Tiki Bars
Saigon Blonde
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
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.
Ohana - Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
Opened in January 2020. This space boasts that it is Dublin's only Tiki Bar!
Taken from Third Mind Design, who designed the space, which holds 200 people and is divided into 5 separate sections:
"Ohana Tiki Bar is located on Harcourt Street in Dublin, Ireland. The colour palette is a combination of teal, crystal blue and natural bamboo. Oversized palm leaves and pineapples are printed onto custom wallpaper and cover sections of the walls. The exterior is defined by a block colour of crystal blue, wayfinding strip from steps to entrance. The exterior walls and floor are painted black with bamboo cladding and live bamboo plants to bring a softer element. The entrance into the bar begins with a vortex style transition - characterised by mirror panels and neon-style lighting. The reception hallway uses a volcanic effect wall with a vibrant pink ‘Aloha’ greeting. The key design features of the venue are colour block sections, bamboo cladding and a mixture of contemporary and tiki furniture. Tiki heads and Easter Island style statues adorn the corners of the teal colour block rooms. The cove takes on a Caribbean element and the colour palette changes to a monochromatic tan and black. The walls are bedecked with black skulls and a hanging bamboo feature. The copper port lanterns and premium rum feature cabinets complete this look. The outdoor area features an ‘Ohana’ sign made completely from natural bamboo and decorated with soft green foliage."
The bar boasts over 200 rums, and also has a DJ booth across from the bar, so can go from lounge to nightclub space as needed.
After their initial opening, they had barely found their footing when the Corona Virus hit and they had to close for 2 years, opening once again at the end of February 2022.
Ming Garden
Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Closed)
One of the longest lived Chinese restaurants, the Ming Garden was vital to life in downtown Providence. Open from 1941 to 1986, the restaurant was located at 141-143 Westminster Street, which had entrances on Westminster Street as well as Kennedy Plaza (now #68 Kennedy Plaza). The building was 2 and a half stories tall and dates to the late 19th century.
During the 1950s, the Tows contracted a young architect named Morris Nathanson to modernize the restaurant’s interior. Mr. Nathanson was well known for hospitality design, and his portfolio includes The China Inn in Pawtucket and the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum among others.
The Ming Garden (building constructed 1903): 3-story brick building with tiled modern entrance (similar entrance on Westminster Street side of building) and large plate-glass windows on upper stories; modern interiors by Morris Nathanson (ground floor) and Ira Rakatansky (upper floor). Though architecturally undistinguished outside, the building is heavily altered.
During the 1950s, Ming Garden touted a "Bamboo Room" sort of Pre-Tiki bar space on its outside signage. Later, this appears to have morphed into a "Polynesian Room" as tiki pop culture developed. Below, are photos showing the 1950's era version during hurricane Carol in 1954, when the waters of Narragansett Bay invaded the streets. Also shown are later shots of the front and rear exterior from the 1970s.
They did serve tropical cocktails in branded mugs -- at least one of which, a branded coconut, shows up from time to time.
InterContinental Hotel Samoa at Pago Pago
Pago Pago, American Samoa (Closed)
This resort hotel was dedicated in November 1965. The four-day hotel opening celebrations began with a flag-raising at the Governor's Office on Flag Day, followed by a royal ‘ava ceremony conducted at the Fagatogo malae by Taumafaalofi and Aumaga of Nu'uuli. The parade that followed was the longest in the island's history. Several members of the U.S. Congress attended and the Air Force Band played music. Senator Alan Bible was the featured Flag Day speaker and the Department of the Interior sent its top officials. Governor John A. Burns came from Hawai'I with General Harris of the Air Force and Admiral Fabik of the Coast Guard. Prime Minister Mata'afa headed the Western Samoan delegation.
The hotel originally had 101 completely air-conditioned guestrooms and "thatched" cottages on the Pago Pago Bay, facing the Rainmaker Mountain.
Its interior was designed by architect Neal Prince, who designed many hotels internationally, including Tahara'a InterContinental Hotel which, like this one, was a subsidiary of Pan Am Airlines.
The many hanging shell strand curtains and light fixtures were designed by Neal Prince and manufactured by Oceanic Arts.
Oceanic Arts also supplied coconut mugs with the hotel logo (from Desert Ceramics) and table lamps based on the coconut design (ceramic portion made by Desert Ceramics but assembled by OA).
Interior included a Laumei Lounge and the Rainmaker Restaurant, named for the facing nearby mountain.
The hotel flourished in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In 1980, an air disaster occurred when a US Navy plane hit the cables of the Mt. Alava aerial tramway and crashed into the hotel, killing the six servicemen aboard and two tourists who were staying at the hotel.
Some time later, it was taken over by the government, expanded to 250 rooms, and re-named the Rainmaker Hotel.
The hotel hosted most of the Miss Island Queen Pageant competitions between 1987 and 2001.
In the 1990s, due to hurricane damage, poor management, and accumulated debts, the hotel fell onto hard times. Many of the 250 rooms were slowly “cut down” and in 2004, only 10 rooms were being operated.
In 2014 it was announced that the derelict hotel would be demolished, and this happened the following year, in 2015, after sitting deserted for over a decade.
The Hurricane & Tahitian Bar - New York
New York City, New York, United States (Closed)
The Hurricane was a hot pre-tiki era night club on the northwest corner of 49th & Broadway from about 1940 through 1944. It filled the second floor of the Brill Building, a historic landmark famous for nurturing the popular music industry from the 1950s into the 1970s; anyone who was anyone in the music industry at the time was seen there.
The name, Hurricane, was probably inspired by the 1937 film, starring Dorothy Lamour.
It was decorated with fake palm trees and other tropical flora and fauna.
Most notably, Duke Ellington headlined at the Hurricane in 1943. According to Ellington, it was at the Hurricane that night club audiences first began to be integrated.
The Hurricane was operated by lawyer David J. Wolper, but many speculated that he was actually the front man for the mob and that they actually ran the place.
After many conflicting reports towards the end, about whether the club would stay open or was simply closed for remodeling, the Hurricane did indeed close.
Meanwhile, another successful spot, Zanzibar, whose tropical/African theme welcomed both a black and white audience, was looking for a new spot. They had opened the previous year in a smaller venue and were looking to expand.
The Zanzibar owners paid more than $50,000 and apparently another $35,000 to redecorate the old Hurricane location in gold, beige and black and opened later in 1944 to instant success with headliners like Cab Calloway and other famous musicians who frequently squabbled over who would headline this new premier club spot.
The Inferno Room
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
The Inferno Room opened September 11, 2018 in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis, in a building that previously held a Marion County courthouse. This is the creation of longtime tiki devotee Ed Rudisell, in partnership with his wife Sasatorn Rudisell and Chris Coy. The trio have a number of successful restaurants in the Indianapolis area. Rudisell aims to bring his passion for authentic mid-century Tiki to the city.
The drink menu and food menu pay strong tribute to classic Polynesian restaurant menus, executed with quality in mind. Youll find classics from Don the Beachcomber, Trader Vic, and Indianas own Stephen Crane alongside contemporary tiki concoctions from their own Infernal Tribe.
The decor plays to the sense of danger and mystery in tiki, with a particular emphasis on fire. Rudisell took his time with the build-out, to ensure he could bring together the immersive space he desired.
Papua New Guinea artwork is especially featured, with many vintage and many newer pieces on display. Milwaukee artist Dave Hansen of Lake Tiki Woodcrafts (also known as Lake Surfer) hand-carved much of the new art, including the giant PNG mask overlooking the first floor.
Frances Langford's Outrigger
Jensen Beach, Florida, United States (Closed)
Frances Langford's Outrigger was a landmark of Florida's Treasure Coast, from the time it opened in 1961 until it closed in 1988. It was the "hobby" of Hollywood star of radio, film, and television Frances Langford, who had a life-long love of all things Polynesian.
Langford and her first husband was Jon Hall, who had been raised in Tahiti, and was a matinee star of adventure films, many in tropical settings. The couple purchased 400 acres of land in Jensen Beach just before WWII, but the land did not get developed until after she had returned from the war. By then, she had spent years touring around the South Pacific performing in USO shows with Bob Hope. The couple split amicably in 1955, just as Langford was beginning to shape her vision for the land. She soon married Ralph Evinrude, of Evinrude motors, and it was with Evinrude that Langford's long-held vision became reality.
Langford reportedly aimed to model her Polynesian restaurant on the famous Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. She hired Hollywood set designer Ed Lawrence, who had also reportedly worked on some of the Don the Beachcomber restaurants. He designed a beautiful restaurant, full of Polynesian artifacts, tapa cloth, bamboo, thatch, and A-frames. Work began in 1959, and the restaurant opened in 1961. The restaurant sat on the shore of the Indian River, just inland from the Atlantic Ocean, and the development included a marina that was dredged alongside the restaurant. Lawrence remained as the restaurant's manager until his retirement in 1977, after which he remained on the payroll and continued to assist with the restaurant.
Langford leveraged her star power, and featured heavily in the branding and marketing of the restaurant. Langford was often there as hostess, sometimes performing for her guests. She attracted many famous figures to the restaurant, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jackie Gleason, Burl Ives, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, and the Prince of Tonga.
Langford had a large Polynesian-themed private structure built on her property nearby to entertain guests, and also house peacocks and swans, she called it The Hut. Her 110-foot yacht, The Chanticleer, was often moored in the marina and was a dramatic sight for visitors.
In 1988, the restaurant was sold to new owners, who stripped out all of the theming and turned it into the Key West Restaurant, to capitalize on the then-current Jimmy Buffett craze. The locals were reportedly horrified. The building then stood empty for a few years, until becoming the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House in the 1990s, which remains to this day. The Dolphin Bar was created with Lanford's blessing, and she was a regular through her later years. The building shape is unchanged, and some carved posts and beams from the Outrigger days can still be seen.
Frances Langford passed away in 2005, at 92. She is still fondly remembered in the area, especially for her philanthropic support of the area and environmental causes. An exhibit dedicated to Langford, including artifacts from the Outrigger, are on view at the nearby Elliott Museum.
*NOTE: A couple of the restaurant cocktail menu lists are shown below. You can tell which is older by the jump in prices. Still, by today's standards, either price list would be a bargain.
The Golden Tiki
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
The Golden Tiki opened in Las Vegas' Chinatown on July 24, 2015. The man behind The Golden Tiki, Branden Powers, has been part of the nightclub scene in Las Vegas for some time now (he was Creative Director at the Hard Rock Hotel), but is himself a longtime lover of Tiki, having spent some of his youth DJing Exotica tunes at the Islands Restaurant in San Diego's Hanalei Hotel.
The Golden Tiki is in a large space, 4,000 square feet, and split into four different zones. The interior design and build out were done by Danny "Tiki Diablo" Gallardo. The bar has a thatched roof, and is topped by an animatronic talking tiki head, named Goldy, created by Erik "Irk" Hedman. A loveseat-sized artificial giant clam is popular for photos.
A flaming pu-pu platter is available on Friday and Saturday nights.
The greatest honor at The Golden Tiki is to have your head shrunken and enshrined in their glass case, wherein you can see many celebrities, Las Vegas personalities, and Tiki icons.
Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge
Great Falls, Montana, United States
The Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge has been part of the O'Haire Motor Inn since 1962. The main attraction is the mermaid show -- there are windows in the bar that look into the hotel's pool, and mermaids put on a show on weekends. This mermaid show and the push towards being more "tiki" began in 1995 as the Tiki Revival was just beginning to ramp up. Another attraction is "Piano Pat" Sponheim, who has been playing piano five nights a week (Tuesday through Saturday) since 1962.
When actress Daryl Hannah, who famously played a mermaid in the movie Splash, was filming in the area, she made a special visit to the bar, even donning a mermaid suit and jumping in the pool to give a show.
In 2003, the bar was featured on a list of the top 10 bars in the world in GQ Magazine. In 2004, a crack in one of the glass pool walls threatened the bar; the glass walls have been replaced with new triple-pane glass.
The bar's ceiling is lined with bamboo, and there are beachcomber-inspired fish trap lamps.
The bar does especially well on weekends during the mermaid show, when patrons line up to get into the small 72-person capacity bar.
Vera's White Sands Beach Club
Lusby, Maryland, United States (Closed)
Vera's White Sands began in 1960 as a private club, White Sands Yacht Club, owned by Dr. Effrus Freeman and his wife, Vera, and opened on a small part of 800 acres of land they owned. As the years progressed and the area was developed, the once-private club was opened to the public, sometime in the '70s.
Vera's White Sands has varying seasonal hours, open more during the summer months, and slips are still available for rental. For many decades, the main attraction was Miss Vera herself (Dr. Freeman passed away in the '70s); the well-traveled woman added a touch of glamour and exotica to the proceedings, and played the perfect hostess to the guests. She passed away January 23, 2007, at the age of 93.
In 2006, Vera transferred ownership of Vera's White Sands to a new owner, who has removed most of the classic Polynesian Pop touches, in favor of a more Maryland Crab Shack or Jimmy Buffet-flavored tropical scene; the changes have been poorly received in the tiki community.
For all intents and purposes, Vera's White Sands Beach Club as tiki fans remember it is gone. The new restaurant may have "Vera's" in the title but that's about it -- there are a couple of cartoony tikis flanking the stage in back where they have live music and bikini contests. A few other details remain, but nothing like it was before.
Outrigger Inn
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States (Closed)
This seaside resort opened in the 1960s (circa 1961), and advertised that they had "Four Exotic Cocktail Lounges - Polynesian and American Foods in Tiki, South Seas or Kona Rooms or in Beefeater Restaurant."
At some point it became the Sheraton Bel-Air Resort Hotel & Marina (which housed a Trader Vic's in 1971 and closed in 1973 -- possibly as late as 1975).
The property became a Days Inn in 1987, and in 1998 became the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. As of 2012, it was the Magnusson Hotel Marina Cove Resort and by 2020-2021 this location had fallen into disrepair.
In 2022, investor Ben Willner and his team purchased the 18-acre property for over $17 million and began renovations.
The resort, now named SkyBeach Hotel and Marina, contains 113 renovated guest rooms, a private beachfront, a rebuilt marina, a sports complex with pickleball courts, a two-story beachfront bar, a cafe, a food truck, and more.
Munktiki
Astoria, Oregon, United States
This listing is describing a physical location for the Munktiki business.
Munktiki is a father-son outfit that started in early 2000, and their specialty is crafting beautiful, high-quality tiki mugs. Paul Nielsen (the Dad) has been selling his ceramic crafts since he was in high school in the '60s; his son Miles "Stuckie" Nielsen has similarly been dabbling in clay since he was a child. Paul made his first tiki mug in 1997.
Most Munktiki mugs are of their own design; each mug has a character name on the back, and a number and date on the bottom. Many Munktiki mugs are fiercely collected limited editions, notably the "Shecky" mug based on the Tiki Central mascot designed by Tikifish.
There is also a Munktiki Imports line with their designs crafted in China and then imported to the United States. These are more commonly used with large wholesale orders. These are marked as such on the bottom and are less expensive than the pieces crafted in-house.
Additionally, there are non-tiki lines affiliated with Munktiki, including Münkstein and Yakimon.
Munktiki's original location was in Pacific Grove, California (near Monterey), at 561 Junipero Ave. In 2009, Munktiki moved to Portland, Oregon. In 2017, the business again moved to Astoria, Oregon.
Munktiki also owns and operates Dead Man's Isle, a tiki/nautical bar in Astoria that opened July 14th, 2022.
Munktiki items can be purchased through the Munktiki website, eBay, and a limited number of retailers.