Tiki Bars
House of Ming
Madrid, Spain (Closed)
House of Ming was a much venerated tiki bar and Chinese style restaurant located in Madrid, Spain. It opened around 1965 and is said by many to be the first tiki bar in Spain.
Some of the oft touted perks of visiting House of Ming were its: -Uninterrupted Hawaiian music -Tapa cloth from floor to ceiling -Incredible index of tikis per square meter -Drinks served in custom OMC vintage mugs -Waiter with jacket -Absence of TV
Closed in September of 2007.
Apparently the owners had three separate Chinese restaurants at one time, including one called China Doll.
Jungleland - at Storytown USA
Queensbury, New York, United States (Closed)
In 1954, Charles Wood invested $75,000 on five acres on the east side of U.S. 9 between Lake George and Glens Falls, launching Storytown, U.S.A., an amusement park themed by the Mother Goose rhymes. It closed in 1983 and is presently known as Six Flags Great Escape.
Jungleland was a walkthrough attraction at Storyland that was supposed to show the African jungle complete with animals, warriors, chiefs and temples. They incorporated South Pacific Style huts, bamboo fencing, and Witco carvings into their front entrance.
As the years went by other attractions were added.
Some of the exhibits would be considered politically incorrect by today's (or any) standards -- like the white explorer being cooked in a cast iron pot by caricatured African natives.
Eventually through multiple remodels, neglect, and a change in ownership, the attraction was in need of a major overhaul.
Eventually, Six Flags Great Escape took over and turned Jungleland into “Elmer Fudd’s Rabbit Seasoning”. A revamp to make Jungle Land fit into the Looney Tunes National Park children’s area. There is very little little left that resembles the old Jungleland.
Kontiki - Manama, Bahrain
Manama, Bahrain (Closed)
Kontiki opened as early as June 2014.
The Radisson Blu hotel is 6 km from Bahrain International Airport and 7 km from Seef Mall. There were also Kontiki restaurants at other Radisson Blu locations, including the island of Malta.
This location was replaced by BO.SABI Restaurant in June 2021.
Yue's Lahani Haloha
Redondo Beach, California, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1979 by Helen Yue and her husband (Cheeda).
They previously had opened Yue's Cantonese Restaurant in Gardena in 1957.
A prominent Barney West tiki sat out front of Lahani Haloha.
The restaurant was short-lived, however, and they sold the property about a year later. Helen and her husband retired in 1983 and closed their other restaurant as well.
The Lahani Haloha octagonal building went through at least one name change. One photo shows a sign out front advertising "Beach Garden" around 1980-1983.
The Barney West tiki appears to have remained for a time but was relocated to the Polynesian at some point.
Then the pier suffered a fire in 1988. Luckily the octagon building wasn't damaged but as a result of the fire, the area was getting a lot less foot traffic which hurt business. The owner of the octagon building wanted to be compensated for their losses. In the end the taxpayers ended up footing the bill and the city took ownership of the building. Over the years the building stood abandoned. There were countless ideas for what to do with the building but they couldn't agree on anything. It was referred to as Parcel 10 from this point forward in city discussions.
Probably most notably it was used as the exterior location of "The Bait Shop" in Season 2 of The O.C. television series.
In 2013, after a storm caused extensive damage, the city voted to have it demolished.
As of October 2020, a $110,000 skatepark was approved for Parcel 10.
Inside Passage
Seattle, Washington, United States
Inside Passage opened on June 25th, 2021 after a long delay because of the COVID pandemic.
It is owned by Pike Street Hospitality Group (the group behind Rumba, Agua Verde Café, and Tango Restaurant).
You enter by going through Rumba.
The interior was designed by Notch Gonzalez — and is more nautical than "tiki" in nature -- mixing tropical aesthetics (thatching, lighting, drink mugs) with Pacific Northwest seafaring history (including the name). That’s reflected in the rubber-and-foam octopus (which the bar nicknamed Kiki), as well as rustic wood accents throughout that recall an old ship.
Initially, the owners of the bar very pointedly tackled the concept of "tiki" on their website (in a section entitled "The Tiki Thing" which has subsequently been removed) and declared that they were not a tiki bar but an "immersion bar". They have tried to resist using any depictions of tikis, weapons, or sexualized native wahines (but topless mermaids and ship figureheads are nautical and okay apparently).
Despite this, if you are a fan of tiki bars, you will probably find much of their decor and their cocktail menu VERY familiar...
Trader Vic's Outpost - San Jose
San Jose, California, United States
This grab-'n-go style Trader Vic's "Outpost" opened in the San Jose Airport in May 2021.
Kona Lei
Madrid, Spain (Closed)
Kona Lei opened on March 27th, 2013.
Miguel Escobedo (Señor Castaway) and his partner, Eduardo, opened this bar at what was previously Bar Hernán Cortés.
Kona Lei appears to have closed around 2015.
Miguel went on to open the Tiki Chateau in Madrid, which closed December 1st, 2022.
As of 2021, the location of Kona Lei is now home to La Hummuseria, a vegan restaurant.
Tanela Restaurant & Lounge
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, United States (Closed)
For a number of years during the mid-1970s, the Tanela Restaurant was a fairly popular location for local people to get some Polynesian cuisine.
The Tanela was known for its large Moai statue and Polynesian-themed décor on the outside of the building. The business added several motel-like apartments at the rear of the property, but soon fell on hard times, the restaurant closing down, but the motel units remaining in operation.
During the early 2000s, an attempt was made to revive the location, and it re-opened as a heavy metal-type venue called “Trance Buddha.” That didn’t work out either, and soon closed. Within a few more years, the apartments were closed.
The building, along with the large Moai statue, remains intact at the Rt.e 20 location, although they are deteriorating. The property appears to be abandoned.
Caroline's Aloha Bar
Charleston, South Carolina, United States (Closed)
Caroline's Aloha Bar and restaurant was located in the Avondale neighborhood of Charleston. It opened in early 2005 as the Voodoo Tiki Bar & Lounge.
However, Caroline Smith-Adams, the face of Voodoo Tiki Bar for 15 years, passed away, so the team at Voodoo decided to rebrand the restaurant to honor her life.
From 10/22/2020 onward, the bar was re-branded as Caroline's Aloha Bar and given a new makeover along with a new website and Facebook page.
Closed November 12th, 2022.
Wiki Wiki Sandbar
Folly Beach, South Carolina, United States (Closed)
Opened in 2018.
The restaurant and bar was from Charleston restaurateur Karalee Fallert, who is also behind Taco Boy, The Park Cafe, and The Royal American, and her business partner April Bennett.
Executive Chef Jason DuPree created a menu that offered slow-cooked meats accompanied by sides including rice, macaroni salad, greens, and starchy root vegetables.
Dishes included the grilled kona kampachi, a variety of poke bowls, a pu-pu platter, Southern-fried coconut shrimp, and Spam sliders.
Wiki Wiki Sandbar resided in a 6,500-square foot space that incorporated local artists’ work that embodied the facets of tiki culture.
The four dining rooms had different themes including: the Octopus Bar featuring the work of Jeff Kopish; the Sunset Room featuring a sunset mural by Suzanne Allen; the Wave Room featuring a massive sculpture made of Japanese glass floats by KHA; and a traditional tiki bar that resided on the top floor with views of the Atlantic Ocean and dioramas by artist Hirona Matsuda.
Fallert recruited her partner from the Park Cafe, Xan McLaughlin, to develop the cocktail program with help from national rum connoisseur Daniel Parks of San Francisco’s Pagan Idol.
Long-time Charleston resident Roderick Groetzinger added his touch as bar manager.
In September of 2020 Wiki Wiki Sandbar announced they were swapping locations with the Folly Beach Taco Boy and re-opened at that new address -- 15 Center Street in November of that year. This was short-lived, however.
The bar closed on December 31st, 2022. In its place at 15 Center Street, they opened Bounty Bar which has a ceiling covered in fish floats but whose decor skews pirate/nautical as opposed to traditional Pop Polynesian/Tiki.
Tiki House Key West
Key West, Florida, United States
Opened in August 2017 in the location formerly occupied by Rumor lounge.
This two-story white-painted structure may resemble a large fraternity house made over for a luau weekend on the outside, with its brightly painted tiki masks and Corona beer ads and banners/pennants strung across the balconies, but on the inside they appear to have something for everyone.
The bar offers classic and house cocktails in tiki mugs. They also have two full pages in their menu devoted to rum tasting notes on their large selection should you prefer to sip your spirits neat.
Additionally, they have a large selection of vodka, tequila, and beers on tap.