In 1952, Jack Sutton opened Dutton's Jungle Gardens, which sprawled across 7-acres at the intersection of Orangethorpe and Raymond Avenues.

The property was covered with more than 500 palm trees and crawled with assorted megafauna: an alligator, bear, lion, three elephants, orangutans and more. One of the biggest attractions was Jerry, a chimpanzee who was toilet trained and could dress himself and brush his own teeth. Admission to the jungle was free and large paths led people through the dense canopy where they could get close to the animals, which inevitably caused liability issues.

Dutton offset the cost of running the animal attraction with this swanky Polynesian joint known as the Palms Restaurant. Serving exotic gourmet food, it hosted parties of up to 1,000 people. Menus housed in the Anaheim library show Lobster dinners were served for $3.50; Hawaiian dinners such as Barbecued Pork and Opae Teriyaki were served for around $5 a plate. Guests included such glitterati as actor Dale Robertson (Dynasty) as well as Catwoman Eartha Kitt. The brochure below shows that the bar was known as the "Lantern Bar" and featured a ton of swag lamps! There was also a "Terrace Room" and a "Gold Room".

But ultimately the operation was too much for Dutton to handle. In 1974 thieves raided the jungle making off with two flamingos, two silver pheasants, a Ghigi Golden pheasant and other birds totaling a loss of $1,200. In 1976 police responded to reports of an unruly party of approximately 700 guests at the Palms. According to the Santa Ana Register a “free-for-all” broke out with people launching rocks and bottles at police forcing cops to use mace and batons to break up the throng. Three people were arrested for assault on a police officer and one lawman was hospitalized.

On May 17, 1976 the Palms closed. It stood vacant for two years and succumbed to a suspicious electrical fire in 1978.

The Palms restaurant was right next door to the Akua Motor Hotel, now known as the Akua Motor Inn.

Mauna Loa Lounge was in the Mayfair Hotel, built during the early 1960s by George Kelly Hill.

The project was executed on the eastern part of the hotel. The walls and ceilings were of grass matting sewn on the large bamboo poles. The room resembled a large Polynesian hut with colored fish floats that glimmered as they were suspended by fishnets in between lighted king turtle shells. Painted leather and gilded tiles made the walls glow. There were gurgling fountains, hoTai (the god of good luck), lighted blowfish, peacock chairs, hand carved wooden tables, all on exotic theatre carpeting. The servers’ sporting flowered shirts and leis, brought drinks served in brightly colored glasses.

While listening to Hawaiian surf music, you could enjoy tall Singapore Slings and other tropical cocktails. Credit goes to Edith Holden (a talented artist), along with Daryl Giffin and Don Pelechaty who both hand carved and painted the tiki pole Gods to create the perfect look.

Mayfair Enterprises sold the hotel in 1966.

The building later burned down December 26th, 1976, destroying the Mauna Loa Lounge.

This location on Fairfax was the second of two, built in 1950, the first being built at Pico in 1947. Two men, Thomas Kelley and Jack Bouck, combined the first syllables of their last names and invented Kelbo’s, a small chain of Hawaiian barbecues whose food was not all that Hawaiian: burgers, barbecue meat sandwiches and some miscellaneous seafood. The concession to the islands was that every plate was garnished with a piece of pineapple and the fried shrimp was coated with coconut. They also served very sweet (but very good) barbecued ribs and had a menu of tropical drinks, some of which came flaming or served in a skull mug. Eli Hedley was the main designer and he was also responsible for the interior of other tropical-themed restaurants like Don the Beachcomber. Kelbo’s felt like a place that had been decorated in the thirties or forties and then no one changed anything. As mentioned, there were two Kelbo’s. This one was on Fairfax across from CBS Television City in La Brea, and was later torn down. It was a popular hangout for crew members who worked across the street at CBS Television City in the fifties and sixties. The building that housed the other was over on Pico at Exposition.  After that location was shuttered, the building was converted into a bikini bar called Fantasy Island for a time.  Much of the Kelbo’s advertising art was done by Bob Hale who otherwise turned up on Los Angeles TV from time to time as a cartooning weatherman. (He was also active in Seattle where he owned a popular hobby shop that bore his name.) Hale’s drawings of a fat Hawaiian guy in native garb could be seen on Kelbo’s napkins and menus, and both of the Kelbo's outlets had huge Bob Hale murals on the outside.

Luau Polynesian Lounge opened in 1997, and was more of a nice little neighborhood restaurant than a traditional tiki bar. The decor was bright and airy, and included more surfboards than tikis. There was, however, a rather striking carved Ku (with mouth reminiscent of Milan Guanko's carvings) serving as a hostess podium, and a number of tropical drinks were available on the menu. The food is what really made Luau stand out -- the mainland interpretations of classic Hawaiian food were quite good, and they served a can't-miss pupu platter, complete with flaming Sterno.

Luau Polynesian Lounge closed in early 2010.

The founder of the Trader Vic's chain, Victor Jules Bergeron, is interred with his wife Helen in the Mausoleum at Mountain View Cemetery. You will find them on the bottom floor at about eye level, near the west-facing end entrance. If you visit, be sure to bring some menehunes to leave in remembrance.

On the second floor of the same Mausoleum, Henry J. Kaiser is interred. Henry J. Kaiser's connection to tiki is that he built the Kaiser Aluminum Dome, where Arthur Lyman's albums were recorded, and the Hawaiian Village, which was later purchased by the Hilton chain.

Opened in the early 2000s and closed by 2016.

Waikiki was a small Thai/Indonesian restaurant located in a quiet neighborhood near the Schwabing district of Munich. By foot, it could be reached via a short (5 minute) walk from the Josephsplatz U-bahn station.

The decor was tropical, featuring tapa cloth wall coverings and large, carved wooden tiki masks. A backlit bookcase filled with carvings and knick-knacks also figured prominently, along with fan-backed wicker chairs. Traditional Hawaiian music was played, at a reasonable volume, and the lighting was muted.

The drink menu was extensive and the drinks themselves were clearly modeled after Trader Vic's. The bartender could mix a very reasonable fascimile of a Mai Tai and an excellent Zombie and both were priced far lower than the Munich Vic's.

The menu was reasonably priced and featured Thai staples such as spring rolls, along with curries and noodle dishes.

Sam's Seafood started in its original location in 1923 at 2501 Coast Highway and, up until its Polynesian remodel in 1960 it was just a seaside seafood joint.

At 3 a.m. on Feb. 17, 1959, a fire burned the original Sam’s Seafood to the ground. Forced to rebuild, then-owners Ruth, Nick and Dick Katsaris glommed on to the midcentury fad sweeping Southern California: Tiki!

In 1960, they invested $1 million and hired architect Don Davis to design the new face of Sam’s and introduced Surfside to “Sam’s Seafood and Hawaiian Village.”

Sam's Seafood contained several dining rooms. The brightly lit main dining room had a large wall mural on one side and a dramatic tiki & waterfall display at the back. A pair of smaller side dining rooms were also bright and more aviation themed.

Of more interest to the tikiphile was the Hidden Village (Hawaiian Village) banquet room area in the back available for event rentals, which was large and moodily lit, with glass floats, waterfall displays, A-frame covered seating areas, and a small bar. On Friday nights from April to November, Sam's Seafood had a Polynesian Dinner Show in the Hidden Village. Last but certainly not least was the excellent main bar at Sam's. It was dark and full of excellent carvings, pufferfish and float lamps, and thatch.

A small bar with some tiki carvings inside, Turc's, can be found just down the street.

At the end of May 2006, Sam's Seafood was sold to developers who aimed to build retail spaces & condominiums on the site. Red tape appeared to be holding off any development on the site for years. Sam's closed for several months until June 2007, when the property owners allowed a new group to come in and keep the restaurant running in a somewhat modified form until the development could move forward.

In 2007, Sam's Seafood became Kona. In 2009, Kona closed and the restaurant reopened as Don the Beachcomber (no connection to the historic chain), which then closed in 2018.

Ren Clark's Polynesian Village was in the Western Hills Hotel, and was richly decorated with bamboo, tapacloth, floats, lights, thatch and peacock chairs. It had several rooms: the Tahitian Room, the Hawaiian Room, the Samoan Hut, and the Cannibal Cocktail Lounge. Its signature tiki was carved by Milan Guanko.

Ren Clark was a magician, and held several posts in magician groups in the 1950s. For entertainment at his Polynesian Village restaurant he performed a magic act; as a souvenir, patrons could purchase a grotesque mug of a severed head -- this mug has become one of the more sought-after tiki mug collectibles, despite it not being really all that "tiki."

The Polynesian Village opened on June 20th, 1960. The hotel was open from 1951 until it burned down in 1969.

The location is currently a Winn-Dixie Marketplace.

Built in 1968.

The Aku Tiki Inn features an imposing moai at the entrance, complete with glowing red eyes. Some nice Witco pieces can be seen in the lobby. Connected to the Aku Tiki Inn is the Traders Restaurant (with the Aku Tiki Bar).

The Hawaiian Inn can be found just down the street.

In 2004, the oceanfront hotel sustained some damage from Hurricane Charley. The signature moai at the front of the hotel was damaged beyond repair. By 2005 the hotel had been repaired, with a new signature moai built with the help of Florida tiki artist Wayne Coombs.

Kahala opened on April 21, 1971 and was the first tiki bar in Spain. There were once 14 tiki bars in Barcelona, and Kahala has survived these many years because it has much to offer.

It still has all the original decor. You cross a waterfall to a long bar space, with various private seating areas, including King chairs. Staff wears Hawaiian shirts and the mugs are all original with a massive selection.

The cocktails and music may not always endear themselves to tiki purists, but if you are in the area, you owe it to yourself to check out one of the elder tiki temples still in existence.

Opened by Shawn Cantley in May of 2022.

This is not a traditional tiki bar in the mold of Trader Vic's or Don the Beachcomber, with a dark, intimate, and immersive space layered in Polynesian artifacts and art.

Rather, Shawn went for more of a vacation vibe pulling from Hawaiian, Jamaican, and Mexican beach and surfer culture.

South Seas is an 8,400 square foot two-story space with an additional 1,600-square-foot outdoor deck. This is huge, and aside from a traditional bar set-up flanked by booths, there is a large dining hall area, a large outdoor patio, and a miniature golf course with a cocktail theme. This course offers lots of photo opportunities with a life-size "Don" zombie, giant octopus, planet Saturn, and other fantastical props.

*NOTE: December of 2024, the location was purchased by new owners, Ruth Gao and her husband. They have expressed a desire to keep the venue as-is but add on to it with more Hawaiian-style food and tiki cocktail options moving forward.

Opened in October of 2022.

Hubba Hubba Tiki Tonk describes themselves as: "a bit tonk, a bit tiki and a lot of rock n roll."

This is accurate.

It is not a tiki bar in the strictest sense, but it does have some tiki decor, including their logo (which is based on a mass-produced 5' tall fiberglass Ku with glowing eyes who oversees a special corner inside). There are also a bunch of tiny pufferfish hung over the main bar. They do serve tiki cocktails (but only 5 classics on the menu, including the Mai Tai, Planters Punch, Blue Hawaiian, Painkiller, and Jungle Bird).

The majority of the bar is dedicated to kitsch of all kinds, including many velvet paintings of rock stars and pop figures like Elvis, Eddie Van Halen, Alf, ET, etc...

The overall take-away is of a vintage rumpus room/dive bar that's exploded with pop culture art and collectibles.

So, if you are there drinking a mai-tai while a surf rock track is playing and you are seated in a corner across from the Ku, you might find yourself having a very "tiki" experience. However, if loud hard rock is playing while you and your friends are slamming back shots under the movie poster for Terminator II, you may find yourself wondering how this could remotely be considered "tiki" at all.

Mileage will vary...