The Reef Towers was built in 1959.

The Reef, Reef Towers and Edgewater hotels were sold to the Cinerama movie company in 1969 but Roy Kelley re-purchased the hotels from Cinerama in 1982 to re-integrate them back into the Outrigger chain.

The Polynesian Palace was the nightclub at the Reef Towers associated with Don Ho's long-running regular performances from 1970-1981, but it was also home to many other performers, including Al Harrington (The South Pacific Man).

Since 2007, with the creation of the Waikiki Beach Walk, this entire area has been redeveloped and the Reef Towers is now Club Wyndham at Waikiki Beach Walk.

Formerly Don the Beachcomber's.

Duke Kahanamoku's restaurant opened on September 1, 1961 with none-other-than Donn Beach handing over the keys to the Hawaiian surfing legend.

The restaurant hosted many regular musical acts, including Martin Denny and Don Ho.

*NOTE: Small standing menu below in last photo is signed by Zulu 5, the original Hawaii 5-O.

This location may be gone today, but currently, as of 2025, there is also a Duke's chain of restaurants that carry on this tradition with 3 locations in the Hawaiian Islands -- Waikiki, Maui, and Kauai. They also have 3 on the Mainland -- Huntington Beach, La Jolla, and Malibu.

Because of her nearby homes, they called the coastal area in this part of Waikīkī Queen’s Surf Beach.

Queen’s Surf was built in 1914 as a private home across from Kapiolani Park on the Diamond Head end of Waikiki Beach.

During WWII, the house was used for military retreats and other military uses. Admiral Nimitz, General Douglas McArthur and staffs spent time there.

It was acquired by the city of Honolulu around 1946 and leased to Spencecliff Corporation which operated it as the hugely popular Queen’s Surf Restaurant and Nightclub.

Sterling Edwin Kilohana Mossman (February 3, 1920 to February 21, 1986) headlined at its upstairs Barefoot Bar. A man as versatile as he was talented, literally led a double life. A detective with the Honolulu Police Department during the day, after dark he was one of Hawaiʻi’s most popular entertainers. His diversified careers earned him the nickname “Hula Cop”.

The Barefoot Bar was ground zero for this new brand of local comedy. Mossman was the ringleader, along with the likes of Lucky Luck, a zany radio personality, and Kent Bowman, known as KK Kaumanua. They told stories, sang songs and, when a celebrity from the Mainland happened to come by (and they did a lot), they became part of the show.

Another attraction at the Barefoot Bar was Varoa Tiki or "Tiki" (also known as Shirley Kaluahine Piliwale). She was a well-known entertainer during the 50's, 60's and 70's. She performed with many music legends like Tony Bennett, Don Ho, the Kent Ghirard's Hula Troupe where where she danced with the Ray Kinney show at the Royal Hawaiian. She appeared with Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, Andy Williams, Jack Parr and the Vagabonds. She performed as a "one women show" on the Princess Line Tour ships and took the first all-girl show on tour to the orient as Varoa Tiki and the Tikis. She played more than twenty instruments, sang in sixteen languages. She yodeled in three styles and brought the art of whistling back to the stage.

Despite the wealth of talent on display, the business ran into trouble...

The site was closed down in 1969 by Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi in a lease dispute and demolished in 1971.

Today it is home to a public park.

Opened @ November 18th, 1955 when they started advertising in the Santa Ana Register.

Walt Disney recruited the first performers for Adventureland's Tahitian Terrace from here in 1962.

Hosted many musical acts, including Don Ho.

Was open as recently as 1992 (when No Doubt played there). Closed in the early 1990s.

This is the location that started it all. (Well, actually it started across the street at 1722 McCadden on December 5th, 1933, and moved to this spot on May 26th, 1937.) Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, later and more widely known as Donn Beach, created what we think of today as a "tiki" or "Polynesian" restaurant. Bamboo-lined tropical themed night clubs had been fashionable for some time, but this was where it became more immersive. Donn's greatest innovation was surely the drinks. His travels throughout the world (and especially the Caribbean) gave him deep knowledge about rum, which in this post-prohibition era had become inexpensive. His blends of rums with fruit juice and spice flavors created exotic drinks that appealed to the masses. Backed up with Cantonese cuisine and a richly decorated environment complete with tikis, it was a hit.

Many of the most beloved tiki drinks were born here, including the Zombie, Navy Grog, Demerara Dry Float, 151 Swizzle, Shark's Tooth, Cobra's Fang, Dr. Funk. The original bartenders knew the recipes (Including Ray Buhen, who served them at his own Tiki-Ti. The recipes have been passed down to Buhen's son and grandsons and you can taste history there yourself.). Soon Donn learned to keep the recipes secret, even from his own staff, by using a system of codes and pre-mixed syrups. It didn't stop the competition from attempting to poach his staff or attempt his drinks, with mixed success.

Beyond the drinks, the entire themed-restaurant concept that Don the Beachcomber created was copied widely; perhaps first and most notably, it inspired Victor Bergeron to transform his Hinky Dinks into the first Trader Vic's.

Donn was the creative genius, but the business brains of the operation belonged to his wife, Cora Irene "Sunny" Sund. When they divorced in 1940, she retained the rights to the Don the Beachcomber name and concept in the mainland United States. She grew Don the Beachcomber into a successful chain of restaurants that flourished for decades.

Donn took his work to Waikiki (beyond the range of the deal with Sund, as Hawai'i was not yet a state) where he opened his own Don the Beachcomber restaurant, and became a major fixture in the booming Hawai'i tourist scene. He owned the Waikiki Don the Beachcomber until his death in 1987.

Thanks to many years of hard work (harder work than he would lead you to believe), drinks historian and author Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has been able to successfully decode and document many of the original Don the Beachcomber liquid masterpieces. His work has ensured that quality tropical drinks are back and here to stay, and are now being served all around the world.

The first incarnation of Don The Beachcomber's was across from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, at the Queen's Royal Gardens.

This first Don's lasted 10 years which is how long his original lease was for.

Don the Beachcomber moved to the International Market Place, a short distance away, after it was built sometime in 1957, and this was on a new lease of 17 acres.

This version of Don's had the famous Dagger Bar with walls covered in Don's collection of daggers he had picked up during his travels.

Adjacent was also Don's tree house, which was inspired by earlier tree houses that he had on his property in Encino, California.

It was at Don the Beachcomber’s that Martin Denny got together with vibraphonist Arthur Lyman and bassist John Kramer to play jazz. The trio got a record contract in 1955, and bongo player Augie Colon joined the group the following year. Denny played at the International Market Place Don's on a regular basis.

Duke Kahanamoku's moved into the Don The Beachcomber building at the International Marketplace on September 1, 1961 and Don moved to another nearby location, although this final location was named The Colonel's Plantation Beefsteak and Coffee House. This location burned in a fire in 1966, due to outdated and faulty wiring.

Opened June 13th, 2024 with a soft opening.

Originally named "The Paraquet", they quickly changed their name to "Leyton Calling".

Owned by Danny Saunders.

The interior makes good use of rattan and wicker and other natural materials. The furniture is rattan, the ceiling is a suspended roll of thin rattan, and walls and bar top make use of bamboo and similar materials. Rattan pendant lights hang over the bar. Plants and greenery throughout give an island/jungle vibe.

There are also some nautical elements with a diving helmet on the end of the bar and fish net hanging from the ceiling as well.

A lack of tiki carvings and artwork is disappointing, following the "modern trend" away from the layered and immersive classic tiki palaces originating with Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber.

However, tropical cocktails are served in tiki mugs and tiki glassware and their menu features standards as well as interesting originals which have gotten great reviews so far...

The second attempt to establish a Don the Beachcomber in San Diego was just as short-lived as the first.

It opened in 1980, replacing the Barefoot Bar that had been there since 1962.

After Don the Beachcomber closed in 1983, the space once again became the Barefoot Bar.

Today, The Vacation Village Hotel is now called Paradise Point Resort & Spa.

Beach passed away in Honolulu, Hawaii, in June 1989, at the age of 81.

He is known for starting Don the Beachcomber during the 1930s in Hollywood, California, which was expanded to a chain of dozens of restaurants throughout the United States. He later built the International Market Place and additional establishments in what was then the Territory of Hawaii.

Beach is also generally credited with establishing the entire tiki drink genre. He created dozens of recipes such as the Zombie, the Cobra's Fang, Tahitian Rum Punch, Three Dots and a Dash, Navy Grog, and many others.

He was an Army colonel during WWII and is buried in buried in Section B Site 1-C of The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Ernest Beaumont-Gantt, who legally changed his name to "Donn Beach," opened this Waikiki version of his popular stateside restaurant chain in 1947 on Kalakaua Avenue after finishing his service in WWII. All other mainland Don the Beachcomber locations were actually owned by his ex-wife and business partner Sunny Lund, but this location was owned by Beach.

The designer, Paul Wimberly, built three main grass huts for Don, including The Crossroads Bazaar, The High Talking Chief's Hut, and The Tahitian Dining Hut -- all centered around the Queen's Royal Gardens.

This was across from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

This first Hawaii incarnation lasted 10 years which is how long his original lease was for.

Don the Beachcomber moved to the International Market Place, a short distance away, after it was built sometime in 1957, and this was on a new lease of 17 acres.

Duke Kahanamoku's moved into the Don The Beachcomber building at the International Marketplace at some point and Don moved to another nearby location (circa 1971), although this final location was named The Colonel's Plantation Beefsteak and Coffee House. This location burned in a fire in 1966, due to outdated and faulty wiring.

Opened in 1966.

This Don the Beachcomber's was in a Hilton Hotel. That hotel was renovated in 2015 and is now known as the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront.

Don the Beachcomber's Chicago location was a legendary hotspot on the Chicago restaurant scene for decades. It opened on May 1st, 1940, and was open at least until the late '60s, probably later. It was in Chicago's Magnificent Mile neighborhood, about where the Four Seasons Hotel is today.

The building had a simple entrance, with a large neon sign in the trademark Don the Beachcomber driftwood sign shape. Inside, the restaurant had several rooms: the Tahitian Room and the Zombie Room were dining rooms, and the Cannibal Room was the bar. The bar had striking black posts carved with a stacked trio of Tahitian cannibal tikis. The whole restaurant was thoroughly encrusted with bamboo, and float lamps and beachcomber lamps were everywhere.

One of the key bartenders at the Chicago Don the Beachcomber, Mariano Licudine, eventually went on to lead the bar program at the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale, bringing drinks in the Don the Beachcomber style with him that can still be tasted there today.