Three 9 Lounge opened at the West Seattle Bowl on Oct. 28, 2021.

From Three 9 Lounge:

General Manager Jeff Swanson explained, "The space was doing ok as the High Strike lounge, and we were keeping that menu, but it was being under utilized, so we were talking and our friend Joe Jeannot, who is a restaurant consultant and ran the Beer Festival in years past suggested we should change to a tiki bar. After about a day or two of thinking about it we all said, 'Let's do it.!"

Swanson along with Beverage Manager Jimmy Gersen, plus Joe Chero and Joe Jeannot working with Mike of MR Construction developed the bamboo, grasses, and lighting design, "pretty much on the fly," said Swanson. The result is surprisingly cohesive and comfortable. But a tiki bar would be nothing without the right drinks. Gersen said they will have seven signature cocktails including, Mai-Tai, Zombie, Jungle Bird, Pain Killer, Hemingway Daiquiri, Between the Sheets, Planters Punch, shareable bowl drinks like the Volcano Bowl, and the Three 9 Grog. "These are all the classic Tiki cocktails with our little twists," said Gersen, The lead bartender at the Three 9 is Damon Leichman. "He worked with me at Salty's in the banquet department and I taught him, everything he knows in service to this point and now he's teaching me!"

They have a new chef just for the Three 9 named Kobi Maisel, who will be making Pork Sliders, Lumpia, Shrimp skewers, Beef Kabobs, Macaroni Salad, Edamame, all Polynesian and "fun tropical kind of stuff, like a Pu Pu Platter," said Swanson.

The Three 9 is so named because it's on 39th SW first, plus there are 39 boards in a bowling lane. and also because those are the happy hours (even though at first they won't open until 4pm). "This is something fun," said Swanson, "and utilize our space efficiently."

As the days move on, they keep adding additions, like the lit tiki torches on the roof, and have contracted with Munktiki to create personalized tiki mugs. So far, they've received great feedback!

The first Brass Monkey Tiki Bar opened at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In 2018, a new sister location, Brass Monkey Esbjerg, opened its doors.

Brass Monkey Esbjerg appears to have closed some time at the end of 2021 and then re-opened in August 2022 under a new name as The Tiki Hut.

The Tiki Hut was not well received and closed just a few months later to be replaced by a more traditional beer bar in January of 2023.

November 24, 2021 was Tiki Underground’s last call in its previous Hudson location. The bar moved to this new space at 1832 Front St, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221 in September of 2022.

“The far side is the side of the volcano the ship ran aground, and the other side is the ship itself,” says co-owner Sean Coffey (Jessie Coffey is the other co-owner).

Arched wooden beams and portholes showing fish at the National Aquarium create the illusion of the design by “Doktor” Bill Lynn, an artist and Kahuna Kings drummer who has played the bar. Lynn made a molten concrete wall with skulls to emulate volcanic rock that backs the thatch roof-covered bar. And a hallway becomes the jungle with hanging plants and a giant skull with glowing red eyes.

“The idea for any tiki bar is escapism,” says Coffey. “You lose track of time. That’s the idea of forgetting about your troubles.”

Tiki Underground tells stories of the tiki movement through gallery-worthy memorabilia, including a large wooden tiki from Cleveland’s former Kon Tiki.

Opened April 20th, 1958, specializing in Chinese style smoked ribs and tropical drinks. They did have branded tiki mugs as well.

Owners Tex Loving and Howard Lee spent $300,000 on this location, which replaced the original Samoa House located on Van Nuys in Sherman Oaks.

The building and furnishings were designed by Architect John Hutchison of Sherman Oaks, former partner of Hutchison, Kinsey, & Boeke. Structure was of contemporary styling and featured a roof of reinforced gypsum slab design. It was completely air conditioned.

Samoa House was a Valley institution and became a successful jazz club in the 1960's and 1970's...and closed by 1975.

Today, this is the location of a Chase bank.

Opened December 21st, 2020 by Beverage Director and General Manager Jeremy Ross, along with co-owners Porntipa “Pat” Pattanamekar and Parasak “Sing” Chokesatean.

As you would expect from the name, this is not a traditional tiki bar/restaurant. The space is open and modern, with light oak woodwork, slate floors, and simple tropical flower print wallpaper. There are repeated tiki face panels both on the standing pillars and on metal panel dividers. However, bright track lighting and open windows in front leave no shadows to speak of.

That said, Ross's creations honor the tiki and craft cocktail culture -- with fresh ingredients and fine rums -- albeit with some sometimes surprising Thai-inspired flavor combinations.

Drinks are served in branded tiki mugs supplied by Munktiki Imports among others.

Open at least as early as 1967 but might have been built earlier, closer to 1960.

This huge A-Frame store carried all sorts of exotic goods, including gifts, sportswear, and gourmet food from all over the globe.

It had a statue of the trader himself on the roofline below the peak of the A-frame.

Mentioned in the book, Tiki Pop, by Sven Kirsten -- page 102 -- as having multiple locations. One other location, perhaps the best recognized, was in Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

This 1940s Pre-Tiki tropical bar was built inside of a WWII quonset hut with bamboo and thatch. Next to it was the Oxnard Airport where a military training squadron was and Howard Hughes kept some aircraft there.

Opened in 1960, Honeymoon Haven was located in the Pocono Mountains at Viking Heights -- Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania.

They catered exclusively to honeymooners with "modern and colonial cottages...step down living room...canopy bed...wall-to-wall carpeting...all-stone fireplace...radiant heated bathroom with sunken tub...sun tan in your own bathroom...television."

The resort also offered "All indoor and outdoor sports...New indoor pool and solarium...New twin heart outdoor pool...bowling alleys...New ski tow...Polynesian cocktail lounge...and beauty salon."

Honeymoon Heaven ran until 1972, when it was purchased for re-development and became, as it is presently, The Pocono Environmental Education Center -- offering guided nature trips and overnight cabins.

Opened in 1958 by Pat Gilmore, the Islander Lounge is the oldest continuously open beach bar from Destin, Florida to Orange Beach, Alabama along that 70+ miles of Gulf coastline.

To put that in perspective, it was opened the same year as the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, California.

The Islander has expanded over the years. A game room area with its own bar was built years ago to adjoin the main bar. The club added an upstairs bar, the Cypress Bar, long ago, which is used for private parties and charity events, and open to the public on weekends. It leads out to an outside deck that looks south toward the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the striking remodeling from an immaculate 1950s Polynesian themed bamboo bar to a generically decorated neighborhood dive bar is disheartening for purist tikiphiles to look at. The gray walls and floor, not to mention the blaring televisions and signs for lotto and whiskey -- make it tough to spot any semblance of the former Polynesian theme.

Despite this, the bar is a survivor and still sports a few more modern tikis at the entrance and the upstairs deck. It is also much beloved by locals and doesn't need approval from outsiders who might disapprove of its decor.

The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood also saw a slide into generic dive bar status for several years, though, before being updated and refreshed. So, too, did the Bahi Hut in Sarasota, Florida. Perhaps the Islander Lounge also has a tiki remodel in its future?

The Mokhana Bar was located in Kokee Lodge at the top of Waimea Canyon, on Kauai.

It has long since been remodeled and no traces of the bar remain, although Kokee Lodge is still running.

The bar had Leeteg paintings on the walls, carved tikis, and served drinks out of coconuts.

Opened in 2010, in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

They pride themselves on being knowledgable about tiki cocktail history and in developing their own cocktails based on local seasonal fruits and juices. Additionally, they seek to please an Argentine palate and sometimes this means a tilt towards the bitter end of the spectrum. Cynar is popular, for instance. One of their popular cocktails, the Cynar Grill, is made with Cynar 70, roasted pineapple, lime juice, rosemary, elderberry and soda.

During Covid quarantines, when deliveries became the norm, they decided to put together special cocktail kit boxes which are delivered via a person dressed up as a sea lion with a captain's hat. See last photo. Since their mascot is a sea lion, it only made sense to run with it and lend a sense of whimsy to home deliveries.

Featured Polynesian and Cantonese dishes. Inside was a space designated the "Island Lounge". Host was Harry Lew. Open during the 70s, at least as early as 1973.