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.

Built in 1961.

This development consisted of two 2-story buildings with a courtyard and pool in-between. 16 units total (1783-1797 Loma Vista St., Riverside, CA 92507).

A one-bedroom here on opening went for $85 a month.

Today, the structures remain with their stone wall front facades, but the pool has been filled in and the cool mid century fence with alternating colored rectangles has been replaced with a generic black fence.

The tiki in front is long gone and the name has undergone a few changes as well.

Its current name and commercial status remains unclear as of 2025 but all signs of tiki decor appear to have been removed.

Built in 1961.

This 2-story apartment complex has 8 units (16 beds and 16 baths) and is located at 4166-4168 Udall Street in Point Loma Heights, San Diego, CA 92107.

It once featured an impressive tiki in front. Now gone. However, many of the other details still remain, including wood pylons, rock landscaping, and the original sign lettering on the building.

Opened in 1962 in Orange, CA.

These rental houses with outrigger beams and thatched roofs created a very Pop Polynesian looking neighborhood.

Eventually the thatching and other touches were removed and the rental housing complex was re-named the "Pinewood Villas".

Opened in July 2023. The Tiki Easy Bar is a speakeasy hidden behind Hi-Wire’s South Slope Specialty Brewery in Asheville, North Carolina.

The bar occupies a 2500-square-foot space through the back door of Hi-Wire’s South Slope Specialty Brewery, an area of the building that had not been previously open to the public.

Opened in 1954, this short-lived establishment was technically at the very beginning of the tiki era, but from all accounts was still very much a pre-tiki Hawaiiana bamboo and surf bar/restaurant.

The interior was decorated with bamboo, rattan, and natural materials, with some large sheets of tapa on the walls as well. However, no actual carved tikis or tiki mugs.

The cocktail menu, shown below, is basically lifted from Don the Beachcomber's, including some of the graphics.

An advert from 1955 describes Steve Romer's Surf Rider as “Tops in Hawaiian entertainment featuring George Kainapau, the Golden Voice of Hawaii." Customers could also dance to the music of the in-house band called The Surf Riders.

The restaurant served Cantonese and American food, had private banquet rooms and a fashion show luncheon was held every Wednesday.

According to newspaper reports, the restaurant went into receivership in 1957.

This location is not to be confused with the Bakersfield Surf Rider, opened a few years later, which epitomizes the over-the-top decoration in the Golden Era of Tiki.

There were many unrelated restaurants that used this name over the years, and it is worthwhile to note that the name and what it evoked reaches back to the pre-tiki era.

*NOTE: This location at 137 S. Lake Avenue would eventually become home, four years later, to The Tahitian, which fully embraced the Golden Era vision of Tiki.

Today, with the area having gone through several construction remodelings, there is no sign of the original building. As of 2024, it appears to have been in what is now a parking lot area adjacent to Fidelity Investments.

Hawaiian Paradise was a pre-tiki venue that opened at 7566 Melrose Avenue on April 7, 1937. The owners were Bill Calhoun, George Mason and Lorena “Rena” Rogers. Rogers was an ex-actress and, from 1916 to 1941, wife of actor-turned-director Frank Borzage. After giving up acting, Rena took many trips to Hawaii, and back in Hollywood would throw huge Polynesian-themed parties with singers and hula dancers to entertain.

The restaurant served both Continental and "Island" cuisine. As of 1937, they also boasted a new all-glass roof for "year round starlight dancing".

Hawaiian Paradise celebrated its 1-year anniversary on April 7, 1938. Later that year, Mason was out; Rena and Bill Calhoun remained owners. By 1939 Calhoun alone was the face of Hawaiian Paradise, now known as “Hawaiian Paradise Isle.” In February 1940, it became the Hawaiian Paradise Ballroom, a last gasp of the tropical theme.

Later that year, 7566 Melrose became the latest outlet of “Club 41” fronted by George Distel, and was closed by the courts for multiple violations of State liquor laws. In 1947 the building was remodeled as the Horton Dance Theater.

This location has been home to many businesses over the years.

The Drake Theatre was opened here on March 26, 1970, initially screening straight adult movies, it went over to gay male adult movies in around 1975/1976.

In 1977 the Drake Theatre was listed in the Bob Damron Address Book as operating as a gay male adult theatre. It was later known as the Aladdin Theatre, operating into the 1980’s.

After closing it became an adult bookstore & video store, which closed in early-2008.

Most recently, this spot was home to "Orange Bone" a dog salon and boutique store, which closed in 2023.

This short-lived fast food restaurant opened in 1971, in Los Angeles, California, off Airdrome St. It was notable for its unique fiberglass leaf shingles.

This location is not to be confused with another bar called The Samoa in Cocoa Beach, further North.

This restaurant/bar was located at the intersection of Highway A1A and Royal Poinciana Way in Palm Beach.

It appears to have thrived in the 60s.

Today, as of 2023, the site appears to be occupied by LDC Property Services -- a contractor.

The Sheraton Motor Inn, built in 1964 at the southwestern corner of Interstate 40 and Knollwood Street, offered the traveler more than overnight accommodations. With 122 bedroom units, the inn featured a 315-seat K & W Cafeteria and the Hawaiian-themed Kona-Kai Lounge. Palmetto trees surrounded the motel and a swimming pool and putting green provided entertainment for the guests. An explosion, blamed on a natural gas leak, leveled the motel on January 18, 1988. Today, a variety of tenants occupy the 380 Knollwood Street buildings that replaced the Sheraton Motor Inn.

Formerly at Park Avenue in Tustin, they moved locations to Newport Avenue and re-opened with a sneak preview on May 16th, 2023 and did their grand re-opening on June 6th, 2023.

This appears to be a much roomier space.

This location also features the "Belly of the Beast" speakeasy -- a Pinocchio-themed bar with a hidden entrance through the mouth of a giant whale. Inspired by Disneyland's Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction in Fantasyland. The speakeasy is known for its intimate setting, with limited seating, and its own menu of themed cocktails like the "Farewell Jiminy" served with a side of toasted crickets. Reservations are highly recommended due to the small size of the space. The build-out of this speakeasy was done by Bamboo Ben.

Opened May 12th, 1967 at 12125 S. Lakewood Boulevard in Downey.

The exterior with its rough wood exterior and heavy plantings of palms could easily be mistaken for the old Bahooka in Rosemead or, maybe because of the A-frame opening, the old Don The Beachcomber's/Sam's Seafood in Huntington Beach. But it is neither.

The Sandpiper's logo porthole can be seen on the front door in one of the photos below. Looks like the top of a tiki head sticking up right behind the engine of the drag racer but hard to tell.

They served steak, seafood, and European dishes.

The space was immense, but the interior was carefully divided into more intimate dining areas for a labyrinth effect that those who are familiar with the old Bahooka in Rosemead probably remember getting lost in.

The main dining room was designed like a 19th century whaling ship with a massive mast and yardarm. Its walls, like those throughout the restaurant were covered in brightly varnished yellow woods, including Pecky Cypress containing numerous holes which resemble those pecked by birds. Pecky Cypress is hard to come by in the modern era and when you spot it somewhere (like in the interior of The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood) you can rest assured you are in a vintage interior.

The sandpiper also had a gigantic outdoor luau garden which accommodated 200 and had 20-foot waterfalls.

Black and white photos below show a drag racer posing outside the Sandpiper circa 1967, the year the restaurant opened.

The old Sandpiper building is no longer there anymore. Looks like the closest commercial property would be Bill and Steve's Foreign Auto at 12121 Lakewood.