Tiki Bars
The Lea Lea Room at the Riverside Mission Inn
Riverside, California, United States (Closed)
The Mission Inn, now known as The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, is a historic landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, California. Although a composite of many architectural styles, it is generally considered the largest Mission Revival Style building in the United States.
The property began as a quaint adobe boarding house called The Glenwood Cottage, built by engineer/surveyor Christopher Columbus Miller and on November 22, 1876, the Millers took their first paying guest. In February 1880, Miller's son Frank Augustus Miller purchased the hotel and land from his father. It became into a full-service hotel in the early 1900s. In 1902, Frank changed the name to the "Glenwood Mission Inn" and started building, in a variety of styles, until he died in 1935.
Miller's vision for the eclectic structure was drawn from many historical design periods, revivals, influences, and styles. Some are Spanish Gothic architecture, Mission Revival Style architecture, Moorish Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial style architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture, Renaissance Revival architecture, and Mediterranean Revival Style architecture.
During the 30-year construction period, Miller traveled the world, collecting treasures to bring back to the hotel for display.
In the early 1930s, in the rotunda wing, Miller established a "Court of the Orient" which was a collection of Asian influences and lasted after Miller's death for a few years until 1939 when this section was re-imagined as the Lea Lea Room.
The Lea Lea Room had tons of bamboo, a bar, tables, a dance floor, a band area, and all the trappings of the pre-tiki tropical nightclubs that persisted throughout the 1930s to 1950s.
One detail that is hard to miss are the Chinese Tiles with Buddhist Swastikas in their centers. Of course, this symbol goes back thousands of years before the Nazis appropriated it.
In any case, around 1985 or so, the Lea Lea Room was eventually remodeled and it was thought fitting to return the space back to its previous incarnation as the Court of the Orient.
Shea's Tiki House Motel
Gulf Breeze, Florida, United States (Closed)
This bar/lounge, package house, coffee house, and motel appears to have thrived during the 70s, but was eventually wiped out after a few Florida hurricanes. Today, the memory lives on through the Pensacola RV Resort.
Shea’s Tiki House Motel became the place to be on Pensacola Beach. The Gulf side had a total of 45 rooms, a pool, and the famous Tiki Lounge. The Tiki Lounge was located underneath the rooms on the Gulf side (see picture) with the Gulf waters just steps away. On the Sound side the Tiki House had 24 units and a pool.
South Seas Restaurant & Lounge - West Hartford
West Hartford, Connecticut, United States (Closed)
Opened Monday, November 6th, 1961.
This bar & restaurant ran throughout the 1960s.
There was a sister location in Boston as well.
There are moai mugs that list both locations on back. The mugs also list "The Hawaiian" in Boston.
This South Seas location is currently the site of Max's Oyster Bar, as of 2021.
South Seas Restaurant & Lounge - Boston
Boston, Massachusetts, United States (Closed)
This restaurant was located in Boston's Chinatown and ran from about 1958-1983. Henry Oi was the owner and operator there for many of those years. He passed away in 2015.
There was a sister location in West Hartford, Connecticut.
There are moai mugs that list both locations on back. The mugs also list "The Hawaiian" in Boston.
House of Hong
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1963 with the reputation of being the first upscale Chinese restaurant in Hawaii.
As one postcard proclaims: "One of the most beautiful Chinese Restaurants in the world offering superb Cantonese cuisine, graciously served in an atmosphere enhanced by fine art reproductions. Kuan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy, carved in 5 feet of rosewood, greets diners at the second floor landing of the restaurant and Waikiki's only indoor waterfall is presided over by the God of Longevity."
Raymond Hong took his restaurant chefs to China for training and they introduced Peking duck to Honolulu.
In its heyday the restaurant was the place for glittering celebrities and for ordinary people marking special occasions, looking to enjoy a multi-course Cantonese dinner over several hours.
Closed in April 2005 and eventually replaced by the new Outrigger Hotels & Resorts' Waikiki Beachwalk project.
Although not a tiki restaurant, most tiki restaurants at this time (and many today) served the same Chinese food and tropical drinks -- and House of Hong did have several drinks that came in ceramic mugs made by Otagiri.
Tiki Motel - Vernal
Vernal, Utah, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1964.
Tom Snyder, owner, renamed this motel, formerly known as The Rest Haven. He installed the sign.
Later postcards attribute ownership to Wilford and Glenna Adams.
In addition to the sign is a large (probably concrete) moai head resembling a decanter that was created by M. H. Strikow for Kahlua liqueurs.
Today, as of 2021, there is no sign of anything tiki and the site is home to an Econo Lodge.
Beachcomber Hotel
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States (Closed)
Circa 1960s.
This lavishly decorated restaurant had koa wood tables, large carved tikis, masks, bamboo and thatch, hanging fish floats, wood canoes hanging from the ceiling, a separate full-length bar, and wood beaded curtain dividers between sections. A fully decorated space.
Located off Rt. 22 East of Harrisburg, PA.
Today, as of 2021, this location is home to Peacock Indian Restaurant.
The only vestige of the tiki lounge are the two “lava rock waterfall” features that flank the front door on the interior. The current owner tried to revive the waterfall but he said that it didn’t look quite right because the water pumps didn't function properly.
Lake Loreen's Blue Lagoon
Newberry Springs, California, United States (Closed)
A.F. (Gus) and Loreen Raigosa were a couple of Los Angeles area entrepreneurs who bought property in Newberry Springs (situated in the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles and 20 miles east of Barstow on Highway 66) and built a 7 acre lake (later expanded to 45 acres) at the beginning of 1960.
Next came docks, cabanas, and barbecue pits. Tetherball and volleyball courts and a nine-hole golf course as well as swings for the children followed. Trees and shrubs were planted and a scattering of carved Tiki gods. They stocked the lake with bass, channel catfish, and bluegill and operated the site as a tropical campground with luaus.
The "Tiki Bird" plane with a tiki paint job and tropical pin-up art was another interesting draw.
The restaurant, itself, was decorated in "authentic Tahitian decor" and had two separate dining areas with red carpets, trimmed in bamboo, with Tiki masks, and a large carved tiki overlooking a waterfall effect. The bar served traditional tiki cocktails.
Eventually, the couple sold the property in 1972 and moved to the Bahamas.
The Hurricane - San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
The Hurricane was a pre-tiki bar & nightclub located in the International Settlement section of San Francisco during the 1940s-50s.
The place had some amazing murals, tons of bamboo, thatched roofs, tapa cloth, and featured some of the earliest ever cocktail mugs -- including skulls (similar to those made by Tepco for Trader Vic's) with naked women on them.
Before International Settlement days, the street’s first incarnation was the "Barbary Coast", famed center of Gold Rush debauchery and vice. The 1906 earthquake demolished most of it, bringing an abrupt end to that chapter. Just before Prohibition, the area was known as "Terrific Street". "International Settlement" was the block’s exotic name from the late 1930s to its decline in the late 1950s. Jazz music, tropical clubs, and leggy stage shows were the style of the time, themes aimed at attracting sailors passing through town. The result was a potent mixture of glamour and grit.
Pago Pago - San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
This pre-tiki bar ran from the 1940s to the early 1950s. It was located just to the left of the entrance to the "International Settlement" in San Francisco.
Mitchell Lewis was the Pago Pago's proprietor and signage outside proclaimed this the "House of Zombie" and "Lure of the Islands".
Later, this location became the "Arabian Nights" in the mid 1950s.
Before International Settlement days, the street’s first incarnation was the "Barbary Coast", famed center of Gold Rush debauchery and vice. The 1906 earthquake demolished most of it, bringing an abrupt end to that chapter. Just before Prohibition, the area was known as "Terrific Street". "International Settlement" was the block’s exotic name from the late 1930s to its decline in the late 1950s. Jazz music, tropical clubs, and leggy stage shows were the style of the time, themes aimed at attracting sailors passing through town. The result was a potent mixture of glamour and grit.
Bali-Hai - Northport
Northport, New York, United States (Closed)
Opened October 24, 1963.
In the 1970s, the Bali Hai was a popular Polynesian showplace, complete with bamboo mugs and native dancers.
The Cow Harbor Inn took over in the 80s and prospered – until competition from newer restaurants became insurmountable. Finally, the Cow Harbor Inn was shuttered and the space fell into dis-repair.
The building site included a two-story house built around 1790, according to information from the Northport Historical Society, and some residents expressed opposition to tearing it down, but eventually, that's what happened.
Currently, as of 2021, this location is home to a new modern building -- the TD Bank.
Henry Fink's Club Samoa
New York, New York, United States (Closed)
Circa 1940s to 1950s.
This pre-tiki bar and nightclub in the midst of "The Street" in New York was decked out in South Pacific style with bamboo and painted island murals, but the big draw were the three shows nightly of burlesque dancers.