Tiki Bars
Bamboo Room by Trader Vic's - at Esmé Miami Beach Hotel
Miami Beach, Florida, United States (Closed)
Opened Friday, September 13th, 2024.
According to its designers: "The Bamboo Room by Trader Vic’s, located within the stylish Esmé Miami Beach Hotel at 1438 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach, offers a seductive atmosphere where the past and present collide. Spanning 1,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, the lounge can accommodate up to 50 seated guests. Inspired by the original Trader Vic’s Bamboo Room, this venue pays homage to classic tiki culture while incorporating contemporary design elements. Its accents, tropical décor and innovative cocktail menu create an exotic, escapist ambiance that transports guests to a different era."
Many tikiphiles and Trader Vic's fans found the "contemporary design elements" meant a stripped-down atmosphere without all the flotsam and jetsam, carvings, and tapa cloth they'd come to appreciate at other Trader Vic's locations -- just another fine dining environment, but with an impressive array of cocktails served in Trader Vic's tiki mugs and food supplied by Sushi Bar next door.
It may not have been as immersive a tiki space as traditional Trader Vics locations, but with excellent food and drinks, it appeared they might still make a go of it, but this did not last long.
Closed April 20, 2026.
Don Hammond’s 7 Seas
Omaha, Nebraska, United States (Closed)
Omaha, Nebraska nightclub owner and local personality Don Hammond opened his 7 Seas club on December 1, 1947.
“Skipper Don” spared no expense, adorning his club in tropical splendor with a maritime / Pacific island motif. For nearly a decade, Don Hammond’s 7 Seas offered patrons a seemingly limitless parade of live musical acts and entertainers, while serving a full menu and cocktails.
In March 1957, Hammond sold the 7 Seas to Gene Purcell, a featured performer for Lawrence Welk, and whose musical combo was a fixture throughout the Omaha nightclub scene.
Five years later, in April 1962, the 7 Seas was acquired by the adjoining Diplomat Hotel as part of an expansion and closed.
Don Hammond would go on to manage other night spots across the Omaha area, including The Tiki Lounge at the Flamingo Supper Club.
Photo Credit: Don Hammond’s 7 Seas, October 25, 1951. Courtesy of the Bostwick-Frohardt/KM3TV Photography Collection at The Durham Museum Photo Archive.
Pele Utu
Reno, Nevada, United States
September 26th, 2024 was their soft opening.
Lots of details in this bar, including a huge mosaic style Easter Island Moai mural behind the back bar.
It's dark and divey with black velvet paintings and carved tiki masks lit by hanging swag lamps.
Hosting live music acts.
Pele & volcano logo designed by Rarabird.
Long-time tikiphile, Dr. Shocker (and his wife, Rosie Raddish), is behind this venue, so its certain that the classic tiki cocktails will be on point.
Jungle Bird - San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Opened in September of 2016.
This bar describes itself as a "Tropical leisure cocktail bar located in the heart of La Placita de Santurce."
They serve tiki and tropical cocktails with a rum focus, and use a variety of tiki mugs.
Like many recent bars, the decor is lightly tropical but not immersive with tiki carvings and artwork in the way that Trader Vics and Don the Beachcomber set the standards with -- and probably why they do not use the "Tiki" label for themselves, preferring to focus on the cocktails.
However there is at least one actual wood tiki carving in the outside patio area and the overall ambience is dimly lit and inviting, sure to attract tiki aficionados who might be in the area and thirsty for a crafted beverage.
Exotic Isle Apartments - Alhambra
Alhambra, California, United States
Built in 1964.
Not to be confused with the Exotic Isle Apartments in Paramount, California at 8600 Rosecrans Avenue that were built in 1963.
This Alhambra location was lush and populated with tiki carvings, tropical plantings, and water features in its heyday.
The carvings became overgrown and were removed and the name was eventually changed to Jade Gardens, but the A-frame and basic architecture of the site remains intact.
Older photos of this location can be found in Sven Kirsten's Book of Tiki (page 220).
Islander Westport Motel & Bamboo Room
Westport, Washington, United States (Closed)
Opened in 1965.
The Islander in Westport, Washington, was a premier marina front destination for fishermen, surfers and beach goers alike. With wonderful views of the fishing fleet of the Westport Marina, the Olympic Mountains, the vast Pacific Ocean and an awesome surf spot, the Islander was a favored getaway.
It was during the 60s that the motel advertised a dining room & coffee shop, 31 ocean view units, a large heated pool, and a Bamboo Room with dancing. See vintage flyer below...
In other ephemera and on swizzle sticks the Bamboo Room is called a "Tiki Room".
At some point this Bamboo/Tiki Room was remodeled...and all signs of tiki removed...
Neddie Rose Farrington, a legend in Westport, ruled the Marina from The Islander Resort for many decades, overseeing dozens of charter boat captains, countless fishermen, and many a wayward Karaoke superstar. When Neddie was ready to retire in 2004, she turned to a local land developer who was giving his best shot at updating Westport's tourist economy. The restaurant was remodeled and given a new name "The Half Moon Bay Bar and Grill" and the site underwent design and permitting to be redeveloped into a boutique hotel project. In 2008, the project was placed on hold when the regional, national, and world economic markets went into a tailspin.
The Islander was purchased in 2015 and re-opened in March 2017, under the same original name.
However, a fire in April of 2020 caused around $250,000 damage to the site.
After re-building and re-modeling, the site was re-christened as the Saltwater Inn and is currently in operation as of 2025.
Uncharted - at The Phoenix Saloon
New Braunfels, Texas, United States (Closed)
Opened in December 2024 in the basement under the historic Phoenix Saloon in New Braunfels, Texas.
The build-out was designed and carried out by The Boozy Doodler (Jason Straughan). Owners of the Phoenix Saloon had visited Jason's home bar, the Taboozy Lei, during Covid and had asked him if he could transform their basement into something similar.
The space incorporated lots of old school tiki elements and touches from Jason's own invention, like an animated ship in a bottle. Details included: Papua New Guinea carvings, a nautical section (with mermaid prow figure and windows looking out at the sea), tons of routered wood trim, bamboo, lauhala matting, hanging fish floats, cork floats hanging from strands of nautical rope, and much much more. The incredible attention to detail satisfied even the pickiest of tikiphiles and was evidence that this was a true labor of love.
Closed January 14th, 2025 due to disagreements between Jason Straughan and bar owners.
Southgate Shopping Center - Sacramento
Sacramento, California, United States
Opened in 1960.
One of the first mall-type shopping centers in -or around- California's capital, SOUTHGATE CENTER was developed by a joint venture of Sacramento's James J. Cordano Company and San Francisco's Blumenfeld Enterprises. The single level, open-air complex was designed by Los Angeles' Chaix & Johnson firm and W.B. David, of Sacramento.
It has undergone many developments over the years and is hardly recognizable today.
Most recognized by tikiphiles for having a Barney West tiki on display outside, which was viewable at least as late as 1984.
Notably, the phallus was removed from the carving, for fear of hurting the delicate sensibilities of shoppers.
Today the entire statue is gone...
Gin Rummy
Venice, California, United States
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.
Dum Dum - York
United Kingdom
Opened in Summer of 2022.
Located inside the premises occupied for 20 years by a fish and chip shop, first known as Mr Chippy and later rebranded as Hook & Line.
Owned by Maria Pavlou and her partners who also own Vudu Lounge and have run it since 2004 in the same building.
The name "Dum Dum" comes from the Moai character in the Night at the Museum movies.
The interior is what they describe as "Tiki Modern" by which they mean sparse and uncluttered without doing the immersive decor that is familiar to those tikiphiles who are used to the old school standards set by Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's. Dum Dum's booths and stools incorporate rattan and earth toned vinyl padded seating. Walls are covered with tropical leaf prints. A couple of walls feature fake foliage and neon lighting with messages like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Rum, Forest, Rum". Ceilings are lit with swag lamps and the space over the bar is draped with several dozen fake flower leis. There are a few small foot-tall Moai statues on one wall, but no large carvings...and especially with the bar's name, it seems like there should be at least one massive Moai on premises, even if carved of foam or fiberglass. Artwork and decor is lacking, but this stripped-down space is more focused on the club crowd who are there to dance.
That said, they appear to have a thriving cocktail menu with a variety of their own concoctions as well as old standards to choose from... and they do serve drinks in tiki mugs.
The Lost Lei
Austin, Texas, United States (Closed)
The Lost Lei opened May 15, 2019 in Austin.
Located in the basement beneath Capital Grill.
The initial opening was underwhelming with decor consisting of thatch over the bar, some inexpensive tiki masks on the back bar, and some "Skull Columns" (three structural supports wrapped with plastic skulls in the center of the space).
Add to this, the bar was almost immediately met with controversy for issuing mugs that were blatantly copied from the famous Three Dots and a Dash Chicago mugs. They also produced mugs whose designs were ripped off from previous Tiki Farm and Crazy Al mugs.
They did slowly make efforts in the wake of widespread complaints and removed the mugs from general use. Although many ended up sold on the secondary market.
They also issued some colorful Royer swizzle sticks.
Closed in December of 2021.
The Toasted Coconut
Houston, Texas, United States
Opened in 2019 by husband and wife team Martin and Sara Stayer of Nobie’s Restaurant fame.
This venue swings more tropical than tiki with its decor, although you might spy a small tiki or two hanging out at their water fountain feature.
Primarily a restaurant known for its food, The Toasted Coconut also has a full listing of tropical cocktails sure to please most tikiphiles.