Christian's Hut began life in 1934 at the Twin Harbors Isthmus on Catalina Island as a bar built for the cast and crew filming the movie Mutiny on the Bounty. Clark Gable lived above the bar and may have owned it. The bartender was none other than Ray Buhen (from the Tiki Ti).

The Catalina Christian’s hut became a famous movie star hangout with the yachts of John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, etc. moored at Isthmus. With all of the movie sets, the Isthmus became a South Seas set on its own.

After filming was completed, this pre-tiki bar was moved to Newport Beach.

The original site on Catalina Island burned down in 1940.

Christian's Hut at Newport Beach quickly became a very popular spot as well.

The mascot for Christian's Hut was "the Goof," whose genesis is not known; it was basically just a funny-looking head that topped the building. The Goof can now be seen atop Bali Hai in San Diego.

There were a handful of other locations beyond the Catalina Island and Newport Beach locations but they were short-lived and were never as popular as the original.

During WW2, the 7 Seas was a watering hole for many service men stationed in Goleta during the war.

Charles Hoke is in both black & white photos. The one with two guys in it, he’s the one on the left next to the wall. In the photo of the guys at the bar, Charles is the one looking up in the sky, (second from the right).

This pre-tiki location was known as "7 Seas" and later as "Johnnie's 7 Seas".

Lasted at least until 1951, and probably later into the 1950s...

This site was home to Pallazio Italian Restaurant (1998-2015). Today, as of late 2026, the site is home to OPPI'Z Bistro and Natural Pizza.

According to newspaper advertisements, this Bali Hai location opened shortly on or before April 27th, 1951.

The stage production of Bali Hai premiered in 1949 and the film version on March 19, 1958, so quite a few unaffiliated Bali Hai locations popped up across the country and then died out a few years later.

This location was not open long, but its major claim to fame is that the space was taken over in 1954 to become the first El Torito Restaurant, in the now famous Mexican restaurant chain.

Larry J. Cano, a veteran and business graduate, initially worked as a bartender and manager at the Bali Hai. When the owner of the Bali Hai passed away, the owner's widow passed the business to Cano. Cano and his then-wife, Leatrice, initially tried running it as a barbecue spot, but high meat costs prompted a change. So, they decided to cook Mexican food, with a few slight changes to appeal to the mainstream. The original Encino location and Cano's later expansion are credited with popularizing mainstream Mexican restaurant staples in Southern California, including blended margaritas, tableside guacamole, sizzling fajitas, and Taco Tuesday.

Today, this location has been re-developed to be part of the Encino Medical Tower corridor.

This bar was open at least as early as January 11th, 1961, according to newspaper ads in the Los Angeles Examiner.

The stage production of Bali Hai premiered in 1949 and the film version on March 19, 1958, so quite a few unaffiliated Bali Hai locations popped up across the country and then died out a few years later.

As of late 2026, the original 1927 brick building has been refurbished and is looking to be leased on Loopnet.com. However, the interior is set up to be office space and a private clinic.

This pre-tiki establishment started in 1946 and is now a distant memory but once featured one of tiki's most beloved bartenders, Ray Buhen, who later went on to establish the Tiki-Ti in Los Angeles.

Buhen had started out at Don the Beachcomber but later bartended at several establishments before opening his own bar.

From the Friday, October 18th, 1946 edition of the Valley Times newspaper:

"In the very near future (probably next week) Ward Bromley opens the Aloha. It's on Magnolia Boulevard and you won't have any trouble finding it because of the huge neon sign across the front of the building. Inside, you'll be amazed at the artistry with which Mr. Bromley has created an authentic vision of tropic atmosphere. Bong Lee, a famous Chinese chef in his own right, will preside over the kitchen and the menu promises everything you could ever want in the way of Chinese food. And too, there will be steaks and chicken.

Ray Buhen, known for his skill in blending exotic drinks of the tropics, is in charge of the liquid refreshment side of the fence.

Best of all, you'll find the tariff very moderate, for which I say, 'Blessings, Mr. Bromley.'"

It is uncertain, but the Aloha might have lasted even into the 1970s...

From 2024 and as of late 2026 this location is home to Bagel Boss Deli.

Opened September 26th, 2026 by James Flanigan and his partner, Frank Zaffere, under the imprint of their company, Old School Hospitality Group (which owns and operates 4 Quarterdeck sports bar and grill locations in Broward County along with Whiskey Neat, a sleek brown liquor lounge that opened next door to the Quarterdeck on Southeast 17th Street in 2019).

The Hula Kai is the culmination of five years of work and planning.

They spent roughly $1 million in 2021 to buy a small building that had previously housed a vegan restaurant. The building was demolished, and a distinctive three-story structure eventually rose at the site. Plans called for a 5,000-square-foot lounge with a ground floor and mezzanine under 24-foot-high ceilings. The modern exterior features wavy lines and tall glass windows.

The interior design and decor was spearheaded by Rodney Ray of HeadHunter Props and Fabrication, perhaps best known for his work on Permanent Vacation in Maitland. Ray is also organizer and host of the horror-themed Monster Moku event in Orlando.

Some of the Hula Kai's highlights include a massive ground floor bar space with large Tiki masks, tapa, dark wood and bamboo adorning the walls.

A pirate woman hanging from a length of rope.

A bar with riveted and polished aluminum meant to evoke the look of a WWII era airplane.

A mezzanine banquette dining area, which takes up the second floor and is more of a formal dining space with tables and bench seating.

Themed stairwells connecting the three interior levels, featuring framed artwork by noted Tiki artists.

On the top level is the "Ohana Lounge" with panoramic views.

Opened May 23rd, 1940.

This pre-tiki club advertised Chinese and Hawaiian cuisine.

Also, 3 shows nightly, including dancing for dinner and supper.

An opening week review of the club from the May 26th, 1940 edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"ALTHOUGH autumn is a cooler, more conventional time to open new night clubs, Martin Fenster, who brought forth the Cafe Bali last Thursday, and Sid Cohen, whose 3700 Clubs is being baptized some time this May is their luckier month.

Fenster is the impresario who founded the old Red Rooster Club here some years ago before he migrated to Hollywood. He comes back with some fairly fresh ideas that have transformed the dingy, old Stanley Cafe on the E. 13th-Chester corner into a more attractive Hawaiian cocktail room. It is festooned with enough cocoanuts, bamboo and palm trees to resemble a scene from Dorothy Lamour's 'Typhoon.' A trifle gaudy, perhaps, but it's cool and the tropical atmosphere is something different. The guitar-strumming Royal Serenaders are also more restful than Stanley's swing-shouters. Marty Caine at the door is the only familiar sight in the Cafe Bali, but you may have a hard time recognizing them behind a dozen Hawaiian leis that nearly hide his moon face."

Closed circa November 1941.

The Hotel Californian opened in December, 1923.

It was considered the pinnacle of luxury, and renowned for providing the finest accommodations in central California. In fact, the hotel itself became a symbol for the potential of the booming city of Fresno with its symmetrical towers, open courtyard, and grand interior. Guests were particularly impressed by modern features such as central air conditioning. The hotel's opulent ballrooms hosted the premiere social and political events of Fresno in the booming 1920s.

Opened as early as 1943, the Bamboo Room was the Hotel Californian's main bar.

Like many pre-tiki establishments, the theming focus was on bamboo and monkeys, rather than tikis.

However, at some time prior to or at least as early as 1951, the Bamboo Room was rebranded as The Polynesian Room & Samoa Bar and moved into the "tiki era" with its use of tiki masks on the menu (see below).

Today, the hotel is still standing. It's said to have been the inspiration for the Eagle's song, "Hotel California." The majority of the Hotel Californian has become housing for low income seniors. The ground floors have been converted to retail shops.

No trace of the Bamboo Room, the Polynesian Room, or Samoa Bar remain.

This pre-tiki club existed from 1941 until early 1959 when it burned down.

Club Lanai opened at 2125 Almaden Road in 1941. The club incorporated the tropical island theme inspired by the original Don the Beachcomber, which opened in Hollywood in 1933. The new club was operated by Jack Piper and Don Hascall. The business was later sold to Stan Styczynski, who leased the building from Jack Piper. The club eventually passed to Melvin Cornblum, who in turn sold it to a chef from New York named Felix Alder and his wife Emily in 1954. Under the Adlers, Club Lanai became a family run restaurant and night club, with help from Emily's two sisters, a brother-in-law, Grandma, and their two daughters, Relda and Elizabeth.

Those who remember it, describe it as beautifully landscaped with palm trees and ferns. A centerpiece of the club was a huge aviary with a glass window that ran the entire length of the bar. In the aviary were four or five full-grown parrots, parakeets, and cockatiels. The club had a full menu of upscale dinners, a full bar with tropical drinks, and provided nightly live entertainment.

A big draw of Club Lanai was dancing to a live band. The club regularly featured the Betty Mills Trio. The trio consisted of Betty Mills on piano and organ, Mike Mello on clarinet and saxophone, and Myron "Keg" Kegebein on drums. The place was always packed with regulars and was popular with San Jose State College students. It was also a destination stop for many, including celebrities like actor Rory Calhoun. The club also hosted large company and private parties.

The Adlers eventually sold Club Lanai to a fellow named Charles Consiglieri. Mr. Consiglieri had owned the club for some time, when in the early morning hours of Wednesday March 4, 1959, the club caught fire and burned down. Jack Piper still owned the building, and estimated the loss at $100,000, while only being insured for $15,000. Some flat concrete still remains on the site, which is now fenced off and appears to be owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

This restaurant specialized in Cantonese, Polynesian, and seafood.

Hosts were Tony Chin and Jack Lai.

Ran from about 1970 until shortly becoming a Japanese Steak House in 1998.

Since late 2018 and still as of 2026, this location is home to a Sonic fast food restaurant.

The original Chi Chi Club opened in 1936 as the Desert Grill in Palm Springs. Eventually, Jack Freeman sold his financial interest in the profitable eatery to his business partner, Irwin Schuman, who revamped it as a fancy Polynesian-style restaurant and bar.

Schuman christened his new venture Chi Chi Grill Cocktail Lounge in 1938 — inspired by an exotic portrait of a topless Hawaiian girl painted by Edgar Leeteg he’d seen in an art gallery on a trip to Honolulu.

Credit for the club’s name also has been attributed to Palm Springs artist Jack Church, who reportedly dubbed the painting “the Chi Chi girl” because of her sexy expression. For good luck, Schuman displayed a copy of Leeteg’s portrait, Hina Rapa, on the wall of his cocktail lounge. Onlookers found the image of the smiling native girl so captivating that Schuman blithely had it reprinted on cocktail napkins, dishware, glasses, matchbooks, swizzle sticks, menus, and playing cards. These dinner-table items quickly became prized souvenirs.

“I did not give Chi Chi permission to use my Hina Rapa to reproduce in any way,” complained Leeteg in an angry letter from his home in Tahiti. “The least they could do is to give me a credit line, but that is too much to expect from a Hollywood gin mill.”

The unexpected controversy helped publicize the tropical-themed restaurant; and Schuman opened this second Chi Chi bar in 1946 on Santa Catalina Island. More locations followed in Riverside, Hollywood, Long Beach, and San Diego.

This Santa Catalina location became a favored playground for visiting celebrities, actors, and sailors, with famous figures like Errol Flynn frequently noted as patrons of the hotspot.

It has transitioned into a modern club and though it looks nothing like it did back in its 1946 pre-tiki era, it is still open today. Nothing really tiki-ish about this location, however...

Opened August of 2024.

The Maya SpeakTiki is a speakeasy style space located in the Agave Bandido restaurant and accessed through a secret door that appears to be storing bottles of wine & tequila.

The interior has tiki-ish lighting with tiki style lamps hanging from the ceiling, faux rock walls, carved tiki poles on the bar, bamboo & thatch hut booths, and a far wall covered in skulls and with spacious booth seating for larger parties.

Other than the tiki poles at the bar, though, there aren't really any other tiki decorations or Polynesian artifacts in the rest of the space like you would find layered throughout a classic tiki bar. But they advertise as more of a Mayan hybrid location, so that is to be expected...

However, the Mayan/Aztec/Meso-American theme is also lacking. Their theme leads one to look around for Aztec carvings, jaguars, or maybe a Quetzalcoatl serpent that would fulfill the expectation for a "tiki hybrid" location, but there are none of those set pieces or artworks. Just a few Day of the Dead themed throw-pillows in a couple of the booths.

The overall room is well done, and the ceiling is well filled-in with rope and netting and plants and fish floats, but it has a lot of "empty space" on the walls that are begging for finishing touches.

The cocktail menu is set up like a fun treasure map with cocktails along the way. Their theme of Meso-American Jungle Adventure is well reflected in the drink titles and menu.

Reports are that their bar swings more toward tequila and bourbon than rum... so dedicated rummies may be somewhat underwhelmed by their offerings.