Tiki Bars
Xanadu Gallery
Menlo Park, California, United States (Closed)
Xanadu Gallery was owned by one of the owners of the nearby Palo Alto Trader Vic's; he was responsible for many of the Papua New Guinea artifacts on display there. This gallery, on the southwestern end of Santa Cruz Avenue, had a wide array of different Oceanic artifacts, including tikis, masks, drums, war clubs and canoes. Most were from Papua New Guinea, but there were a few other pieces from other islands. After the passing of the owner, much of the Oceanic art was sold, and this location was closed. There was also a remaining second Xanadu location in San Francisco at 140 Maiden Lane, but it closed later in 2015.
The Reef - Long Beach
Long Beach, California, United States (Closed)
The Reef opened on August 8th, 1958, and was co-owned by George Millay, creator of Sea World. The original restaurant had interior designs by Bobby Mavis, and had "Hula Grounds" with many tikis.
The Reef burned down in 1974, and was later re-built in 1980 by David Tallichet, one of the original partners in the old restaurant.
Tallichet and his company have run over 100 restaurants around the country over the years. The other Polynesian project he is well-known for is the Ports O' Call Restaurant at the Ports O' Call Village.
However, Tallichet re-built the new Reef building in a mining theme, that was popular around the country at the time, with lots of raw wood beams. He was later heard to voice regret that he didn't stick to the original Polynesian theme so many area residents fondly remembered. It's since been remodeled several times and the mining theme has been erased as well. The current restaurant isn't really tiki or Polynesian at all but it is almost 3 times as large as its predecessor and is still run by Tallichet's family-owned company, Specialty Restaurants Corporation, which currently owns 18 other restaurants, including The Castaway in Burbank, Castaway in San Bernardino, the aviation-themed Proud Bird ear LAX and 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys as well as Orange Hill in Orange.
Trader Vic's - Shanghai
Jingan Qu, Shanghai, China (Closed)
This Trader Vic's location opened on December 31, 2006, and it was the first in China -- where one has to wonder if the famed Chinese ovens were advertised as such in this new location, and whether they had the same exotic impact.
The location was on a corner in the Jing'an district, at the heart of Shanghai. The entry of the location was flanked by two large Maori-inspired tikis, and the interior was light and airy, but did have an assortment of flotsam & jetsam hanging from the vaulted ceiling.
The location closed @ February 15th, 2008.
*NOTE: Their drink menu was a standard Trader Vic's style cocktail menu which has remained much the same since the 60s, but prices were listed in Chinese Yuan. Nowhere on the actual menu did it actually say "Shanghai, China" but it did have a list of all the international locations on the inside cover -- so was probably just the standard template for several international locations at the time.
The Jungle Room - at Graceland - Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Graceland is the mansion of Elvis Presley, and today it serves as a museum, with daily tours. Graceland is notable as a tiki destination for one reason: the legendary Jungle Room. This was Elvis' den, and it was decorated entirely with chunky Witco furniture, made of singed Cypress. Included is a small bar with stools, decorated with tikis. The room is also notable for its lime-green shag carpet, not only on the floor, but also on the ceiling.
Legend has it that Elvis found the furniture in a showroom in Memphis, and bought the entire set; coincidentally, that same day, his father Vernon had seen the set in the same store, and mentioned to Elvis how ugly it had been, without knowing that Elvis had bought the whole shebang.
The Jungle Room was the site of Elvis' final two studio recording sessions in 1976, when he set up a makeshift studio in the room. Tracks from the sessions have appeared on several posthumous releases.
Samoan Sea Apartments
Los Angeles, California, United States
Nestled somewhat awkwardly between the Harbor Fwy and an on-ramp sits the Samoan Sea Apartments. It was likely built in the '60s, and the front of the building still has a lot of charm. There is a large A-frame entrance, flanked by pier posts with nautical chain, and plenty of lush landscaping. There are two very big tikis that are still in great shape, thanks to their concrete construction. The tikis are painted, and look very similar to the spitting tiki drums in Adventureland at Walt Disney World. The rest of the grounds are sort of well-maintained, but one gets the sense that the days of luxury living at the Samoan Seas are firmly in the past.
Young's Cafeteria
Glen Dale, West Virginia, United States (Closed)
Young's Cafeteria, a longtime family restaurant, first opened in 1968 in Wheeling before moving locations twice, ending up at its final location along Wheeling Avenue in Glen Dale in 1976.
It had a back room that was tikified, with tikis, lauhala matting, lamps and bamboo.
It was in Glen Dale on the main road through town, adjacent to the town of Moundsville. Since it was a restaurant only, there were no tiki drinks to be had here -- at least, not any alcoholic ones.
Young's closed at the end of 2016.
Bamboo House Restaurant
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada (Closed)
The Bamboo House began its life in 1965 as the Outrigger Restaurant.
The Outrigger closed in 1976, but was soon resurrected as Bamboo House.
The indications are that the place had retained much of its tiki charm. The building was a very tall A-frame, with very large lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Bamboo House was demolished on December 15, 2009. One of the exterior tikis along with an exterior mask went to a local museum, The Exploration Place, (shown with curator below and as part of their installation).
Outrigger Restaurant - Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada (Closed)
The Outrigger was opened by Jack Lee in 1965, with a tall A-frame roof, lava rock exterior walls, a tiki support post near the entrance, and lots of bamboo and tiki masks inside.
It closed in 1976.
The building lived on for many years as the Bamboo House Restaurant with much of its decor intact, until it was bulldozed on December 15, 2009. One of the tikis and a mask from the restaurant's exterior went to a local museum, The Exploration Place, (shown with curator below and as part of their installation).
Hawaiian Gardens - Lauderdale Lakes
Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, United States
Built in 1970.
Hawaiian Gardens began as a large apartment complex, and now is mostly a retirement community.
The grounds remain well maintained, with water features, palms and flowers in the landscaping.
Many tikis were on the site as of the mid 2000s, still in good shape, including a few likely Witco pieces. However reports of theft and huge sweeping renovations may have disposed of what once was.
Fiji Island - Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia, United States (Closed)
Owned and operated by Charles Chang and family, Fiji Island was around for at least thirty years, and at one time had a sister location in a Holiday Inn in Charlottesville, VA.
Food was typical Chinese, and drinks were served in tiki mugs (one of the bartenders here once worked at Trader Vic's).
There were tikis throughout, but they were of the brightly-painted variety that appears to be more common in that part of the country.
The basement of Fiji Island hosted a sometimes loud dance club, called the Club at Fiji.
Closed August 2016.
Chef Shangri-La
North Riverside, Illinois, United States
Opened in 1976.
For some reason, this gem of a restaurant often gets forgotten... likely because Chicago is a relatively tiki-rich city. Chef Shangri-La deserves a visit, as its drinks are spot-on, and the food is predictably and somehow appropriately mediocre. The place has a sort of almost neglected, run-down feel, but the bones are there, and there are tikis everywhere. The bar in particular has recently undergone a rare remodel that has improved the feel of the place.
Chef Shangri-La himself, owner Paul Fong, could often be found there before his passing in 2012. Before opening his own Polynesian restaurant, Fong was the chef at the now-defunct Shangri-La restaurant in Chicago.
The restaurant has a few Witco pieces, including a very large Ku that greets you immediately upon entry. These pieces are some of the last Witco items produced; Witco went out of business one year after Chef Shangri-La opened.
They also have a small gift shop.
As you will glean from their social media, the bar hosts a number of tribute singers/bands (Elvis, Olivia Newton John, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, etc...).
Outrigger Restaurant - Whitsundays
Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia (Closed)
The Outrigger Restaurant was an older fine dining establishment on Hamilton Island, a small resort island between the Queensland coast and the Great Barrier Reef. The decor was Polynesian, but the food was described as Australian. It is not clear just how Polynesian the decor was, and if there were any tikis. However, at some point the restaurant was apparently converted into a multipurpose wedding and event reception area which it currently serves as -- at least as of 2021.