Ben Wilson 7/7/1929-2/18/2021 was the owner of El Tiki. Ben opened El Tiki in 1962 on Highway 111 and Worthington Rd.

They served great Mexican food combined with exotic Hawaiian decor, and it was the site of many memorable birthdays, anniversaries, and prom dates. He carved all the Tikis himself, collected nets and shells and tropical curiosities, and decorated it in true beachcomber fashion. There was even a full whale rib in front of the restaurant. The booths were lined with bamboo and had thatched roofs, it was dark and mysterious. Ben was the consummate host and bartender, he always had a smile and a story for everyone.

He closed the restaurant around 1978 but converted the property into a house and lived there for many years. The building is still there. Many of the original Tikis proudly stand guard on the property to this day.

3 of the larger tikis were purchased by Amy Boylan (Queen Kamehameha on Tiki Central) for her Mojave Oasis location in the early 2000s.

This site is right next door to the Del Rosa Palms Apartments at 2640 Del Rosa Ave and they were probably two sides to the original complex which was envisioned as a sort of Hawaiian Village. They are often mentioned together or interchangeably in apartment listings or other posts.

Opened on May 3rd, 1964, the complex advertised itself as having 71 one, two, or three-bedroom and efficiency units, a putting green, badminton and shuffleboard court, and 2 swimming pools.

This was also the former home to 15 large tikis, some weighing up to 5000 pounds, by local tiki carver Ramar, but they are now long gone. Little is known of Ramar beyond this location.

The Del Rosa Palms has an A-frame entrance in front, but the Del Rosa Isle has an even more impressive A-frame building back by the pool, that is HUGE, with 10-12 original lucite swag lamps hanging from the rafters (the flower blossom variety in multiple colors). This A-Frame was probably meant to be more of an open entertainment area or pool house before, but today the lower half has been walled off to use as a laundry facility and there is a stairway leading up to the top which is a rather bare patio area.

This site is right next door to the Del Rosa Isle Apartments at 6262 Del Rosa Ave N and they were probably two sides to the original complex which was envisioned as a sort of Hawaiian Village. They are often mentioned together or interchangeably in apartment listings or other posts.

Opened on May 3rd, 1964, the complex advertised itself as having 71 one, two, or three-bedroom and efficiency units, a putting green, badminton and shuffleboard court, and 2 swimming pools.

This was also the former home to 15 large tikis, some weighing up to 5000 pounds, by local tiki carver Ramar, but they are now long gone. Little is known of Ramar beyond this location.

The Del Rosa Palms has an A-frame entrance in front, but the Del Rosa Isle has an even more impressive A-frame building back by the pool, that is HUGE, with 10-12 original lucite swag lamps hanging from the rafters (the flower blossom variety in multiple colors). This A-Frame was probably meant to be more of an open entertainment area or pool house before, but today the lower half has been walled off to use as a laundry facility and there is a stairway leading up to the top which is a rather bare patio area.

Opened in 1954.

A vintage postcard from this bar touted it as "Unique in providing a relaxing Polynesian atmosphere, where you can listen to the sound of a waterfall and Hawaiian music, gaze at tropical birds and fish, and leisurely enjoy the finest in cocktails, expertly made to your individual taste."

Now known as the Paradise Club and under the same ownership since about 1991.

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."

This small Milwaukee tiki bar opened above Redbar, located at 2245 E. St. Francis Ave.

The lounge, whose name fittingly means "red" in Hawaiian, will only open on weekends – kind of like a pop-up bar in a permanent space.

Lee Guk, who was the proprietor of Tiki Joe's in Walker's Point, will operate the lounge, along with Carrie Wisnewski and Nick Schell, who own the building and Redbar.

"We had a very under-utilized space (on the second floor) and this seems like a perfect way to showcase it," says Wisnewski.

Friday-Saturday nights 6-12am

Cash only!

Tacoma Cabana was opened by owner and bartender Jason Alexander and Robyn Murphy in Tacoma's downtown in 2012. The establishment was a mix of traditional midcentury Polynesian Pop, with some more modern-day Hawaiian influences. The bar had a large selection of rums, and a particular focus on the quality of the cocktails.

Alexander and Murphy opened a new tiki bar nearby, Devil's Reef, in January 2018, where they lean harder into full-on tiki. Over the next months they worked to shift their efforts entirely to the new business, and closed Tacoma Cabana on September 1, 2018.

The Castaways resort complex was in the Sunny Isles part of North Miami Beach, just a short distance from another hotel/restaurant/bar complex, Hawaiian Isle. It was advertised as being at "the ocean at 163rd," in reality it was on the inland side of a thin land strip, and was just south of 163rd, occupying a small jetty of land. It opened in 1958, and closed in 1981. Demolished in 1984.

The Castaways had just over 300 guest rooms in a series of buildings with Asian-Polynesian peaked roof details. The main attraction was a dramatic structure designed by Charles Foster McKirahana square glass building with a pointed, A-frame roof at each corner. The building was up on stilts, and each of the four corners held a different establishment: the Wreck Bar (where you could watch swimmers behind giant glass portholes located behind the bar), the Tahitian Cocktail Lounge (featuring mixologist "Stanley the Entertainer" best known for balancing multiple trays of glasses on his head), the Shinto Temple Room, and possibly a coffee shop or indoor swimming pool. Many people have shared memories of a talking parrot in the dining room with sometimes salty language. The Beatles reportedly stayed at The Castaways, and an ad in the 1969 AAA travel guide promoted nude sunbathing on site.

The jetty of land that used to hold The Castaways is now the site of two tall condominium towers.

*NOTE: This Wreck Bar location is not to be confused with the other still-standing Wreck Bar located at the newly renovated B Ocean resort hotel (originally known as the Yankee Clipper).

The Sneaky Tiki, or Joe's Sneaky Tiki, was a Hawaiian bar in San Leandro that operated in the 1970s and until at least the '80s. At some point it was run by Joe Denton and Don Groom; Don was a bartender. After it closed, the space later became Tabou Lounge, and Club Caliente.

This Don the Beachcomber opened at the former Trade Winds around 1976 or so. It operated for a few years and closed in the late '70s. In later years, this location briefly became Coconut Joe's Warehouse and Hawaiian Cowboy, and the building was demolished in 1984.

Rummy's Polynesian House was located in Berks County. The menu from this Polynesian restaurant features imagery lifted from other restaurants, including the Kon Tiki, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The restaurant had tikis, a large fish tank, and plenty of bamboo and pufferfish lamps. The restaurant probably opened some time in the '60s (open at least as early as 1968), and closed in the early 1980s when its owner (Warren "Rummy" Steinle) passed away. The building was unused for a few years, later re-opening as a bar; today (as of 2024) it is a strip club called "Utopia Cabaret Diva's Gentleman's Club." Menus and matchbooks from Rummy's list its location as simply being on Route 422 in Monocacy; today's modern address for this spot is 395 Ben Franklin Highway in Douglassville. A menu also lists what appears to be a second location, in nearby Douglassville (so nearby that the "Monocacy" location today is in the now-grown Douglassville), on a nowhere-to-be-found Route 2.

During the '90s and into the early 2000s, Cacao was a retro-themed coffee house decorated with a variety of kitschy items with a Hawaiian & tiki emphasis, combined with sci-fi. Cacao had a typical laid-back coffeehouse atmosphere, serving high-quality coffee beverages. Being a coffeehouse, there were no alcoholic beverages, and the food menu was limited. Cacao provided free wireless internet access, and periodically featured musicians and poetry nights.

Cacao was opened in 1990, but didn't get its sci-fi/tiki theme until new owners Bobby Green and Alastair Newbery took over in 1993. Bobby Green went on to own The Lucky Tiki in Mission Hills, and a thriving group of beautifully themed bars throughout the Los Angeles area. Jeremy Bell, a longtime Cacao patron, took over ownership of Cacao in 2000. Some time around the end of 2017 or in 2018 the name was changed to Good People Coffee Co.

Today, no tiki theming remains.