Tiki Bars
Skipper Kent's
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1944.
Skipper Kent's had a sister restaurant, Zombie Village, across the bay in Oakland.
This location for Skipper Kent's is now Kennedy's, an Irish pub.
The Temple Bar
Berkeley, California, United States (Closed)
The Temple Bar was owned and run by a Hawaiian family, and for a time had only been open for special events, such as visiting Hawaiian musicians, or occasional Sunday luaus. Toward the end, it began staying open five nights a week as a restaurant. It closed in 2011.
Alfredo's Beach Club
Long Beach, California, United States
This is a snack bar -- no liquor license. It is part of an in-line skate shop. They rent themselves out and help with private parties, sometimes luaus or other Hawaiian-themed events.
There are a couple of tikis on premises but this is by no means a full-time tiki establishment.
Eli Kai Apartments
Torrance, California, United States
Opened in 1965. The name "Eli Kai" translates to "Peaceful Garden" in Hawaiian.
The complex sports a nice A-frame. There is an underground parking garage and the units start on the second floor. A unique rock wall fountain, long ago turned off, still evokes the time period, and there are a plethora of tikis, from the Marquesan tiki beam holding up the ceiling outside the manager's office to the more decorative beams all throughout the complex.
Islander Motel
Santa Cruz, California, United States
Built in 1963.
The structure looks to have stayed intact and it still appears to have its original fish-shaped sign.
From postcards, it appears that the lobby once had hanging globe lights and some Witco furnishings that did not survive remodeling, but much of this motel is still very much the same.
The Lanai - San Mateo
San Mateo, California, United States (Closed)
Built in 1950.
This restaurant at the Villa Hotel closed in 1988.
The Lanai had a dramatic neon palm tree sign, and an almost identical one stood at The Leilani in Fresno until 2014.
The Villa Hotel has now been converted to apartments -- The Villa at San Mateo.
Hawaiian Gardens - San Jose
San Jose, California, United States (Closed)
Originally, this location was named Lo Curto's Gardens in 1933.
It was renamed Lo Curto's Hawaiian Gardens in 1938 and remained so until 1966, so it spanned both the pre-Tiki and Golden Tiki Eras.
The last incarnation was Italian Gardens, a banquet hall specializing in weddings and Lockheed Christmas parties.
Today it is Italian Gardens Family and Italian Gardens Senior, two government housing projects.
Lanai Motel
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
This location stood adjacent to a Sambo's restaurant in 1975.
Around 2012, this site became the Presidio Parkway Inn.
Lilo Lounge
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
Lilo Lounge was an early modern tiki bar in Potrero Hill that opened sometime before the end of 1996. It quickly became a hotspot during the first dot-com boom, and particularly attracted the early tiki scene in the San Francisco area. The dot-com bust took Lilo Lounge with it, and it closed in 2001. The space later became Lingba.
Trad'r Sam
San Francisco, California, United States
Trad'r Sam is the oldest, longest-operating tiki bar in the world. Trad'r Sam opened in 1937, and was originally owned by Sam Baylon. This small and very old bar started as pre-tiki, and is an extremely rare example of the bamboo bars that were in some cities in the '30s.
Back in the day there were huge bunches of bananas hanging from the ceiling and the bartenders were dressed in pith helmets and safari clothing.
Today, there are still tropical drinks available, but this bar is now more of a loveable dive than anything.
It had closed for a very short time and re-opened in November 2023 after a makeover that refreshed the floor, walls, and seating. Much of the rattan and the bamboo is still intact, but a series of seating areas around the perimeter of the bar which were named after islands, and framed in rattan, had fallen into disrepair and have been removed -- replaced with newer tables and rattan chairs.
The biggest feature, the bar itself -- a large, rattan encrusted horseshoe-shaped structure -- still remains. They have also added a few small inexpensive tikis throughout.
While in the area, cocktail enthusiasts shouldn't miss the world famous tequila destination bar across the street just a block and a half away, Tommy's Mexican Restaurant.
Trader Vic's - San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
Cosmo Place is actually an alley. The unusual location didn't stop the San Francisco Trader Vic's from becoming a powerful center for city nightlife. In fact, in 1983, Queen Elizabeth II had her very first experience eating out at a restaurant here. (She had a Tanqueray gin martini.) This Trader Vic's location closed in the early '90s, and is now a popular French Vietnamese restaurant, Le Colonial.
Lingba
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
Lingba opened in 2001, in the same space that used to be Lilo Lounge.
Executive Chef and owner Cody Robertson combined local ingredients with traditional spices to create contemporary southeast asian cuisine. Lingba also featured tropical cocktails and nightly DJs, to a backdrop of palm trees and hanging plants.
Lingba closed in 2010 after a steep rent increase.