La Mariana Sailing Club is the last remaining bastion of true original Polynesian Pop in Hawaii. It opened in 1955, and over the years, it has become a sort of museum of Waikiki's tiki past: the tikis here came out of the Kon-Tiki in the Sheraton-Waikiki, lamps came from the Trader Vic's, and tables and chairs came from Don the Beachcomber. Original owner Annette La Mariana Nahinu ran the operation until her death in 2008. La Mariana features a lively piano bar, and guests can join in on the singing.

La Mariana's original location was 50 yards from its current location; it moved in 1973. There is an 80-boat slip attached to the restaurant which sits on Ke'ehi Lagoon.

After a 2-year-long shuttering because of COVID, La Mariana re-opened on May 31st, 2022. During the shutdowns, Gecko made many renovations and they did much to the front of the house and bar, including the addition of a new point-of-sale system. This was a soft re-open with many ongoing renovations still taking place, especially in back of house.

Tiki's Grill & Bar opened in 2002 in the heart of Waikiki, in the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. It offers a modern take on Polynesian Pop, with lots of art by modern pop artists and carvings. There is both outdoor and indoor seating.

This is the location that started it all. (Well, actually it started across the street at 1722 McCadden on December 5th, 1933, and moved to this spot on May 26th, 1937.) Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, later and more widely known as Donn Beach, created what we think of today as a "tiki" or "Polynesian" restaurant. Bamboo-lined tropical themed night clubs had been fashionable for some time, but this was where it became more immersive. Donn's greatest innovation was surely the drinks. His travels throughout the world (and especially the Caribbean) gave him deep knowledge about rum, which in this post-prohibition era had become inexpensive. His blends of rums with fruit juice and spice flavors created exotic drinks that appealed to the masses. Backed up with Cantonese cuisine and a richly decorated environment complete with tikis, it was a hit.

Many of the most beloved tiki drinks were born here, including the Zombie, Navy Grog, Demerara Dry Float, 151 Swizzle, Shark's Tooth, Cobra's Fang, Dr. Funk. The original bartenders knew the recipes (Including Ray Buhen, who served them at his own Tiki-Ti. The recipes have been passed down to Buhen's son and grandsons and you can taste history there yourself.). Soon Donn learned to keep the recipes secret, even from his own staff, by using a system of codes and pre-mixed syrups. It didn't stop the competition from attempting to poach his staff or attempt his drinks, with mixed success.

Beyond the drinks, the entire themed-restaurant concept that Don the Beachcomber created was copied widely; perhaps first and most notably, it inspired Victor Bergeron to transform his Hinky Dinks into the first Trader Vic's.

Donn was the creative genius, but the business brains of the operation belonged to his wife, Cora Irene "Sunny" Sund. When they divorced in 1940, she retained the rights to the Don the Beachcomber name and concept in the mainland United States. She grew Don the Beachcomber into a successful chain of restaurants that flourished for decades.

Donn took his work to Waikiki (beyond the range of the deal with Sund, as Hawai'i was not yet a state) where he opened his own Don the Beachcomber restaurant, and became a major fixture in the booming Hawai'i tourist scene. He owned the Waikiki Don the Beachcomber until his death in 1987.

Thanks to many years of hard work (harder work than he would lead you to believe), drinks historian and author Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has been able to successfully decode and document many of the original Don the Beachcomber liquid masterpieces. His work has ensured that quality tropical drinks are back and here to stay, and are now being served all around the world.

The Tropics was purchased by Stephen Crane and renamed The Luau for its opening on July 25th, 1953. This was Crane's original restaurant; after the success of the Luau, he eventually went on to open the popular Kon-Tiki chain of Polynesian restaurants.

Steve Crane's Luau was one of the Hollywood/Beverly Hills restaurants (along with Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's) that established Polynesian cuisine (and more importantly drinks) as de rigueur in the 1950s and '60s. The Luau produced some of the most beautiful and highly desired serveware objects (designed by Gabe Florian) to come out of midcentury Polynesian restaurants.

The Luau was demolished in 1979 to make space for a Rodeo Drive shopping complex.

There is no connection between this historic restaurant and a newer restaurant that briefly operated with the same name in Beverly Hills.

Lava Lounge opened in December 1993. This non-traditional tiki bar in a tiny strip mall in Hollywood attracted a steady flow of hipsters. Appropriate to the name, the interior had lava-dark walls, with a smoke-heaving, water-dripping wall in the rear, and pin-point lights across the ceiling. The design was sleek, with a heavy use of bamboo and Oceanic Arts lighting. There were a few tikis near the front. Live music was often featured here, almost always of the non-tiki-friendly variety. Tropical drinks were served, but not in tiki mugs. Lava Lounge closed in February 2007.

Opened in 1958.

This government-owned restaurant used to be a Trader Vic's.

It was barely finished when Castro took over, and only open for a few months as Trader Vic's.

It's located in the Tryp Habana Libre hotel, also known as the Cuba Libre Hotel. It's been reported that the decor is still in decent shape. Decor borrowed from the Havana Trader Vic's can be seen in the 1964 film "I Am Cuba."

There is another El Polinesio in Cienfuegos.

Opened in 1958.

The Havana Trader Vic's opened at a volatile time -- just six months after the restaurant opened, its American manager was shot while running to catch one of the last airplanes out of Cuba back to the US.

This location is still open and Polynesian, but it is no longer a Trader Vic's -- it is run by the Cuban government as El Polinesio.

The 1964 movie "I Am Cuba" used decor, notably some birdcage lamps, from this Trader Vic's.

Trader Vic was stuck with a ton of useless Havana labeled menus, so signed each one with a note calling Fidel a "stinker" and sold them off as collector's items. See below...

This Trader Vic's location was in the Radisson SAS Hotel. It opened in 1990, and closed in 2013.

Opened in 1978.

Whatever tiki elements may have once been at Pandora's are now gone. The restaurant continued to operate for many years with more of a nautical, odds-and-ends look.

In 2016 the name changed to AJ's. That restaurant still lives on, but from the point of view of a traveling tikiphile, the Polynesian Pop here is history.

Large family restaurant in Glendale, with a bar in the rear. This is Damon's second location; the original was opened in 1937, and this location opened in 1980. A short list of tropical drinks is offered, and food sticks to old-school, meaty classics. The food quality improved a bit with the arrival of a new owner and chef in 2004. The decor is more on the elegant end of Polynesian Pop, with lots of bamboo and beautiful painted murals (painted in 1987 by Bettina Rakita Byrne in the style of Eugene Savage), and lighting comes from a number of different styles of traditional Poly-Pop light fixtures. In 2014, Bamboo Ben was brought in to do a "tune-up" of the decor, with some fresh thatch, tapa cloth, and bamboo and rope repair work. In the past, it has been targeted by the city of Glendale for an "update" of its facade, but that danger seems to have passed.

Created by Eric Schwaiger, Smorgy's was a chain that was started in the mid 1980s, expanded in the 1990s with more elaborate build-outs, and closed in the early 2000s. The food was all-you-can-eat buffet style and the decor featured some animatronics and many had Disney-esque style volcano entrances or waterfalls surrounded by jungle style shrubbery.

This location was more nautical than the other locations.

One of the most remembered attractions at this location was Salty, a talking animatronic seal whose head moved left and right and could talk and sing. When the show wasn’t playing, it was covered by a boat sail tarp, which revealed the seal when it was time for the show. King Neptune, another animatronic, was like a living statue that also woke up for the show. They had a lot of banter back and forth referencing whether AFL football legend Gary Ablett senior was a god and other things people in Geelong liked. During the show, there were lots of effects including rain that went down the windows, thunder and flashing lightning.

The Tiki Bar And Grill (formerly "Tiki Restaurant Lounge and Marina") has great views and has been a fixture for many years although it has had periodic shut-downs and changes of ownership.

It opened in 1969, and while it may have had great theming back then, the theming now is minimal, with bamboo lining the bar and a few inexpensive Indonesian style tiki masks hanging outside at the entrance.

Not much to interest the seasoned tikiphile here anymore...

The site was left in ruins after Katrina in August 2005 and re-built on a much smaller scale, re-opening in 2011.

Then, closed again in March 25th, 2020, because of the Covid crisis.

Re-opened in September of 2024 with new owners.

It doesn't appear that anything tiki, other than a new logo, has been added for the re-opening although the interior looks refreshed and re-painted.

The restaurant specialized in casual seafood, particularly gumbo, for many years. These are still available. However, they have an extensive new food menu on their website which offers many more options as well.

Family dining on main floor and a second floor for more refined dining or private parties.

But no cocktail menu, so they may not even have cocktails...although they appear to have beer and wine.

Known for live music on the weekends.