The Honolulu, located on Route 9 in Westborough, was the Eli Witney Steakhouse until 1970 when it was sold to Hing Wah Inc. of Brookline and was remodeled and renamed Honolulu. The restaurant featured American, Chinese and Polynesian dishes.

The Honolulu had an unusual logo tiki with a pineapple for a head, with sort of bull horns. The tiki shows up on swizzles and tiki mugs from the restaurant.

Honolulu survived until the early 2000s, but now it is closed. The location has become Bertucci's Brick Oven Restaurant.

NOTE: There was a sister location on Route 1 in Norwood, also called the Honolulu Restaurant. Both locations are often printed on the bottom of vintage mugs. This second location appears to have been started around 1974 and closed some time before 2007.

Jade East was owned by Henry Jin, who also owned the Ricsha on Brookside. He passed away in 1993 (probably the beginning of the decline of the Jade East).

Jade East had two 10' tall redwood tikis in front (matched pair of male and female). These were carved by Saint Claire Homer II (Homma), a local carver, and held up the port cochere. They now reside in a private collection.

Homer was Native American and raised in Oklahoma. He served with Patton in WWII and studied art in Rome after the war. His grandfather was secretary of the Choctaw tribe at one time. His German mother taught art in Sand Springs in the 1970s while in her 70s. Homer made a living carving cigar store Indians and and selling them out of his '51 Cadillac in the Southwest of the late 1950s. His stylized bronzes have been shown at the Gilcrease Museum. He was named one of nine master artists of the Five Civilized Tribes in 1976. He signed his pieces "Homma", Choctaw for "Proud Red".

Jade East is now a restaurant called Tokyo Garden. Bamboo curtains, a rockface waterfall and the bridge over a koi pond are still there.

Opened in 1960. A charming tiki restaurant, where employees and customers alike are treated like family. The Omni Hut's creator, Jim Walls, started the Omni Hut after taking up cooking as a hobby and second job while stationed in Honolulu as a pilot before World War II. The military took him all over the world, and he picked up culinary tricks wherever he went, and it when it came time to retire, he decided to open a restaurant. He chose this location in Smyrna, near Ft. Stuart, and opened a restaurant called "Chinese Cuisine," which soon became the Omni Hut. Walls also owned the nearby Mahi Mahi for a short time. The Omni Hut suffered a fire in 2000, but luckily the restaurant was able to reopen with the decor largely intact.

The Omni Hut did not have a liquor license, but customers were encouraged to spike their own drinks - the Omni Hut had a "Hawaiian Tea" drink that was perfect with a little rum added. They served a Fiery Pu-Pu Platter, and a Volcano ice cream dessert which arrived on fire.

To celebrate 50 years in business, the Omni Hut had two special souvenir mugs created by Tiki Farm.

The Omni Hut closed its doors for good on Friday October 12th, 2018.

Luau Polynesian Lounge opened in 1997, and was more of a nice little neighborhood restaurant than a traditional tiki bar. The decor was bright and airy, and included more surfboards than tikis. There was, however, a rather striking carved Ku (with mouth reminiscent of Milan Guanko's carvings) serving as a hostess podium, and a number of tropical drinks were available on the menu. The food is what really made Luau stand out -- the mainland interpretations of classic Hawaiian food were quite good, and they served a can't-miss pupu platter, complete with flaming Sterno.

Luau Polynesian Lounge closed in early 2010.

Opened in the mid 90s.

The Lava Lounge was not truly a tiki bar -- it was mainly a beer joint -- but those who are into such places dug the dim lighting, booths and music. They did have a small cocktail menu, shown below.

The back bar was supported by two carved tiki posts, and there were a few great old tiki mugs among the collection of jetsam & flotsam behind the bar. That was about it.

From the late '70s through the '80s, this space was occupied by a bar called Hawaii West.

Closed January 2022 ahead of a redevelopment of that block of Belltown. Apartments directly in back of the site caught fire in June 2022, and the site remained boarded after that.

A medium-sized store in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, which seems to be targeting the homesick among Seattle's Hawaiian community. It's not unusual to hear the lilting tones of pidgin english spoken here. There is a food section, and leis can be ordered straight from Hawai'i. Tiki Farm mugs and other tiki and party supplies can be found here.

They also run a travel agency out of the store as well.

Most people are acquainted with Archie McPhee's through their line of bizarre and inexpensive novelties, Accoutrements. The Accoutrements stuff, including the basic but useful tiki items they produce, are amusing and interesting, but at the store you'll see a whole lot more. The old catalogs featured odd items, mainly surplus items purchased from lord-knows-where, and were printed in black & white newsprint, with halftone photos, and descriptions that made you wonder why, oh why, you've been able to live this long without a ceramic glove mold or an alarm clock that shouts BEEBOH! At the online store, the Accoutrements items have pretty much taken over, but at the actual, real-life store, the old Archie McPhee's is alive, with row after row and bin after bin of fantastic items. It's a must-visit if you're in the Seattle area. It's also right nextdoor to a liquor store.

Kowloon opened on August 22nd, 1950 as The Mandarin House. In 1958 the Wong family purchased it and changed the name to Kowloon. Over the years they have expanded the restaurant into a broad complex of rooms, and it now has room for 1,200 dining patrons. Several of the rooms have Polynesian theming, including the Tiki Lagoon Room and Luau Room.

Fun Fact: The exterior Ku tiki below the A-frame is made of foam.

The restaurant has been a landmark in the north Boston area for decades, and photos of many celebrities visiting the restaurant are proudly displayed. They have a comedy club within the complex called "Kowloon Komedy".

The food is traditional Chinese American fare, and includes a flaming pu pu platter. Tropical drinks are served in tiki mugs.

As of 2024, the owners have announced that the restaurant is going to close. However, it sounds as though they have construction plans and that the end goal is to open a smaller venue on part of the same site. See 2024 Breezeway interview episode with Spike (Matt Marble).

Hala Kahiki was opened in 1964 by Stanley and Rose Sacharski when they decided they wanted to get out of the funeral home business, and is still run by their family. Tucked away in a quiet suburb, Hala Kahiki is a beautiful classic tiki bar. The layout is sprawling but feels subdued and intimate. Witco carvings are featured heavily throughout the dimly-lit bar. The extensive drink menu tends toward the sweet and low-octane... consider bringing a flask to perk your drinks up a bit. The gift shop is large and includes a section of vintage clothing. Hala Kahiki was one of the stops during Exotica 2003, where Sven Kirsten gave a presentation on the art of Witco. The bar is currently run by Rose & Stanley's grandson, James, and his wife, Kerrie.

Open since at least the 1980s.

The Jasmine Tree was more of a Chinese restaurant than a tiki bar, but the bar area did have some very nice tikis. Notably, some of the tikis were from the Portland Kon-Tiki (which closed in 1980 or 1981), including three large cannibal tikis.

In February 2006 came reports that the Jasmine Tree would have to either close or relocate, due to an urban redevelopment plan. The Jasmine Tree had to be out of its location by the end of October 2006. In September 2006, the Jasmine Tree closed and its tiki-themed decor was sold to the owner of the Portland tiki bar Thatch, which opened in early 2007, and later became Hale Pele.

This motel was in operation by the 1960s. At this time, it contained two primary elements: an octagonal restaurant located in the parking lot, and an L-shaped building containing guest rooms on three levels. The L-shaped portion had a flat roof, while the restaurant had an octagonal roof with cupola covered in composite shingles. The hotel contained 70 units and conference facilities that could accommodate 300. During its early years of operation, it called itself "The Polynesian Motel and Restaurant," but by 1971 was known as the "Polynesian Condominium Apartment Motel."

The Polynesian Motel was one the early resort motels built on either side of Ocean Shores Boulevard during the 1960s and after. By 2016, a string of over 15 seaside motels or apartment buildings stood to the north of the Polynesian Motel and Restaurant, between Ensign Avenue NW and State Highway 115.

In 2016, the restaurant at the Polynesian Motel was called Mariah's.

On the exterior, Polynesian-themed decorative elements were concentrated around the front porte cochere which had a roof reminiscent of Polynesian long houses. Motel walls featured uncoursed ashlar trim.

The motel operated near a golf course that hosted the annual Pat Boone Celebrity Golf Classic in the 1970s.

*Note that the earlier address for The Polynesian was listed as 291 Ocean Shores Boulevard NW, Ocean Shores, WA 98569. The current address is 615 Ocean Shores Boulevard NW. So, either the original location closed and re-opened in the new northern location or someone adopted the old name. They seem like the same site, however, with the same L-shaped motel and octagonal restaurant. And, although the signage has changed, the sign pole brackets look just the same. Some enterprising tiki archaeologist needs to solve this mystery...

This site was a relocation of the original New York Trader Vic's, which was in the Savoy Hilton.

When the Savoy Hilton was demolished in 1965 to make way for the General Motors building, the Trader Vic's moved here, to the Plaza Hotel.

This location opened August 22, 1965.

When Donald Trump bought the Plaza in 1989, he closed the Trader Vic's.

There was a 40-foot outrigger canoe on display here that was used by Marlon Brando in the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty."