Polynesian Village was in the Edgewater Beach Hotel (its sister hotel, Hotel Somerset in Boston, also had a Polynesian Village).

The Edgewater Beach Hotel was built in 1916, facing Lake Michigan. This pink-painted hotel had 400 rooms and was a landmark for half a century. The complex had a private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago. During its lifetime, the hotel served many famous guests including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, and Nat King Cole.

On June 14, 1949, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus was shot and nearly killed by an obsessive fan at the hotel; this later would be a large part of the inspiration behind Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural (adapted to screen starring Robert Redford).

The original and very elegant Marine Dining Room was replaced by the Polynesian Village in the 1950s. Employees who were trained in serving fine cuisine at the Marine Dining Room disdainfully referred to the new restaurant as "that chop suey joint."

Less Waverly, a band leader during the Polynesian Village era, has these reminisces:

"They had huts and all the motifs of a Polynesian village. There was one act called the Pearls of the Pacific and they had Tahitian drum dancers with them. The Tahitian drums were actually fuel cans and they made a high-pitched metallic sound. It was a pretty ordinary stage but, instead of a curtain, they had something like bamboo crossed. You could see through it, but it still gave you the feeling of a curtain.

Martin Denny performed there. He was a very big act and he had records with bird calls on them. The Boyd Twins performed there. They were quite well known throughout the country because they were the Doublemint twins. We had Dorothy Shay, the 'Park Avenue Hillbilly.' She did a song about underage hillbilly marriages and marrying your cousin.

They replaced the Polynesian Village and they tried to bring back the Marine Dining Room. There would be people who would come back to relive their honeymoon of 20 or 30 or 40 years ago and they were looking for that nice hotel that they enjoyed so much - and they’d spend one night in the rooms up there with the peeling plaster and the crummy bathroom and all that. We saw the hotel slip little by little. The stores began to close and they stopped operating the summer theater, but still you thought it would keep going."

The Edgewater Beach Hotel closed in 1967 and was demolished mid 1970. There is now a high-rise condominium building in its place.

Polynesian Village was located in the Hotel Somerset and operated for twenty years, from 1948 to 1968. Then it was bought by Bobby Seto, moved to a new location, and was rechristened Aku-Aku.

The Somerset's sister hotel in Chicago, the Edgewater Beach Hotel, also had a Polynesian Village.

The Hotel Somerset was converted to condominiums in the 1980s, but from the outside it still doesn’t look much different from when it was built in 1897.

Opened in 1973. Closed briefly in 2019 and then re-opened under new owners.

This restaurant is more heavily tilted towards being a Chinese restaurant than a tiki destination, but nonetheless they serve drinks in tiki mugs and have bamboo and rattan throughout.

BEFORE:

When it originally opened (@2005-2006), this bar had a great cartoonish logo tiki (and matching mug) that were designed by Squid. However, the overall feel of the place had more of a dive college beer bar vibe -- accentuated by the televisions turned to sports shows, the Corona beer pennant banners strung around the white ceiling, and the neon bar signs for Pacifico beer. Vodka (much more than rum) took up a substantial portion of the back bar and while they did have a menu of tiki drinks, they skewed towards the sweet concoctions typical before the craft cocktail revolution. There was some bamboo on the pillar room supports and bar itself, but this was still more of a beach bar and grill with its yellow and light blue painted walls. In fact, their sign logo used to read "Hukilounge" but was changed to "Bar and Grill" which made more sense.

SIDE NOTE:

The original owner, Tom Davies (Tiki Tom), sold his share in 2006. That original owner then opened another Tiki Tom's in nearby Oakland in 2008 which subsequently burned down. The two restaurants were otherwise unconnected.

CURRENTLY:

The new logo is now an outrigger canoe as seen on the front entrance.

Tiki Tom's had a huge tiki makeover, courtesy of Bamboo Ben, and re-opened on August 24th, 2021. The interior decor is much improved and now several walls have been covered in nautical style planks (caulked with black pitch), the ceiling is festooned with amazing tiki lamps, nets, flotsam & jetsam, and select tiki artwork that can be seen in every nook and cranny. The interior is much darker and mysterious with multi-colored mood lighting as well.

The cocktail menu is also more in line with what discerning tikiphiles have come to appreciate from craft cocktail tiki bars.

Modern tiki bar in Scottsdale that was opened by Greg Donnally in 2002 to mediocre reviews of its food, drinks and vibe. At opening, drinks were served in tiki mugs from Munktiki. Drift had a thatched A-frame entrance, but the interior was more sleek. Drift closed in November 2010.

Now home to Boondocks Patio & Grill. Donnally went on years later to partner in opening The Drunk Munk, using some of the same decor from Drift Lounge.

Opened in 1987.

Coconut Joe's is a fast casual restaurant with an elaborate build-out that tilts more towards a surfing theme, but does have quite a bit of Hawaiian and tiki decor.

Known for their fish & chips and mesquite grilled chicken and beef.

They also have a rental banquet hall at 4000 Easton Drive and do catering as well.

Hawaii Kai was the grand dame of New York Polynesian restaurants. The location, over the historic Winter Garden Theatre, already had a place in Polynesian Pop history: it was the location of Monte Proser's Beachcomber, a Don the Beachcomber rip-off, in the early '40s.

The dramatic space opened initially as a partnership between Monte Proser and Joe Kipness as Lanai in 1961, but by November of 1962 it had morphed into Hawaii Kai with Joe Kipness now partnered with Art Schindler, who had owned the nearby Luau 400.

The dramatic interiors were created by Frederick Fox, a scenic designer for Broadway productions. The entry was at street level, and had lush greenery, waterfalls and capuchin monkeys. After receiving a lei greeting, visitors ascended a rattan staircase to the upper level, with three rooms:

The Okole Maluna Bar (Bottoms Up Bar) had a diorama of Diamond Head at Waikiki that constantly shifted from daytime to nighttime.

Adjacent to the bar was The Lounge of the Seven Pleasures -- this room had entertainment nightly, playing until 3 a.m.

The main dining room was where the nightly luau and Polynesian revue was held, variably called Hula Wei, Place of Meeting, or The Island Huts of Oahu. The space was large, with a stage, and thatch-covered booth "huts" along the edge of the room.

Hawaii Kai had a flair for flowery naming: beyond the colorful names for the rooms and of course the drinks, they were always coming up with new exotic-sounding titles for special giveaway items. The competition for tourist dollars was likely steep in Times Square, and in order to keep up there was a steady stream of creative bonus items one could acquire: A tiki teapot set titled "Ipo Aloha Lovers Tea Set", a skull mug titled "Goddess of Love", even a simple standard bucket mug became a "Royal Ali'i Goblet". Tiki lighters, lanterns, salt and pepper shakers, and of course good old tiki mugs: they couldn't give them away fast enough. Today the items are heavily collected, and often can be found still in the box they were sent home in.

Hawaii Kai's popularity waned, but it held on through the 1980s, and through the damage of a fire. It made appearances in a couple of Hollywood films (most famously a scene from Goodfellas takes place here). Hawaii Kai finally closed sometime during or shortly after 1989.

*NOTE: Cocktail menus below show that earlier drinkware included Spurlin/Beauce designed bowls and unmarked glassware but they later converted to Otagiri designed ceramic ware and marked glassware.

The Mainlander restaurant was opened on July 3, 1962 at the intersection of Bonhomme and Hanley roads in Clayton, Mo (which borders the west side of St. Louis). The restaurant's primary owner was Dale McGowan. McGowan lived in Webster Groves and had formerly lived in Tahiti.

The Mainlander's dining room featured grass shacks, a tiki fountain, bamboo covered walls and many Polynesian artifacts. Outside in front was another fountain and a white sand beach. The tiki fountain, designed by William Westenhaver and sold through his Witco company, was used as The Mainlander's signature tiki, appearing on its advertising, matchbooks and in the form of its souvenir mugs.

In its lower level, a waterfall of lava rock decorated the Mainlander's Huki Lau bar and lounge.

On November 18, 1971, a shooting took place in The Mainlander's lower level bar, with two customers killed and a waiter injured.

Shortly thereafter, Dale McGowan sold his restaurant to John Bristow.

Bristow ran the restaurant for six years until the Mainlander closed in early 1977.

Former owner Dale McGowan went on to become a broker developing real estate on the island of Maui. He passed away at the age of 84 in 2011.

Afterwards, The Mainlander became a non-Polynesian restaurant called Lautrec's. There was a fire in the building in 1978, and an office building is now in the location.

In 1961, David Cohn, of Seattle, built a new South Seas-themed restaurant on Pier 51 in Seattle. He called it The Polynesia. The roofline resembled the long houses of the South Pacific islands. A few years later, he constructed an identical restaurant above the Spokane Falls and opened Spokane’s own Polynesia in 1965.

The open-air deck, with views of the Spokane River, the middle falls and the Washington Water Power Upper Falls generating plant, was just a few feet from the Great Northern railroad trestle that brought trains to the GN depot. Diners agreed the roar and rumble of the passing trains seemed to enhance the dining experience, rather than detract from it.

But the Polynesia wasn’t the hit Cohn thought it would be. A year after opening, he was forced to sell it off.

Today, and since 2004, the building is a seafood and steak restaurant called Anthony’s.

Built in 1967.

The Aku Tiki Lounge was located in the Villager Motel and was a thriving bar in the 60s and 70s.

The Villager Motel was closed in 2008 after more than 40 years of business and was demolished in 2009.

Built in 1968.

This 30-room motel features an A-frame at the front and a sign with spears, although it is now much shorter than the original sign.

There used to be many more tikis around the grounds, but it appears a previous owner in the 1990s cleared out many of the weathered original tikis and tried to remodel things for a more Japanese aesthetic.

Despite this, there are still quite a few Witco tiki lamps in many of the rooms as can be seen in their promotional materials.

*Not to be confused with the Tiki Village Supper Club that once existed in Prince George.