Tiki Bars
Kapu Bar
Petaluma, California, United States
Opened January 21st, 2023.
Owner Michael Richardson is a longtime tiki bartender and co-author of the Frankie's Tiki Room (Las Vegas) cocktail book, “Liquid Vacation.” Chef Mike Lutz helms the kitchen, serving Hawaiian-inspired dishes.
Interior design was done by Bamboo Ben.
April 19th, 2025, the building was sold and rumors about the bar closing spread quickly. Still waiting on the final word to see if this bar will continue or shutter its doors for good.
The Hut - Pontiac
Pontiac, Michigan, United States (Closed)
A newer dance club, above the Have a Nice Day Cafe. Less Tiki Bob's, more Tiki Bob's Cantina. Only not as nice. In photos, the only tikis are painted on the walls, and look strangely like flower pots.
As of 2021, this space is home to Elektricity Nightclub.
Tahiti Motel - Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida, United States (Closed)
Judging by postcards, this motel was built in the 1940s-50s.
Advertising from its later years boasted: "King Size Rooms & Kitchenette Efficiencies - Completely Air Conditioned & Heated - 'Tiki' Coffee Shop - Recreation Room - Heated Fresh Water Swimming Pool - Shuffleboard - 200 Feet Private Beach - Free TV - Free parking at your Door - Open All Year."
It began with a relatively simple facade and pastel/pink color scheme. Later, they went full "Tiki" with several masks out front and the "Tiki Coffee Shop."
This building was torn down to make way for Jade Signature Condos in 2018.
Don the Beachcomber - Madeira Beach
Madeira Beach, Florida, United States (Closed)
This location had its grand opening February 22nd, 2024.
The 298-seat indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar was operated by Tampa-based 23 Restaurant Services, which purchased the rights to Don the Beachcomber in 2022. The hospitality group also operates Ford’s Garage, Yeoman’s, and Tiki Docks.
The Madeira Beach location was the first of many, according to 23 Restaurant Services, and they hope to re-launch this iconic brand with 10-15 of the tiki-themed restaurants across the Southeastern United States over the next several years.
Hurricane Helene caused extensive flooding damage to the property in September of 2024 and it shut its doors, presumably temporarily.
However, in January 0f 2025 it was announced that they would not reopen and instead will be converted into parent company 23 Restaurant Group’s Tiki Docks concept. Creative director Justin Peterson and beverage director Marie King said that all efforts (and much of the decor) will be directed toward the planned flagship Don the Beachcomber in Hamlin, near Orlando, estimated to be opening in mid- to late 2026.
TikiCat
Kansas City, Missouri, United States (Closed)
TikiCat was a tiki bar in Kansas City, Missouri, it opened on April 13, 2017 and closed in July 2020. The bar was part of the HopCat group, a chain of beer-focused pubs around the midwest. The focus here was on pure tiki, not beer, and the group enlisted the help of a number of noted specialists and artists: the buildout was by Bamboo Ben; Martin Cate helped with the cocktail program; there were carvings by Dave Hansen (Lake Tiki), Patrick Sousa (OB Tiki), Ken Pleasant, and Jason Joffe (Smokin' Tikis); tiki mug and menu design (and awesome sci-fi themed mural) by Anthony Carpenter; lamps by Jason Shelfow (Tiki J's Custom Lamps); and art by Thor Thordarson.
There was a vintage Witco bar and stools, and vintage furniture for seating. There were some intimate hut areas for groups, and table seating. The space was richly decorated, with carvings, art, bamboo, thatch, matting, and faux foliage throughout.
HopCat and TikiCat (which was located in the basement of HopCat), both shut down after being unable to come to an agreement with their landlord. HopCat hopes to re-open at a new venue in the near future.
Don the Beachcomber - Marina del Rey
Marina del Rey, California, United States (Closed)
The Don the Beachcomber location in Marina del Rey opened in 1970. It is one of the "UFO" shaped versions of the restaurant, with a round building topped by a low-slung wraparound roof with a pointed top. The restaurant makes an appearance in the 1989 Patrick Dempsey film Loverboy as "Tiki Joe's". The restaurant was closed by the mid-'90s. The building is still there, attached to the Marina del Rey Hotel, but underwent a dramatic remodel in the early 2010s, and is no longer recognizable.
Tahitian Lanai and Papeete Bar - at the Waikikian Hotel
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States (Closed)
The Tahitian Lanai, and its Papeete Bar, were located in the Waikikian Hotel, right on the beach at Waikiki on Oahu. They opened on October 1, 1956. Spence Weaver, of Spencecliff Restaurants, operated the restaurant, and Bob Bryant, founder of Tiki Bob's in San Francisco, was hired to manage the restaurant.
Bob Bryant said of the Waikikian and Tahitian Lanai, "Before leaving the Mainland for the first time, everybody has his own dream of what Hawaii and Tahiti will be like. In designing this hotel-restaurant complex, we tried to fulfill those ideas. We tried to make this a 'dream Tahiti' instead of just a duplicate of the real island."
The restaurant housed 40 tikis, including a large Marquesan that was purported to be at least 200 years old, and a number of black velvet Leeteg paintings.
Diners could sit poolside surrounded by tiki torches, in private huts named after Tahitian Royalty (like the Queen Pōmare IV Hut or Prince Hinoi Hut), or in the main dining room.
The Waikikian closed in 1996, and the items from the hotel and restaurant were sold in an auction that took place at the Tahitian Lanai.
Polynesian Cocktail Lounge - at The New Chinatown Restaurant
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States (Closed)
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.
The Reef - Casper
Casper, Wyoming, United States (Closed)
When The Reef first opened in 1961, it was advertised as Wyoming's first Polynesian lounge.
The Reef was designed by Lou and Cliff Sawyer, a husband and wife decorating team based in Palm Springs, CA. They also decorated the South Pacific Room and Beachcomber Shops in Palm Springs and the South Sea Club/Surf Room Restaurant in Anchorage, AK.
A newspaper article celebrating the exotic new hot spot describes the scene:
“On the Center Street entrance there are two picture windows. The window to the left of the door contains a five-foot Tiki god standing amid jungle flowers and sea shells. To the right of the door stands an eight-foot Tiki god. Above the door is a small shelf running the width of the building filled with rocks collected from Wyoming rock beds by local rockhound clubs.”
Lou and Cliff sold The Reef in 1970 and the new owners fought against a changing neighborhood which grew rougher and rougher with a reported knife assault in 1973 and in 1975, a drunk patron shot and killed one of the owners, resulting in the sale of The Reef in 1978.
It was replaced by a disco club.
Bali Ha'i at the Beach
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (Closed)
Bali Ha'i at the Beach opened in 1958 and was located near the entrance of the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park, which was open from 1939 to 1983. It was known as Pontchartrain Beach-Combers before a lawsuit from Don the Beachcomber resulted in a 1959 name change to Bali Ha'i at the Beach.
The exotic experience began even before arrival at the restaurant. A bamboo-decorated “Sampan Taxi” would pick diners up from the parking lot and deliver them to the Bali Ha’i entry port, an impressive bamboo A-frame peak. There were also shuttles running from the restaurant to downtown New Orleans, complete with onboard Tiki drinks.
The bar menu was glamorous and theatrical. There was even a large carved volcano that dispensed drinks to customers.
The Cantonese menu brought new dishes to New Orleans diners, including moo goo gai pan, chow mein, rumaki and eggrolls. The new spices and sauces livened up familiar seafood, but American standards were also available for the less adventurous diners.
Bali Ha’i became the place for celebrations for decades – weddings and anniversaries, proms and graduations and, of course, the perfect first date. Private parties could book the Bora Bora Hut, the Lanai Hut or the Samoan Hut.
Although Pontchartrain Beach closed in 1983, the restaurant stayed open for a few more years. By 1988, the furnishings and memorabilia had been sold off to the public.
Two tikis and an A-frame gazebo with a sign from the Bali Ha'i have been relocated to Veterans Memorial Park in Kenner, LA. The Bali Ha'i signature mug was a copy of the logo mug from Tiki Bob's in San Francisco.
Ming Garden
Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Closed)
One of the longest lived Chinese restaurants, the Ming Garden was vital to life in downtown Providence. Open from 1941 to 1986, the restaurant was located at 141-143 Westminster Street, which had entrances on Westminster Street as well as Kennedy Plaza (now #68 Kennedy Plaza). The building was 2 and a half stories tall and dates to the late 19th century.
During the 1950s, the Tows contracted a young architect named Morris Nathanson to modernize the restaurant’s interior. Mr. Nathanson was well known for hospitality design, and his portfolio includes The China Inn in Pawtucket and the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum among others.
The Ming Garden (building constructed 1903): 3-story brick building with tiled modern entrance (similar entrance on Westminster Street side of building) and large plate-glass windows on upper stories; modern interiors by Morris Nathanson (ground floor) and Ira Rakatansky (upper floor). Though architecturally undistinguished outside, the building is heavily altered.
During the 1950s, Ming Garden touted a "Bamboo Room" sort of Pre-Tiki bar space on its outside signage. Later, this appears to have morphed into a "Polynesian Room" as tiki pop culture developed. Below, are photos showing the 1950's era version during hurricane Carol in 1954, when the waters of Narragansett Bay invaded the streets. Also shown are later shots of the front and rear exterior from the 1970s.
They did serve tropical cocktails in branded mugs -- at least one of which, a branded coconut, shows up from time to time.
Tiki Hut - El Segundo
El Segundo, California, United States (Closed)
In 1961, the Thunderbird International Hotel was built at 525 N Sepulveda Boulevard, in El Segundo, California, just a few blocks south of Los Angeles International Airport.
Originally, it had a coffee shop, but a year after it opened, in 1962, they changed their mind and remodeled the coffee shop and re-opened it as the The Huki Lau.
A few years later, the Thunderbird International was sold and re-named the Hacienda. Along with this name change, The Huki Lau was re-named to the simpler "Tiki Hut".
Most recently, the Hacienda was split into two and completely redone, with the Aloft being formed from the south building and a Fairfield Inn formed from the north building.
There are no longer any signs of The Tiki Hut.