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 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

The Polynesian Lounge opened in 1990, as a newly themed bar for the New Chinatown Restaurant. It was owned by Freddie and Jane Baker. Freddie "Kekaulike" Baker was born in Hawaii and moved to the mainland in 1949, he was an extra in Hollywood for some time, before forming a band. His band played hapa haole and other Polynesian-tinged tunes all over the country, including the Aku Aku in Las Vegas. He started headlining at the Tiki Kai Supper Club in the '60s, where he met Jane. The couple performed at the lounge regularly, along with a hula dancing friend, Evalani.

The New Chinatown was co-owned by the Ong family, and opened circa 1976. The restaurant was built using hundreds of green tiles which were brought over from China and are much coveted today (but these tiles were destroyed when the site was later leveled). When first opened, it advertised a Pagoda Bar and Kung-Pei Cocktail Lounge (one or both of these was probably coverted over to the "Polynesian Lounge"). It sat 400 people and they touted it as the finest Chinese restaurant in the Southwest.

When the New Chinatown Restaurant changed hands in 2003, the Polynesian Lounge was also sold, and the new owners turned it into a non-tiki, cabaret joint, and re-branded the restaurant as Mr K's Oriental Restaurant & Bar.

That was short-lived. This site has been re-developed (some time prior to 2015) and is now home to Labor Finders and Albuquerque Distilling (as of 2022) on the footprint of where the New Chinatown Restaurant used to be.

On June 23, 1937, the world-famous Hawaiian Room opened. This marks it as a pre-tiki venue although it produced its own tiki mug years later.

The Hawaiian Room was located in the Hotel Lexington (now the Radisson Lexington Hotel). Guests had a hula of a time sipping coconut willies and watching live hula performances. The space became synonymous with entertainer Arthur Godfrey, a well-known TV personality in the 1960s. He’d broadcast his radio show live from that space. The hotel's recently renovated Arthur Godfrey Suite pays homage to his legacy.

The Hawaiian room closed in 1966.

*NOTE that the brochure image shows full detailed recipe for the "Pineapple Paradise" which is only briefly described in menu: 4 small pineapples, 2 oz pineapple juice, 2 oz lime juice, 3 oz Demerara rum, 2 oz light Puerto Rican rum, 2 oz peach brandy, 2 teaspoons fine sugar. Use pineapple shells as containers for this drink. Cut the edges off of pineapples about 1 1/2 inches down, then cut a small notch in the top through which you can insert a straw. Scoop out the interior leaving a shell about 1/4 inch thick. In a shaker put pineapple juice, lime juice, Demerara rum, Puerto Rican rum, peach brandy, and sugar. Add crushed ice and shake. Pour into pineapples, replace pineapple tops, and insert a straw in notches.

Polynesian Village was in the Edgewater Beach Hotel (its sister hotel, Hotel Somerset in Boston, also had a Polynesian Village).

The Edgewater Beach Hotel was built in 1916, facing Lake Michigan. This pink-painted hotel had 400 rooms and was a landmark for half a century. The complex had a private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago. During its lifetime, the hotel served many famous guests including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, and Nat King Cole.

On June 14, 1949, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus was shot and nearly killed by an obsessive fan at the hotel; this later would be a large part of the inspiration behind Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural (adapted to screen starring Robert Redford).

The original and very elegant Marine Dining Room was replaced by the Polynesian Village in the 1950s. Employees who were trained in serving fine cuisine at the Marine Dining Room disdainfully referred to the new restaurant as "that chop suey joint."

Less Waverly, a band leader during the Polynesian Village era, has these reminisces:

"They had huts and all the motifs of a Polynesian village. There was one act called the Pearls of the Pacific and they had Tahitian drum dancers with them. The Tahitian drums were actually fuel cans and they made a high-pitched metallic sound. It was a pretty ordinary stage but, instead of a curtain, they had something like bamboo crossed. You could see through it, but it still gave you the feeling of a curtain.

Martin Denny performed there. He was a very big act and he had records with bird calls on them. The Boyd Twins performed there. They were quite well known throughout the country because they were the Doublemint twins. We had Dorothy Shay, the 'Park Avenue Hillbilly.' She did a song about underage hillbilly marriages and marrying your cousin.

They replaced the Polynesian Village and they tried to bring back the Marine Dining Room. There would be people who would come back to relive their honeymoon of 20 or 30 or 40 years ago and they were looking for that nice hotel that they enjoyed so much - and they’d spend one night in the rooms up there with the peeling plaster and the crummy bathroom and all that. We saw the hotel slip little by little. The stores began to close and they stopped operating the summer theater, but still you thought it would keep going."

The Edgewater Beach Hotel closed in 1967 and was demolished mid 1970. There is now a high-rise condominium building in its place.

The Mainlander restaurant was opened on July 3, 1962 at the intersection of Bonhomme and Hanley roads in Clayton, Mo (which borders the west side of St. Louis). The restaurant's primary owner was Dale McGowan. McGowan lived in Webster Groves and had formerly lived in Tahiti.

The Mainlander's dining room featured grass shacks, a tiki fountain, bamboo covered walls and many Polynesian artifacts. Outside in front was another fountain and a white sand beach. The tiki fountain, designed by William Westenhaver and sold through his Witco company, was used as The Mainlander's signature tiki, appearing on its advertising, matchbooks and in the form of its souvenir mugs.

In its lower level, a waterfall of lava rock decorated the Mainlander's Huki Lau bar and lounge.

On November 18, 1971, a shooting took place in The Mainlander's lower level bar, with two customers killed and a waiter injured.

Shortly thereafter, Dale McGowan sold his restaurant to John Bristow.

Bristow ran the restaurant for six years until the Mainlander closed in early 1977.

Former owner Dale McGowan went on to become a broker developing real estate on the island of Maui. He passed away at the age of 84 in 2011.

Afterwards, The Mainlander became a non-Polynesian restaurant called Lautrec's. There was a fire in the building in 1978, and an office building is now in the location.

The Kon Tiki Lounge (no relation to the Steven Crane Kon-Tiki chain) is a classic original tiki bar. Open since 1961 according to the old Critiki site (January 30th, 1962 according to the Arizona Daily Star and 1963 according to the Kon Tiki website), the Kon Tiki Lounge has seen modern-day Tucson grow up around it on all sides. It is tucked back a bit on its busy street, surrounded by strip malls and small office buildings. The small-looking building feels a bit out-of-place. There is an almost lush little garden area out front, with tikis and a small "water feature" -- Tucson's arid climate wouldn't easily support a pond, so a tiled mosaic pond is in its place, with a small walkable bridge over it. To the left of the building was a great old Milan Guanko tiki originally purchased from Gray's Nursery and which was eventually brought in to the outdoor patio area for its protection.

Inside, the restaurant is dark and mysterious, with no windows, and much of the original decor still in place. A former aviary behind the bar is a jarring flash of light -- it used to house parrots, then a lizard cage, now it is used as an outdoor patio space. Large bamboo, gorgeous light fixtures, and tikis aplenty are throughout. The room is structured with smaller sub-rooms encased by bamboo and thatch dividers, giving a feeling of coziness and mystery.

The menus are standard fare for an old tiki bar -- barbecue ribs & similar items for food, and lots of tropical drinks (though a bit on the sweet & sugary side).

Today, the Kon Tiki's future continues to look very bright. It has been kept open through the years with a never-ending supply of college kids who love the place and keep it packed on weekends. These people are who we have to thank for keeping the place alive, but it's a bit more enjoyable when visited earlier in the day or on a weeknight, when the music is more in keeping with the environs and the place isn't so packed with bodies that the decor can't be seen.

In recent years the management has been working on spiffing up the place, while keeping it classic. The Kon Tiki now has their own tiki mug, designed for the Milan Guanko tiki outside (now in the outdoor patio), and has undergone some sprucing up courtesy of Bamboo Ben. A new Bamboo Ben bar looks like it has always been there.