Tiki Bars
The Tilted Tiki
Stillwater, Minnesota, United States
The Tilted Tiki was opened in November 2016 by Chris and Patti Goetzke in downtown Stillwater, Minnesota, just east of Minneapolis -- in the historic Grand Garage building.
The Grand Garage was built in 1882 and later renovated in 1924. The beautiful, historic building ushers you into downtown Stillwater. It was originally The Chicago House, then occupied by Stillwater Motor Company and converted to its current use in 1970. A number of different shops, restaurants, and even a salon, call the Grand Garage home.
Its location in the Grand Garage makes the Tilted Tiki's decor an unusual blend of tropical thatching and lauhala and more traditional wooden trim and stained glass accents.
They serve a selection of tropical drinks, and small plates of food.
Tonga Bar - Bergen
Bergenhus, Bergen, Norway
Opened @ 2014.
Tonga Bar is a tiki bar in downtown Bergen, Norway. It is richly decorated with bamboo, thatch, lauhala, and lots of decor.
There was also another Tonga Bar location in Tonsberg, Norway, within the Harbor Cafe but it appears to have closed after 2014.
Trader Eng's
Atlanta, Georgia, United States (Closed)
Trader Eng's opened on June 27th, 1963, and operated until 1981.
It was owned and operated by Walter England Huckabee, Jr. ("Eng" being short for "England"). Walter was born in 1920 and passed on in 2003 at 83 years old. He had previously been in the military and ran a couple of Kentucky Fried Chicken locations.
Trader Eng's was a Polynesian restaurant with the decor to match, including fake palm trees, a-frame "huts," and bridges, and it featured a "hibachi" (teppanyaki) grill. The bar was called the Shell Bar. It was located in the Peachtree Towers, north of downtown Atlanta.
Trader Eng's closed in 1981, and today the site is a condominium building.
There was also an attempt to franchise the business and a second location was opened in 1969, at 2814 Apalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, Florida. This location later became Lucy Ho's and King Buffet.
Hula's Modern Tiki - Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
This is the second location of Hula's Modern Tiki, the first is in Phoenix (opened 2009 and re-located in 2018) and a third is in High Street (2020). This Scottsdale location opened in early 2014. True to its name, the look of the place is sleek and tiki-lite. The main room has several large carved plaques by Tiki Bosko on the back wall, and a large tiki by Tiki tOny stands out front.
Akamai Barnes
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States (Closed)
In 1967, CBS paid for two television pilots based in Hawai'i. One was picked up, the other was not. One was Hawaii Five-O starring Jack Lord, the other was Kona Coast starring Richard Boone. I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but just in case: Hawaii Five-O was the one that went on to glory, while Kona Coast was destined to be completely unknown.
But Warner Bros, producer of Kona Coast, chose to recoup their costs by releasing Kona Coast as a film. It still is pretty darned obscure, it barely made a squeak when it came out in 1968. But -- and let's give thanks for this right now -- for some oddball reason, Warner Bros decided to release Kona Coast on a very bare-bones DVD. Now you can see this terrible, wonderful show/movie. It's full of fantastic '60s Hawaiian fashion, scenes of the gritty side of Waikiki, and scenes of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.
Which brings us to Akamai Barnes. Akamai Barnes was a tiki bar, named for a Donn Beach-type character in Kona Coast, that was one of the main sets for the show, and was right on the main drag of town. Richard Boone was not just the star of Kona Coast, he was a driving force behind the project. Since the hope was that this would get picked up as a series, Akamai Barnes was open and operated as a real bar. A US Navy sailor who visited Kailua-Kona in June 1967 on the USS Tiru reports an evening spent at the bar; Richard Boone and the cast of Kona Coast were there, along with actors Lee Marvin and Jonathan Winters (who were not in the film; Lee Marvin and Richard Boone owned a charter boat together in Kailua-Kona).
After the shoot was finished, it must have been operating for some months before word came that it wouldn't be needed for the series after all. Richard Boone continued to live in Hawai'i, and kept Akamai Barnes running. A June 1968 article in Playboy references Akamai Barnes, calling it "one of the liveliest bars in the Pacific." Per an interview with a musician of the era in Kailua-Kona, he performed at Akamai Barnes for around five years, starting when it first opened.
Looking at scenes from Kona Coast and comparing them to Alii Drive today, it appears that the spot that held Akamai Barnes is now a vacant lot.
The Drifter
Gent, Belgium
Owner and proprietor Tom Neijens opened The Drifter in April 2014, after many years spent making classic drinks, first at home, and then at a speakeasy-themed bar he co-owned. The Drifter is his full-dive into his passion for tiki drinks and Polynesian Pop history. The small space is dominated by a beautiful, undulating mosaic tile bar, and Neijens has continued to add more and more tiki to the space over the years, with bamboo seating, carved tikis, and faux palm trees.
Hidden Harbor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Hidden Harbor opened in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh in January 2016. The bar is owned by Peter and Matt Kurzweg, who own the brewery next door, and their partner, tikiphile Adam Henry. The decor is decorated in a more nautical style than a tiki style, with no bamboo, rattan or thatch. There are, however, three large tikis carved by Crazy Al Evans. The drink menu is a mix of classic tiki drinks and modern tropicals, and there are special themed nights with more focused tropical drink menus. There is a small selection of food available, including a pu-pu platter.
Liki Tiki
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States (Closed)
Liki Tiki was a small juice bar/refreshment stand inside the Colorado Springs Bike Shop. The stand served lemonade, smoothies, and other light refreshments. The bike shop has been operating since 1973, but the small tikified stand was a newer addition, having inherited a large tiki from The Castaways in nearby Manitou Springs. The bike shop is easily spotted with its front lighthouse facade.
Liki Tiki was closed in 2019 in anticipation of the relocation of the Cerberus Brewing Company. Since 2016, Cerberus had run a brewpub on the corner opposite the bike shop (702 W. Colorado Ave.), and its popularity triggered the need for expansion. However, as of summer 2021, it appears Cerberus has remained where it is and the bike shop is still operating.
Tikitiki Bowling Bar
New Territories, Hong Kong SAR China (Closed)
Tikitiki Bowling Alley opened on October 15, 2015 in Sai Kung, in Hong Kong's New Territories. It was a large attraction, with three bars, a restaurant and a live music venue in addition to the bowling lanes.
The Krakatoa Lanes were ten bowling lanes, topped with a massive video screen with tropical and party scenes. Light fixtures were lava inspired, and the pins and balls were fluorescent colors and lit with black light.
Sea Dogs & Mermaids was the main bar, a large bar shaped like a ship and built of rustic wood, decorated in a nautical style. A row of tikis faced into the bar area. The bar served classic tropical drink recipes a la Beachbum Berry, and a selection of their own creations, in tiki mugs.
Beach Bums & Cannibals was a fine dining restaurant. The room was ringed with carved tiki panels on eggplant purple walls, with matching purple shag throw rugs under each rustic wooden table. Candelabras and chandeliers provided the lighting.
Other areas included the Octopus's Garden, with live music acts performing in front of tiki masks; and Island of the Gods, an outdoor dining area overlooking the hills of Sai Kung, backed with a row of tall tikis.
Closed @April 2024.
Tiki Bar Head Hunter
Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan
Tiki Bar Head Hunter is a small but thoroughly decorated tiki bar inside Omote-machi Play Town in Okayama. It opened in November 2011, and is owned by Yosiaki Taniguchi. Logo artwork was created for the bar by Mookie Sato.
The bar is encrusted with bamboo and festooned with netting, with thatch and float lamps and pufferfish and everything you want to see in a classic tiki bar.
Though the space is small, live acts perform regularly at Head Hunter, with an emphasis on musicians that get the mid-century American vibe.
Head Hunter is cash only.
The Pacific
Glasgow, United Kingdom (Closed)
The Pacific opened in February 2014, and was a sister location to The Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn, also in Glasgow. Tropical cocktails were served in unique tiki mugs made by Garnet McCulloch of Fireworks Studio. The food menu was a mix of American and Thai. The space was small and not densely decorated, but a small bar was trimmed with bamboo and lauhala matting, and there were pufferfish lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Closed December, 2017 and rebranded as a new restaurant called Honu -- serving a medley of exotic foods (for Glasgow) including Thai, Korean, hamburgers, etc...and a craft cocktail menu... but all the tiki and kitsch has been stripped away.
B.G. Reynolds Tasting Room
Portland, Oregon, United States (Closed)
Since 2009, B.G. Reynolds has been selling the syrups needed for classic tropical drinks: orgeat, passion fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, special Don the Beachcomber blends, and more. The brand was originally called "Trader Tiki" and changed to "B.G. Reynolds" in 2011. In November 2015, this tasting room and storefront opened in southeast Portland. In addition to the syrups, the store also offered barware, tiki mugs, pre-mixed bottled tropical drinks, vintage aloha wear, and special cocktail mixing classes. The retail store closed in April 2016, but the syrups are still available from their online store, and are distributed to stores across the country.