Built in 1956. The Village of Hillburn is where the once well-known Motel & Restaurant on the Mountain operated and was regarded as a local landmark. It was designed by a prominent architect, Junzo Yoshimura, who modeled the facility after the famous Kyomizudera temple in Kyoto Japan. 

The site boasted 16 buildings, a restaurant, 101 rooms, a coffee shop, and cocktail lounge, as well as a clear view of Manhattan from 30 miles away. They offered banquet/conference facilities as well as dinner theater and ski season packages.

Somewhere in this 18-year-span from 1956-1974 with the original owners, they also ordered custom cocktail mugs and drink bowls from Otagiri with their signature menu cover's risqué Geisha Girl which is taken from a piece of period art housed at the Met:

*Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, 1753–1806). A Woman and a Cat, ca. 1793–94. Edo period (1615–1868), Japan. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929. 

They removed the cat from their graphic art because apparently exposed nipples were permitted but showing pussy was just too much!

Thomas Esposito took ownership of the property in 1974 and unsuccessfully ran it for three failing years with many different entertainment acts. Faced with defeat, he brainstormed a last ditch attempt to make it work financially. From September 1977 - January 1978, Esposito attempted to turn it into the first gay resort in the Northeast. This attempt failed and successive businesses took control of the property since then. However, many today in the LGBTQ+ community still remember this as a historic first.

Today, it is home to Mt. Fuji Steakhouse and has been since 1985 when they did a major remodel to add it to their chain.

In 2019, The LuWow re-opened its doors in a prime spot in Melbourne’s cbd on Little Collins Street. It is in the space formerly occupied (fittingly) by Hawaiian-themed restaurant, Hana.

From their website:

"The LuWow has been recreated by 'Skipper' Josh Collins and Barbara Blaze Collins in a more intimate space, relax in a cosy booth or hang at the bar surrounded by an oasis of colourful kitsch with huge tiki totems, all carved by 'Skipper' Josh himself, leopard lounge suites, a jungle of plants and bamboo and a plethora of insane and wonderfully trashy souvenirs from the South Pacific and beyond. Josh & Barbara have kept to their retro OTT design ethic on this new venture. Their previous bars have been The LuWow (Fitzroy), Hula Bula Bar (Perth), Devilles Pad (Perth), South London Pacific (UK), Tikis (Belgium). Adding to the retro Tiki vibe of The LuWow the background music is hand curated from the owners’ huge vinyl collection of exotica, rhythm n blues, ska, soul, surf, 60s garage, beat & rock n roll."

Canlis Charcoal Broiler Restaurant was opened in 1954 by owner Peter Canlis and architect George Pete Wimberly. It was known for its high-end architectural and interior design as well as the kimono-clad waitresses. It also had a large 15' tiki in the main banquet hall whose design is repeated on their logo menu art. This tiki was carved by Edward "Mick" Brownlee (a non native who was also acknowledged as a master woodcarver and became known as the "Waikiki Wood Carver". Brownlee also carved for The Waikikian, The Tahitian Lanai, The International Marketplace and the Aku Aku in Las Vegas. His story is documented in the book, Waikiki Tiki, by Phillip S. Roberts.

A second Canlis' Restaurant was later opened in Seattle, Washington.

The original Canlis' closed in 1989 and was razed in 1998. Luxury Row now stands in its original location at 2100 Kalakaua.

The renovated B Ocean resort hotel was built in 1956 and was originally known as the Yankee Clipper. Under new ownership, it has some new additions, like the Naked Crab restaurant on one end of the lobby. But across from the restaurant, the Wreck Bar remains pretty much unchanged. With its nautical flair, stained glass and rope elements, it's fashioned to look like a Spanish Galleon ship that didn't make it quite to shore -- hence the name.

Although technically a nautical bar and not a tiki bar, The Wreck does incorporate some Indonesian style tiki masks in its main room.

Above the bar, six large portholes offer views into one of the retro hotel's swimming pools. From 1956 until 1965, the Yankee Clipper hosted swim shows, incorporating the portholes.

Marina Anderson started MeduSirena (an underwater spectacle featuring a team of figure swimmers, the Aquaticats) at Wreck Bar in 2006 as an homage to that past.

Marina herself, became a headlining personality at many tiki events and the Wreck Bar became almost synonymous with her and the Aquaticats -- at least until May 2024 when the bar suddenly fired her and her group (16 mermaids & mermen) after 18 years of entertainment -- replacing them with a separate mermaid group -- the Coral Reef Mermaids led by Leydis Castillo.

Opened August 15th, 2019.

Located in the Canvas Condos tower, Esotico's chic take on the retro Polynesian Pop theme featured bold tropical wallpaper offset by black-and-white checkerboard flooring and a contemporary exposed ceiling. Lush greenery tied together décor such as a Hawaiian surfboard, muted sconce lamps and track lighting. Potted plants surround the patio while a backlit bar featured a bamboo footrest and nearly 230 rums, including Daniele Dalla Pola's own label, Alamea.

On 11/18/22, they opened a speakeasy adjacent space, the Kaona Room, which was accessible through either Esotico's interior secret door or through an exterior secret door beneath next door's Caribbean Water Supply. The Kaona Room is a bit more traditional tiki with its decor, and is more than just overflow seating -- including an entirely separate bar. For more on the Kaona Room, please see separate listing.

*NOTE: Dalla Pola announced the closing of Esotico Miami, beginning March 3rd, 2024, with the assurance that the Kaona Room would remain open.

Tiki Tango opened in January 2019.

Tiki Tango was a 3-level tiki lounge in the heart of Midtown Atlanta. Each level had a distinct island vibe and mood (Flamingo Room, Tiger's Den, and Tango Room). Previously known as The Lava Lounge, new owner Scott McCray employed tiki interior designer and artist Frank Simotics — better known as The Tiki Rancher — to assist with the bar’s tropical transformation.

Tiki Tango announced its closure for Sunday, June 19th, 2022 due to the sale of the block for another high-rise apartment building in midtown.

Opened Friday, March 8th, 2019.

Long Beach’s only 7 days a week Tiki bar! Interior design by Bamboo Ben. Fantastic wall murals by Big Toe and Ken Ruzic. In addition to the outstanding cocktails, they also have a very good in-house menu. Last but not least, they occasionally play host to the Hardcore Tiki Marketplace on the weekend, with tons of great tiki vendors.

Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3PM - 7PM.

The Aloha Bar at the House of Foong Lin is a great example of a "community" tiki bar. Chef Fu generously allowed the local VA/MD/DC Tiki community to transform his strip-mall style chinese restaurant into a complete tiki bar (Summer of 2018). With a new custom tiki drink menu lead and curated by Jeff Westlake, and combined with the outstanding chinese food that Mr. Fu has always served, Tiki Thirstdays are an excellent weekly gathering of local Ohana in a home they built for themselves. Not required, but if you show up without an Aloha shirt, there's a whole wall of clean loaners available to join in the fun.

The Atomic Tiki opened in January 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee's Evergreen neighborhood. The owners were Brian "Skinny" McCabe and Jeff Johnson. The space was dim and minimally decorated. The drink menu included a mix of classic and original tiki drinks, and the food menu was casual with Polynesian restaurant-inspired offerings. Jeff Johnson announced in September 2019 that Atomic Tiki would morph into Parish Grocery and that concluded the chapter for this former tiki location. As of 2024, the Parish Grocery concept, serving Po Boy sandwiches, is still going strong.

The Polynesian was an upscale modern restaurant in midtown Manhattan, near Times Square. It was located on the third floor of The Pod Hotel 42, and opened in May 2018. The space was sleek and airy, with more subtle nods to Polynesian art and culture. Seating dividers were made from sticks, clearly inspired by traditional Oceanic sailing maps; graphic repeating patterns on the floor and behind the bar appeared to be very-abstracted echoes of tapa or quilt designs of the Pacific. The dominant colors in the space were warm wood and ocean blue, and select pieces of Oceanic art were on display.

The restaurant was created by New York's Major Food Group, with help from bartender Brian Miller, who had been hosting regular tiki drink nights around New York for several years. Miller's menu included not just nods to drinks from the history of tiki bars, but incorporated nods to actual Polynesian history. The food menu was limited and tended toward the snack end, with some classic fare like Crab Rangoon.

Signature mugs by Tiki Diablo from this location were highly coveted.

The bar closed temporarily in 2020 as a consequence of COVID shutdowns and never re-opened.

The Kon-Tiki opened in early November 2017 in Oakland, California, in a space that had previously held Longitude.

Owned by Christ Aivaliotis and Matthew Reagan.

The Kon-Tiki was born out of Christ’s long standing desire to stop commuting to San Francisco, but still wear a Hawaiian shirt to work every day.

December 22nd, 2024 was the last day of operation.

Lono opened in June 2017. It was a large restaurant and bar in Hollywood, themed to Hollywood's yesteryear of tropical glamour, the pre-tiki era of nearby restaurants such as Bob Brook's Seven Seas and Don the Beachcomber. The restaurant's target era was closer to the '30s and '40s than the '50s and '60s, and as such the look of the space was more tropical-lite than truly tiki. The drink menu was a mix of classic tiki drinks and modern takes on tiki, carefully crafted and presented. The food menu was mainly small plates of flavors from around the world, or on the other end of the food spectrum, you could reserve a complete "luau" experience.

NOTE: Was listed as "Temporarily Closed" throughout 2022-2023 with no clear date to re-open but then listed for lease on Loop.net in 2023...which says it all...