Opened May 11th, 1956.

This location featured three cocktail lounges: The Town Pump, The Piano Lounge, and The Hawaiian Room.

The advertisement for the opening of The Hawaiian Room invites patrons to “Visit our Driftwood Well, the Singing Stairway, and see our Massive Charcoal Fireplace.” Live music and dancing were a fixture, and in July 1959, the lounge played host to the newly crowned Miss Hawaii, less than a month before Hawaii’s statehood.

The Hawaiian Room featured several original cocktails as well as a long list of tropical classics such as the Zombie, Navy Grog, Planters Punch and more. The original drinks, such as the Molokai Monsoon and Tarantula Bowl were created by “Mixologist” Melvin Santos, an experienced professional bartender who had previously been employed by The Shangri-La and Don the Beachcomber in Chicago. It can be assumed that Santos based his cocktails off the drinks he’d been slinging at Don’s, as many of them (such as the Hilo Diver and Maiden’s Downfall) appear to be riffs on classic Don creations, with a few Trader Vic inspired recipes for good measure.

The Hawaiian Room continued to serve Cantonese food and tropical cocktails until its closure in April-May 1972.

The building was destroyed by a tornado in 1975.

South Seas Cafe (1937-1977) was San Diego’s first large, Tahitian-themed restaurant, home of ‘rain on the roof’ just like at Ray Haller’s Seven Seas (1935) in Hollywood (later Bob Brooks Seven Seas).

The South Seas Cafe not only had the distinction of being the first large Tahitian/Pre-Tiki restaurant in San Diego — it was a woman-owned business. Opened Saturday night July 10, 1937 by Ruth W. Becker and Charles Thomas, South Seas Cafe was located across from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Pacific Highway.

“We feel sure that the atmosphere of the ‘South Seas’” said co-owner Charles Thomas to the press, “in which we produce lightning, thunder and the beating rain of a tropical storm, will delight seekers of the unusual. The South Seas illusion will be enhanced by Tahitian portraits and figure studies, done by Leeteg. The haunting rhythms of Hawaii will be produced nightly by steel guitars and ukuleles in the capable hands of Stone’s Hawaiians.”

Consolidated Aircraft Corporation’s newly-built production facility nearby provided a busy lunch crowd. And the novelty of an indoor rainstorm with thunder and lightning drew in as many patrons as could fit in the Tahitian-inspired restaurant. Their collection of ‘figural studies’ by painter Edward Leeteg certainly didn’t hurt, either.

Along with the Leeteg paintings down in the bar, they prominently featured an 11-foot-tall black velvet nudie by Morris Levine in the upstairs dining area, and on their menus. The Levine was reportedly won in a Las Vegas dice game bet by Wilbur Clark.

Top it off with thick steaks. Fried shrimp. Rum drinks. Entertainment by Stone’s Hawaiians, Teddy ‘K’ and his Hawaiians, Benny Kealoha and his famous ‘Echo Song.’ Comedy by Our Gang actor Spec O’Donnell. All this made the South Seas Cafe a destination spot.

The South Seas closed in 1977 and was replaced by a ladder store. For years it was a GolfMart, and later was part of an AMVETs thrift store properties. Most Recently, as of 2021, the property was vacant and up for lease.

Del Webb's hotel Ocean House was located on the Pacific Coast Highway on Mission Bay.

Del Webb was an American real-estate developer, and a co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He also built the Kuilima Hotel & Resort (now known as the Turtle Bay Resort) in Hawaii.

Opened in 1962, with design by Las Vegas architect Martin Stern, Jr. (1917-2001).

The complex sat on several acres, had 200 rooms in the hotel, a dining room, coffee shop, the Jolly Roger cocktail lounge, and banquet and convention facilities to accommodate up to 1,000.

The most notable tiki features were several impressive carvings around the pool area. There were also brightly painted tiki mask faces along one exterior wall -- shown in the Jerry Lewis film, The Big Mouth (1967).

The cocktail lounge was not a tiki bar, but was a deeply immersive nautical themed space.

It was sold two years later to become the Hilton San Diego Inn, becoming the Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa, renovated in 2007.

Currently (as of 2022) owned by Noble House Hotels & Resorts and branded as the San Diego Mission Bay Resort. No trace of the tikis today...

Hurricane Cove, Avalon, Santa Catalina Island was a pre and post-war restaurant and bar (1937-1979), located at 305 Crescent.

It would be considered pre-tiki and followed in the footsteps of the Hurricane Bars in New York and San Francisco who also took their iconography and theme from the 1937 film, starring Dorothy Lamour.

Hurricane Cove once featured a huge semi-circle bamboo piano bar. It was originally owned by Oscar Griffith (1895-1974). David Renton, was the architect for the Wrigley Family and designed the structures on the Island per the Wrigley request, (including the Casino). The Wrigley family did not want any tropical themed structures, but Oscar and the owners of the Waikiki Hotel were able to prevail and had their businesses constructed the way they wanted.

Oscar had a band, Jimmy Lowe and the Sons of Hawaii, who played regularly at his place. Oscar had after hours for top named entertainers that played at the Avalon Casino Ballroom including Benny Goodman. Oscar had the place built per his vision which included a bamboo bar in 1938. He had lights, fans and audio to simulate a hurricane which were activated every hour. Oscar imported an expert in bamboo construction from California.

In 1957, Hurricane Cove was managed by Johnny Piacentini and Vince Scari.

Los Angeles attorney, Don Lake, who had done work for Oscar, Griffith purchased Hurricane Cove and had it remodeled.

More than 40 years after it first opened, Hurricane Cove was destroyed by a fire on March 4, 1979. So was the 20-unit Waikiki Hotel.

Opened November 12th, 2021 in the space formerly occupied by BurgerFi.

This is Napa's first tiki bar, run by Nat Komes and family, who have deep roots in Napa and are known for Flora Springs Winery.

The name of the lounge is inspired by their family history and Uncle Wilfred in particular. Flora Cabral and her brother, Wilfred, grew up in Hawaii. Flora later married Jerry Komes and they started Flora Springs Winery.

This location pays homage to Wilfred, who often played the ukulele and entertained guests.

Their signature tiki logo was inspired by The Tiki-Jo logo tiki which was carved by Eli Hedley in the late 50s.

Interior work was done by Ben Bassham (Bamboo Ben, who is the grandson of Eli Hedley) and Billy Crud (Crud Tiki Polynesian Design).

This bar opened on Friday, October 1st, 2021.

From their website:

"Misfit Tiki Bar is Tromsø’s own little exotic oasis, adding warmth and color to an otherwise cold and dark arctic city.

Misfit Tiki Bar is created to honor tiki culture's past and reinvigorate it here in the north. Located in the city center of the arctic capital, Tromsø. Misfit Tiki Bar features a variation of both original and modern tiki-tails, as well as a few simple yet delicious bar snacks.

Misfit Tiki Bar offers a large collection of rum from numerous countries around the world, while handcrafting a wide variety of homemade ingredients. The bar taps into the history of Tiki, paying homage to the heritage and indigenous artforms of Oceania’s treasured past that originally inspired Tiki culture. The decorations are crafted by both local and international carpenters and artists, from Norway to The UK and Hawaii."

Misfit Tiki Bar is located above their big brother bar, the Bastard Bar, known as a thriving live music venue that started in 2009.

Established in 1984.

"Malahini" translates to "stranger" or "newcomer" in Hawaiian. However, despite the Hawaiian name and several Hawaiian touches, this is primarily a Chinese Restaurant. It is located in a strip mall and the interior's white drop ceiling, white walls, and green glass pub shades over the bar do little to enhance the island feeling either. However, it does have some nice touches, including some vintage Orchids of Hawaii swag lamps, some tiki masks on the walls, and several frosted glass panels that show palm trees and other island images.

Their website and current menu does not include a cocktail list.

This motel was incorporated on April 21st, 1959.

Marvin Cooper, a Miami resident, built and owned the Royal Hawaiian Motel, operating under a corporate name (Royal Hawaiian Corporation).

Postcards describe it as: "Florida's most unique vacation resort featuring the authentic gracious atmosphere of exotic Hawaii. Apartments and motel rooms - air conditioned - & heated - swimming pool - coffee shop, and the intimate Grass Shack Lounge for your entertainment." The front of the building had a rock fireplace with a large tiki mask and there was a ten foot tall die-cut and neon-lit hula girl over the driveway.

Del & Kiki Perkins purchased the Royal Hawaiian Motel in 1968 from Marvin Cooper, then renovated it and renamed it to the Windjammer Motel.

It still retained its fountain and tiki mask out front for a time.

However, in the fall of 1971, Del Perkins, operating with his wife as the Schooner Corporation, began a renovation which combined the Windjammer Beach Motel (formerly the Royal Hawaiian Motel) with the adjacent Reef Beach Motel (a Quality Courts establishment), another property that he had purchased in 1964.

This began a series of acquisitions and remodeling and somewhere in later years the last vestiges of the old Royal Hawaiian were lost.

It appears that Asian Outpost was established here in 2013 but that the Hawaiian Hideout remodel and change happened in 2020.

AO Hawaiian Hideout describes themselves as "A hidden tropical gem, serving onolicious homestyle cuisines from East Asia, Southeast Asia & Polynesia."

They don't call their restaurant a tiki bar, but it has all the hallmarks of one. Some of those details include tikis, tropical wahine paintings, Witco carvings on the walls, Orchids of Hawaii lamps, an outrigger canoe on the dining area's ceiling, a life-sized shark hanging over the bar, and tapa-cloth-patterned booths.

The owner, Betty, is extremely passionate about her menu and taking care of their guests, and her husband, Duane, has done most of the island-themed buildout himself. Keeping with their tradition of supporting the local tiki community when they ran Chef Shangri-La, they built a stage to host the area’s surf, exotica, and rockabilly bands, as well as their popular Elvis tribute show.

The bar uses and sells a wide variety of Geeki Tiki mugs.

David Tallichet's Ports O' Call Restaurant, housed in a Polynesian longhouse and surrounded by a forest of tropical foliage in pure Adventureland tradition, opened February 8th, 1961 and proved an immediate success. A lagoon at the entrance, ringed jungle-thick with tropical plants, had a Chinese sampan boat partially sunken in it. Rooms inside were themed to Hawaii (Waikiki), Tahiti, the Hong Kong Yacht Club and a Japanese "Tea Room" - a concept lifted wholesale from Steve Crane's Kon-Tiki Ports chain in Hiltons across the country.

The restaurant sat in the larger Ports O' Call Village -- a seaside plaza that featured souvenir and gift shops, along with restaurants, sweetshops, fish markets and quick-bite eateries. This New England-style seaside village encompassed 15 acres of shops, restaurants and attractions. A meandering promenade of cobblestone streets connects the specialty shops.

More than 40 surrounding merchants were in place when the entire complex held its grand opening on July 13, 1963. When the Whaler’s Wharf section, south of the restaurant, opened in 1967, there were 85 businesses operating in Ports O’ Call Village.

The village drew a good number of people who passed through San Pedro to visit Marineland, a high-profile aquarium/theme park attraction next door, in Rancho Palos Verdes, that closed in February 1987.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, village merchants began to complain about their leases and the upkeep.

By 1984 Tallichet was forced to make some changes and address concerns. The Ports O' Call Restaurant was given a new look and they added a second level with banquet facilities, although the Polynesian theme was done away with almost entirely. Described as "Nautical Victorian", photos of the place which survive online resemble more an 80s retirement home recreation room with bits of tropical decor here and there.

The refurbishments weren't enough and the village continued a slow decline over the years...

The Ports O' Call Restaurant hung on until 2018, when it was forced to close.

Currently, as of 2022, this area is scheduled to be re-developed and has been re-branded as West Harbor (with restaurants, shops, and fresh markets). The $155 million project is scheduled to complete in three phases, with the first phase introducing new restaurants, shops and bars with a finish date of 2024.

Open since 2013, just a year before the founder of Chick-fil-A, S. Truett Cathy, passed away.

It would seem like the kind of thing they might try out in the actual Hawaiian islands, but it's not. There are none in Hawaii as of 2021. However, if you are the founder, you can do whatever you want, and Truett decided toward the end of his life that it would be fun to have a Hawaiian-style version of one of his restaurants in Georgia.

This location is much larger and more resplendent than your typical Chick-fil-A but has a similar menu with the addition of some Hawaiian-themed foods like Kalua pork and Hawaiian-style bread pudding. They have Hawaiian-style drinks as well, like their Frosted Hawaiian shakes which are served in souvenir tiki glasses.

There are some tikis located throughout, Hawaiian art, tropical palm fans overhead, and koa wood (or local Georgian hardwood) tables. One seating section actually has booths with thatching and tiki poles.

They are fond of throwing luau parties for children, often featuring hula dancers.

Barney West (1919-1981) was a tiki carver during the golden age of midcentury Polynesian Pop.

West, a native of Seattle, came to the Bay Area as a boy when his parents moved to Oakland. His father was chief engineer for the steam schooner Wapama which is now part of a San Francisco waterfront museum. During World War II, West joined the Merchant Marine and served as a steward on Liberty ships in the South Pacific. During his 15 years at sea, West became interested in the native art of Easter Island, Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Hawaii, an infatuation that later had a great influence on his art. West moved to an ark on Corte Madera creek shortly after the end of World War II. To set himself up in the woodcarving business, he drove spikes and laid heavy rails for a railroad crew. West’s first wood carving came from redwood pilings he floated to his home from San Pablo Bay. His first major customer was restaurateur Trader Vic Bergeron who purchased many pieces of West’s early art.

After establishing himself as a wood carver, West opened a studio in Sausalito ("Tiki Junction") on land lent to him by Zack’s by the Bay owner (Zack’s became Margaritaville, then Paradise Bay, now Salito’s Crab House), Sam Zakessian in 1963. The tiny studio soon became engulfed by tikis and other assorted tropical carvings and vegetation. West began his carving career with conventional carving tools but soon progressed to a chain saw. He shipped in mammoth redwood logs by rail and shipped his commissioned works on flatcars all over the country. West’s art can be found in London, Hawaii, and Cuba. West’s business thrived well in Sausalito and at one time he had five apprentices working with him.