Tiki Bars
South Pacific - Newton
Newton, Massachusetts, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1964.
South Pacific had been serving Chinese food in a Polynesian environment for many decades, and the decor was still present when it closed in September 2012 upon the owners' retirement. There were several tiki poles, and carved details in the trim. The walls had painted tropical scenes, and a back room was decorated like a tropical hut. Shell lamps and other tiki-style lighting were used throughout. Drinks were served in tiki mugs.
The last sign of what once was, its lovely neon sign, was removed in May 2016.
Tiki Bay Bar & Grill
Baytown, Texas, United States (Closed)
This restaurant & bar was of the more generic, vaguely islandy sort, and appeared to only have a small muddling of Polynesian influence with more of an emphasis on Caribbean style... one of those places that thinks that you just add a little bamboo, thatch and the word "Island" before "Hot Wings" on your menu, and you've got a tiki bar. It opened in 2004, and was closed by 2011.
Tiki Lounge - Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
This tiki bar opened in 2002 after four years of effort by owners Scott Kramer and Steve Zumoff, who also owned a non-tiki bar in the same neighborhood called Lava Lounge (closed in 2016). Tiki Lounge features three waterfalls, thatch & bamboo hut booths, and a large tiki head entrance reminiscent of the large tiki fireplace at the now defunct Kahiki Supper Club. Tiki Lounge offers a variety of tropical cocktails in souvenir tiki mugs. The bar is full of regulars and probably has more appeal to tikiphiles on weeknights, as on the weekend it becomes a packed hip-hop dance club.
The Reef - Boise
Boise, Idaho, United States
Opened in 2004, the Reef is a tropical restaurant in downtown Boise, with Latin, Caribbean and Polynesian cuisines mixed together, and furnishings from Indonesia. The restaurant has a huge outdoor patio with lots of round thatched huts, a stage for live music, and at least one tiki. They also have several prints on the wall that celebrate tiki bartending history (one for Don the Beachcomber, one for Trader Vic, one for Ray Buhen, etc...). In addition to their house tiki mug which premiered several years ago and was an adaptation of an older Tiki Farm "Warrior" design by Squid, they sometimes have promotional tie-ins like the more recent Zafra Rum tiki mug available.
Bali-Hai - Las Condes, Chile
Las Condes, Chile
Bali Hai opened in 1980. The restaurant has a thatched roof, and is guarded by a row of five large moai at the entrance. Inside, the ceiling has cascades of strung shells, there are wood carvings representing Polynesia and also South and Central America, and a dramatic white coral wall is pegged with stone tikis. There is a floor show featuring dances from both Chile and the South Pacific.
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, Massachusetts, United States
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) opened in 1799 as the East India Marine Society. It is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States and was founded by Salem sea captains who wanted to establish a collection of global treasures.
The Peabody Essex Museum has a large Oceanic art collection, and features one of three historic Heiau Ku carvings, the other two are in the British Museum in London and the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. They also have some interesting pop culture exhibits, including a Gill-man prop head from The Revenge of the Creature, Universal Pictures (1955). A stunt man would wear this full-head latex mask made by Bud Westmore underwater while filming. They tend to rotate their exhibits, so call ahead if you want to check on what is available for viewing.
Ho Kong
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, United States (Closed)
Built in 1970, this small neighborhood bar and restaurant served Chinese food and tiki cocktails.
It had an A-frame entrance with a large Maori style tiki carving hanging below the peak. Inside, much of the decor was Chinese-themed, but they did have thatch-covered booth seating with a number of Orchids of Hawaii style hanging lanterns over each booth.
Closed in 2019. Demolished in 2023 and added to the Cass Park expansion.
Aloha Beach Health Spa
Denver, Colorado, United States (Closed)
This used to be a gravel and gold mining site. In 1965, the owners of the property, Archie and Virginia Calvaresi developed the mining pits into lakes and a community beach known as Aloha Beach. The Aloha Beach Club offered a restaurant and snack bar and the family eventually added a health spa, driving range and motel. In 1974 they sold the property and the history becomes murky until the Gillan family purchased it in 1994. During the next two years the Gillan family cleared and built up the property and at the same time the City of Westminster purchased adjacent land and created a reservoir moving Aloha Beach out of a flood plain and guaranteeing unobstructed panoramic mountain views for the soon to be residents.
Aloha Beach has 60 subdivision lots designed for water skiing around lakes which were reshaped by the Army Corps of Engineers. Although the subdivision still exists, the "health spa" community center is gone.
Lava Lounge - Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States (Closed)
Opened in 2004.
From the Badger Herald:
"Nestled among the more mainstream University Avenue bars like Wando's and Brothers is the Lava Lounge (461 W. Gilman St.), an out-of-the-way hangout that offers a refreshing break from the usual campus scene.
The Lava Lounge has a little something for every type of bar-goer. The jukebox includes everything from Andrew W.K. to Johnny Cash, the drink specials are some of the best in the downtown area, and the clientele seems to be different every night. One evening the bar might be filled with tattooed, pierced patrons of the upstairs business, The Piercing Lounge and Blue Lotus Tattoo. On another night, you'll find hockey or basketball fans, fresh from a game at the nearby Kohl Center.
The Lava Lounge specializes in tiki drinks, tropical concoctions blended to perfection and served in pint glasses. Among the best of these is the Lava Lounge Punch, which tastes a lot like Sweet-Tarts candy. If a tiki drink isn't your style, sample the extensive lineup of beer, bottled and tap, ranging from Old Style in 16-ounce cans to Great Dane German pilsner.
With a long bar, several tables and plenty of standing room, the décor of the Lava Lounge is nothing to scoff at, either. Pictures of surfers and tiki memorabilia abound, and the bamboo posts and wall coverings near the tables provide a kind of ’50s vintage atmosphere."
Closed in 2014.
The Bamboo Room - Schaumburg
Schaumburg, Illinois, United States (Closed)
Opened in 2003.
This trendy nightclub and restaurant had a small side tiki bar.
In 2007, the Bamboo Room closed, and in 2009 the space hosted a nightclub called Heat.
Since 2017 or so, this site has hosted a Crunch Fitness.
The Tropics - Detroit
Detroit, Michigan, United States (Closed)
The Tropics opened on June 19th, 1941.
It was located in the Hotel Wolverine and was "Michigan's most unusual night spot and cocktail lounge," as a postcard called it. A huge sign on top of the red brick building blazed "Tropics Room." Inside, bamboo fixtures, fake trees and papier mache animals transported Detroiters to the South Pacific.
The club was made up of the Native Village and the Cocktail Lounge. The former was a replica of a South Pacific island village that "skillfully captured all the beauty and charm of far-off tropic lands. A romantic atmosphere is added by the exotic music of a fine dance orchestra atop America's only traveling band stand," a postcard boasted.
The Native Village offered nightly dancing in air-conditioned comfort. The Cocktail Lounge was authentic right down to the pitter-patter of rain on the roofs of the Rainfall Bars. A waterfall tumbled down behind the bar. Orchestras lured couples out onto a large dance floor that was lighted up in colors.
As a result of financial decline in later years, the Hotel Wolverine was turned into federally subsidized senior housing in 1968.
By 1985, the building had degenerated and was closed by the city where it stood vacant for another dozen years before being demolished in 1997. Today it is a parking lot.
Luau 400
Manhattan, New York, New York, United States (Closed)
Opened on Thursday, November 7th, 1957. The restaurant was simply called "Restaurant 400" before it became the "Luau 400".
An example from their advertising:
"Every night is carnival night at the Luau 400. An exotic, lavishly conceived Hawaiian 'movie set' of a restaurant. The Luau 400 has brought the informality, infectious gaiety and colorful cuisine of the Islands right to your doorstep. As you step through the front door a lovely Hawaiian girl in her native sarong places a gaily colored lei around your neck...you walk through the Pu Pu Bar with its many native masks, and see walls graced with the paintings from Hawaii. Seen throughout the Tangaroa Room and Polynesian Room are masks worn by the ancient Chiefs of the islands. To reach the different dining rooms you walk over the Leilani Bridge with its colorful waterfall and tropical gardens decorated in all the islands' splendor, then by the wishing well and past the tiny Maneki Neko, the guardian of this enchanting scene."
They boasted three kitchens: Polynesian, Cantonese, and American. Other draws included their lavish painted wall murals, bird cages with live birds, dining tables with real monkeypod wood tabletops, and a constantly looped color film of island festivals and dancing playing in the dining room to set the mood.
Apparently, "Luau 400" became "Ta Luau" @1967 for a brief time. Ta Luau produced a full set of Jackson China dinnerware with the same tiki mask logo as Luau 400.
This location has been home to several businesses over the intervening years. It was home to Jimmy's Downtown restaurant from @2002-2004. As of 2024, this space is home to Stonehenge 57 Apartments.