4) Fashioned from an old plane wing, the intimate, dimly lit military bar toward the back. And 5) The VIP-like loft lounge — accessed through a narrow staircase and around a bend to overlook the downstairs lounge and front bar — with more plush furniture and a mural ceiling.

*NOTE: They do have a sub-section of their cocktail menu that specializes in drinks with CBD oil or cannabis aromatics, and these additions can be added to their other cocktails as well. Shown in last photo is their Hemp Day Cocktail with Marijuana leaf sprinkle stencil of aromatics.

The Andrew Jackson Hotel in downtown Nashville opened it doors on Aug. 29, 1925. It represented one of the largest and most modern structures of its kind in the entire South. The 12-story structure had 400 rooms and private baths.

It was one in a chain of Carling Dinkler family owned hotels named after Confederate war leaders. Dinkler also opened the Luau in Nashville which he sold to the Dobb's.

The Surf Rider Lounge was opened in the hotel at least as early as 1963, possibly as early as 1960 when the other Surf Rider Lounge in Montgomery, Alabama was opened by the Dinklers.

The Andrew Jackson Hotel was demolished on June 13, 1971, to make room for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the James K. Polk State Office Building which are currently still on site as of 2022.

Built in 1968, the Merrillwood Mall had 30 exclusive shops on the first and second levels as well as the luxurious Merrillwood Arms Apartments on the upper four levels.

One of these exclusive shops was Hale Hawaii, which was located on the second level and sold sportswear, swimwear, leisure wear, jewelry, perfume, luau accessories and exotic gifts.

Today, as of 2022, this site is known as the Merrillwood Collection Apartments but still appears to be the same building construction.

Opened March 2nd, 2022.

The Luau was developed by owner/bartender Brett Rose to "stoke the masses".

Though not as lavishly decorated as some tiki palaces, tilting perhaps a touch more towards the surf bar than the tiki bar end of the spectrum with its coral painted walls and serviceable wood café chairs, there are still, indeed, several tikis throughout.

It has a live music stage in front of house and an outdoor patio in back.

Some nice decorative touches include a wall of ukuleles behind the live music stage, some Oceanic Arts style masks on the walls, lauhala matting, fish floats, and a couple of concrete tiki fountains out on the patio.

Tiki favorites are served in tiki mugs and volcano bowls. Including the Tropical Itch cocktail, with backscratchers included.