The Kai Kai was built in 1959 and was a huge A-frame construction with tons of carvings, some by Ed Crissman. Oceanic Arts had a big hand in their development.

Located at 14925 E. Whittier Boulevard, Whittier, CA.

In 1964, this site became home to a Sir George's Smorgasboard. Sir George's Smorgasboard was a regional chain with several other locations throughout California, including Tarzana, Northridge, Van Nuys, West Hollywood, Canoga Park, Glendale, Simi, Newhall, and Arcadia. They also had locations in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas.

Streets have been re-zoned since then, but it appears the original building has been razed at this site and it is now, as of 2023, a Ralph's Grocery parking lot.

Opened on March 19th, 2022 in what had been known previously as the old TheaterNOW building.

This venue bills itself as an "Adventure Bar" which incorporates some aspects of tiki decor besides just the cocktails, but also includes a Cabinet of Curiosities vibe with artifacts from all corners of the world as one would expect to find in an old-school adventurer's club.

From The Sorrow Drowner:

"Once you cross the threshold, you will be transported into the classic era of Exploration. The Lemurian Institute, a global leader in history and exploration, led by its founder, Edward Bartholomew Wheatley the Third, have assembled a team of the finest adventurers and scholars from around the globe. What happens behind the doors of the Institute has been a question for decades; however, as the old saying goes, 'When the Machairodus Kabir is away, the Indefatigable Galapagos Mice will play!'

Enter The Sorrow Drowners!

This rag-tag group of individuals, nicknamed for their near nightly revelries, keep the Institute running while the Board of Directors are out exploring! Many of these acolytes pine to be in the field but have yet to pay their dues. Instead, they stay behind to research and catalogue the variety of artifacts sent home by the Institutes elite expedition teams and partners worldwide. Due to all the doldrums of lab work, an informal vote was taken and the Sorrow Drowners have decided to open the doors of the Institute to all of YOU! (Truth be told, its mostly because theyd prefer the chance to speak to someone that isnt 2000 years old.) Just dont tell E.B.!

Once inside, you will be welcomed with open arms into 'The Grand Marae', the meeting hall in the Institute typically used for lectures, but sans supervision the dais has been co-opted into a space for members and a variety of entertainers to perform! Books and notes have been pushed into corners to make room for you in the Library and you have been granted access to the secretive Director E.B. Wheatley IIIs office to view his personal collection. Most importantly, they saved you a seat at the bar as they serve up drinks a tad bit stronger than Lemonade!

So prepare yourself, The Sorrow Drowners welcome you!

Owned and operated by The Lemurian Institute, Inc., wholly owned by North Carolina Native Alfred Brian Wheatley and designed by former Disney Imagineer Brandon Kleyla, aka Trader Brandon, whose resume includes attractions worldwide and is perhaps best known for his work on both Trader Sam's Tiki Bars in Anaheim, Ca and Orlando, Fl. You will want to spend hours here just looking at all the artifacts from around the world and to allow yourself to get lost in the story.

'People love being able to escape, to get lost in an experience, and thats what were doing here,' says Brandon. 'Were stepping out of the framework of a traditional Tiki bar and delivering a much larger experience, set in the golden age of adventure. The age of Earhart, Bingham, Carter, and Bird.'

'My whole life, I was always on the hunt for adventure! I havent climbed Mount Everest or Walked the Plains of the Serengeti, but when I couldnt there were movies that could,' says Alfred Brian Wheatley, proprietor of the Sorrow Drowner. 'It was in these films that I found myself enthralled and, when presented with the opportunity to create this experience, it was these films that guided my hand. It is my wish to bring a space permeated with that sense of adventure to Wilmington.'

The Sorrow Drowner will feature a large menu of classic craft cocktails from classic tiki faire to drinks from around the world as well as a menu of island favorites. Select Evenings, the stage will come alive with a Vaudeville Style Revue featuring a variety of acts as well as an interactive cast of wandering comedic characters. Our hope is to provide the city of Wilmington and Coastal North Carolina with an ever-changing experience that youll want to visit again and again!"

NOTE On January 8th, 2025, the owners of The Sorrow Drowner announced their intentions to re-locate their business to California, with promises to document their progress toward this goal online as the process unfolds.

Opened August 2nd, 2022.

Mothership is a sci-fi tropical themed bar in San Diego, CA that is a partnership between the owner of Kindred and CH Projects (False Idol, Polite Provisions, Raised By Wolves and more).

Designed by Ignacio “Notch” Gonzalez, Mothership imagines a restaurant and cocktail lounge build from the ruins of a crash landed ship on a tropical alien planet.

From the Mothership website:

"The Ancient Astronaut Shuttle Crew, aboard the A.A.S.C. MOTHERSHIP, boldly explores the darkest, furthest edges of the tropical-flavor galaxy. Cosmic rays blast from a solar flare and blow the MOTHERSHIP’s electronics into disarray. The psycho-space marauders are left with no option but to execute emergency landing protocols on the nearest planet. Off-board, the tight-knit Crew explores the lush surroundings. They discover no sentient life, but unexplainable events occur and a lurking presence is felt. The mysterious, uncharted ecosystem has few resources to repair the ship -- but ample plant life and curious, intoxicating spirits. In time, the Crew accepts that they are marooned in a sinister, fertile paradise. They establish a colony and fashion the ship into a base camp, including quarters of leisure. Together, the fearless crew members commit to adventurous coexistence with the natural life of the planet, not in desperate peril, but on a ...PERMANENT VACATION."

Edward Kwong (1917-2006) was was one of the leading pioneers of Asian Cuisine in the West Valley.

He established House of Kwong restaurant, a favorite celebrity dining spot in Woodland Hills, CA from 1948 through 1986 when he retired.

The restaurant had a pink and green neon sign welcoming customers. Parking in the rear. Thatched reed walls on the interior with a Chinese tree painting, oriental rugs, and purple formica table-tops with glitter.

Although not resplendent with tikis and tiki decor, this Chinese restaurant had a large tiki cocktail menu and is impressive for having several (now) rare and sought-after mugs, including the Spurlin Fog Cutter and Oceanic Arts Cobra's Fang, as well as their own unique bowl, the Witchcraft Bowl, surrounded by 4 flaming demon heads (truly a crypto mug!).

Today, as of 2022, the location appears to be a vacant lot sandwiched between a cell phone repair shop and a multi-level building housing a law firm.

*Photo shows Edward Kwong on left with his brother, Don Kwong, on right -- in the restaurant kitchen.

This location had a fantastic back-lit plastic-faced sign. The sign's tiki head stood over 8' tall with gas-burning tiki torches on either side.

Located at Western & 186th St., Torrance, CA. Open at least through the 1970s, but saw redevelopment in the 1980s.

Now home to (as of 2022) Kansha Creamery.

Chin Mon Wah (Young family patriarch) and his childhood friend, Chin Kwok Yen, purchased the building in the late 30s. Prior to placing a restaurant in this location it had at the ground floor a photo studio at 942 and stores at 946-950 Grant Avenue with the remaining two floors above being the Gum Mon Hotel.

At this time they remodeled the building to house the Kuo Wah Cafe at 942 Grant Ave which served American Style food and 946-950 to serve Chinese food. The Lions Den Nightclub was in the basement and its entrance was at 942. This is where the bar was located at that time. The Lions Den had shows featuring Chinese performers that would sing, dance and tell jokes just like all the mainstream nightclubs of the era. The Gum Mon Hotel still remained. Sometime after WW II, in the mid to late 1950s, the Lions Den Nightclub ceased to exist due to the changing times and became a dining room. Its bar was relocated from the basement to the main floor location of the Cafe which served American food. Many politicians, heads of state and other dignitaries were hosted.

In the early 60s, Chin Mon Wah's son, Andy Young, had by that time became general manager, and again undertook major construction. The Lions Den basement, main floor Kuo Wah Cafe and second floor hotel rooms were remodeled into a single restaurant called the Kuo Wah Restaurant instead of "cafe". A new bar was built in the basement, the kitchen was relocated from the main floor to the basement. A second remodel of the existing bar took place and the 2nd floor hotel rooms were cleared to make way for a 300+ person dining room. An outdoor courtyard was created at the front entrance of the building so that diners could sit out on nice days to eat or have cocktails.

Upstairs, they had a burlesque dance review based on a number out of the hit play (1958) and film (1961), Flower Drum Song. In the film, “Fan Tan Fannie” was performed by the strip-teasing female comic lead, Linda Low, played in the film by sex symbol Nancy Kwan. Their postcards advertised the dancing girls doing 3 shows a night along with "togetherness dancing" whatever that meant...

Between 65' and 68' there was a nightclub in the basement called The Drag'on A' Go-Go, which featured local bands. This is when they started to offer free tiki mugs with any of their exotic Polynesian cocktails. These mugs were exclusively from Otagiri Manufacturing Co. This continued until 1975 at which time they sold the restaurant to investors who rebuilt once again to make a Hong Kong style dim sum eatery. At this time the restaurant was still called Kuo Wah.

Since then the restaurant changed hands at least two more times. Its name for 20 years or so was Grand Palace.

Then, in 2021, owners with a love of history decided to bring back a version of The Lion's Den Club as the new Lion's Den Lounge and Bar. The address for this newer club is 57 Wentworth Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108, but it occupies the same footprint as the old club and honors its style and memory.

The Mona Kai Apartments were built in 1965 on Sawtelle Boulevard in Culver City, CA. They feature a large A-frame entrance.

It doesn't appear that there is any other surviving tiki decor.

There is also a Mona Kai Apartments in Goleta, CA but it is not clear if there is any connection other than the use of the name.

This apartment complex features 4 A-frames in front and is 2 stories with 21 units.

Other than this, it doesn't appear to have any other tiki decor.

There are also Mona Kai Apartments, originally built in 1965, at 4600 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles 90230 (Marina del Rey), CA. It is not clear if there is any connection to the apartments in Goleta other than the name.

Formerly known as Hatch Bar & Eatery, local restaurateur Leonard Chan and partner Dominic Iapello went from a light beach vibe to full-Tiki, starting with the re-opening of their restaurant in December 2018.

They added 35 Tiki cocktails on the expanded cocktail menu and the rum selection grew to 70+ bottles.

Food-wise, some favorites like the Loco Moco remained, with some new Polynesian-inspired additions including a tempura-battered Spam Musubi and Chinese-five spice chicken wings. The kitchen could also accommodate gluten-free and vegan preferences – the Impossible Burger was another newer option.

Stowaway was tucked behind Blacksteel Barbershop.

Stowaway announced that Saturday, November 5th, 2022 would be its last day open at this location.

*They re-opened with a sneak preview on May 16th, 2023 at their new location -- 14401 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA, United States.

The Tahitian in Pasadena opened on November 21st, 1961.

This location at 137 S. Lake Avenue was previously home to Steve Romer's Surf Rider, which had closed only 4 years before.

The Tahtian restaurant was co-owned by Don Avalier and Bill Dove with Chef Francois Sirgant as a third partner. It was one of two Tahitian restaurants, the other location was in Studio City. There was also a Royal Tahitian restaurant in Ontario, CA that used identical lettering and was likely related. Menu cover tiki was designed by Andres Bumatay. The decor was supplied by Oceanic Arts and Sea & Jungle, and the ceramic table lamps and coconut mugs were supplied by Spurlin Ceramics.

Open through at least 1968.

The Tahitian in Studio City opened February 20th, 1959, and was one of at least 2 locations -- the other was in Pasadena. The Royal Tahitian in nearby Ontario, CA had identical lettering, and may have been related. Menu cover tiki (same as tiki outside of front door) was designed by Andre Bumatay. The decor was supplied by both Oceanic Arts and Sea & Jungle, with coconut mugs and ceramic table lamps from Spurlin Ceramics. The location is now a parking lot.

This is one of a growing chain of Islands restaurants in the Southwest that started in Orange County, CA in 1982.

Islands restaurants have a vague and generic tropical theme that leans towards "Surf" but usually has a few tiki masks and other tiki-friendly decor.

This particular location in the Rolling Hills shopping plaza does have a rather nice, large tiki inside.