Built in 1964, the Tiki Apartments in Canoga Park was a multi-family 2 story construction with 5+ units (17 beds and 47 baths).

It is unclear how long many of the tiki elements held on, but most were certainly gone after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994.

As of 2025, the only vestiges of its original construction are the sections covered by lava rock and the A-frame in the center.

This speakeasy tiki bar opened in 2022 in the basement of the Barney's Beanery in Pasadena.

It is a large space and is lined with several booths, a wall lined with coconut monkeys, and many float lamp lights suspended from the ceiling for atmosphere.

It doubles as their live events space with

KARAOKE NIGHT: Thursdays from 10pm to close, Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30pm

and

COMEDY NIGHT: Every Wednesday Home Cookin Comedy! Hosted by Leonard Smith Jr. & Pasadena's Best Free Comedy Night

Opened at the beginning of 2025 in what used to be the lobby of Oceanside's Brick Hotel (established in 1988), The Lobby Tiki Bar & Grill replaces the former Q&A Restaurant and Oyster Bar.

Owned by Pete Cich, of Grind & Prosper Hospitality.

The space is decorated with lauhala matting on the walls, fake foliage, and tiki masks.

They have a full cocktail menu and serve cocktails in tiki mugs.

Early reviews report that although the interior decor may not be as extensive/immersive as some tiki venues, the food and cocktails are both on point and, exotica music is often played.

So, overall, a good strong start.

Built in 1963.

This motel drew its name from a mash-up of "Polynesian" and "Mollison" Avenue in El Cajon.

The A-frame with lamp theme seems borrowed from the Half-Moon Inn in nearby San Diego.

Eventually, Best Western purchased the motel and decided to add their corporate crown logo to the top of the sign instead of the original torch.

Best Western continues to operate this site today, as of 2025, but through a series of progressive remodels (most recently in 2019), it bears no resemblance to the original construction.

The Tiki Mirage cocktail bar started in 2019 as a pop-up in West Los Angeles. It's now a bookable cocktail experience for parties and collaborations, re-located to Chinatown for the time being.

Founders Max Masuda-Farkas, Aaron Girard, and Nick Newberg, decked out a box truck with a detailed tiki interior and crafted it into a show with its own original story.

Those who book the $85 gratuity-included tickets will be asked to meet at a Google-pinned location in Chinatown and get escorted over to the truck. Once seated, bartenders will assemble a cocktail menu by World’s 50 Best Los Angeles bar Thunderbolt while the trio tells a narrative based on tales of a fictional sea explorer named Daniel T. Coleridge.

This liquor store was re-located to this location at 8 41st Avenue when the Lanai Bar & Restaurant closed in 1988 -- later to become a Walgreens.

Before this, from @1960-1988, it was located between the Villa Chartier and The Lanai (right next to the main entrance), in the Villa Square.

The store had a beautiful neon sign and a Barney West tiki out front at one point.

The Barney West tiki was sold off due to the owner's financial difficulties when their liquor license was revoked in 2002.

Closed @ 04/2024. Later became Phillips Liquor, and more recently King's Liquors.

These unnamed Duarte Apartments probably had a very Polynesian or Island-themed name when they first opened, but have switched hands several times and are often just named unimaginatively as "Duarte Apartments" or after whichever managing company owns them from year to year.

This is a 30-unit courtyard-style multifamily property built in 1966, with 23,917 square feet of building and an oversized lot of 52,024 square feet. The property has a mix of two three-bedroom/two-baths, nineteen two-bedroom/one-baths, and nine one-bedroom/one-bath units. The property features two A-frame main entrances with tiki poles forming the frames. A round glass swag lamp hangs from the tallest points.

There are also tiki railings (or there used to be) leading up to these entrances.

Inside is a tiki roof decoration over the tenant mailboxes.

In back is a community pool.

The Hawaiian Hut was a pre-tiki venue which opened in late 1936/early 1937, and was originally operated by Tony Guerrero with Bill Ornellas, whose nickname was “Whistling/Whislyn/Whislin’.” Built in 1928, the building had previously housed a series of short-lived cafes and clubs before the Hawaiian Hut came along.

Hawaiian-born Tony appeared in a few films and was married to former child actor Charlotte “Peaches” Jackson. He sold his interest in the Hawaiian Hut by 1940 and the couple moved to Honolulu where they operated a restaurant, The Tropics at Waikiki.

Ornellas’ Hawaiian Hut featured not just mere rain on the roof but an entire tropical storm effect. On July 13, 1942, the hut was damaged by an arson-set fire; it reopened September 2, 1942 and continued here through 1945.

Gin Rummy, an island-inspired cocktail bar in Venice, CA, opened its doors on Friday, May 26, 2023.

It is not a tiki bar, but does serve tiki cocktails and has some tiki decor, including a few small tiki carvings scattered throughout, some rattan furniture on the patio, and lots of leafy tropical foliage.

It is what tikiphiles might refer to as "tiki adjacent" or "tiki friendly".

Bar proprietor Jared Meisler says, "I’ve always loved the cocktails that come from beach cultures, just as much as I love the imagery and feel of beachy bars. I see a through line between a Tiki Bar, a Cuban Rum Bar, a Mexican Cantina, a Brazilian Quisque, a Spanish Chiringuito and a Venice Beach watering hole. They’re all timeless, relaxed, and fun, serving fantastic and unique drinks. Gin Rummy is an homage to all things Beach Bar, from Nautical to Tropical, in a vintage parlor.”

Gin Rummy is a Venn Diagram of those themes.

It has a very spacious feel with the large outdoor seating area flowing into the indoor bar area as one huge open space.

There is also a section filled with vintage style pinball games.

Opened circa 2010.

This was not a classic tiki bar but more like a college/sports bar lightly skinned with tikis and beach decor.

It had both an inside seating area and a back outdoor patio with its own bar.

The interior walls were painted solid colors over the years (light gray or orange) or covered in bare brick (patio exterior). The ceilings sported exposed beams with track lighting. Lots of TVs around the room playing sports.

They placed some inexpensive tiki masks and carvings around, along with a few old surfboards and a Sailor Jerry's Hula Girl Statue, but the overall vibe of the place still screamed college bar or sports bar.

It didn't help that they had a very limited selection of non-craft tropical cocktails and did heavy promotion of their "Shot-Ski" where shots are lined up for several drinkers to lift and drink at once as a group activity off a literal ski.

Their closing was also rather abrupt in 2023, but probably not terribly missed by people looking for an authentic tiki experience.

There have been a ton of bars and restaurants named "Pago Pago" over the years.

This one at 319 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs (some ads say 317) was opened in April of 1945 by Eddie Brandhorst (who also owned a Pago Pago in Long Beach).

It was formerly "The Waikiki" and owned by Joe Felix (at least as early as 1941).

It seems to have had a fire incident early on but was quickly remodeled and re-opened in October of 1945.

This pre-tiki establishment was known for advertising dancing and rain on the roof.

According to the Desert Sun, the petition to allow dancing was approved in August of 1946, so they had to wait for a little while after their initial opening.

The interior was also decked out with a large mural of scantily-clad native women, which the owner defended in the Desert Sun, December 6th, 1946, stating: "Ladies, do not fear for your husbands in the Mural Room. I know how they gaze at the Pago nymphs on the Pago walls—but they’re only painted there. Besides, the painter, Allan Woods, also came from Long Beach, 'a stern, unbending Puritan town.'"

Ownership changed, transferring to Don Artz as early as April of 1947 when he took ownership according to Desert Sun newspaper ads.

It was put up for sale in 1948 after Don fell on ill health.

Later, the site was taken over by Lee Bering and the name changed to "Lee Bering's Restaurant" in 1949, apparently making a break from the tropical island theme.

This location had a very nice sign once-upon-a-time and was located on El Centro's motel row @1960s-70s.

Around 2012 it was converted to the "American Inn" and later to "Villa Hermosa Apartments".