Tiki Bars
Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States (Closed)
In November 2010, Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge moved from their original location to this much larger space, just down the street and now right on the Mississippi River.
The main level includes a restaurant and bar, and a large patio overlooking the river. There are large carved posts and tikis, and walls lined with lauhala matting and and carved wooden tchotchkes. On weekends, house band Exotik-a-Go-Go plays Exotica music, and the upstairs area is open. The upstairs, Shangri-La, has three distinct themed bars: the Shrunken Head, Forbidden Cove, and Ports of Pleasure. Each of the upstairs bars can be rented out for private events.
From 2016 onward, Psycho Suzi's started an annual "Mary's Christmas Palace" event running from October 1st-January 31st where everything is converted to an over-the-top Christmas theme, including the drinks.
*NOTE: In September 2022, the owner listed this location for sale for $6 Million.
Their permanent closing was announced by the owner, Leslie Bock, for August 19th, 2023 on social media.
The Shameful Tiki Room - Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The Shameful Tiki Room opened in Vancouver's Riley Park neighborhood in March 2013. Owner Rod Moore has dedicated himself to creating a classic Polynesian Pop escape, with a dimly-lit, windowless environment decked with bamboo and float lamps. The space is small, but there is a kitchen, and theme-appropriate live music acts are sometimes showcased.
In November 2015, a sister location was opened: The Shameful Tiki Room in Toronto, Ontario.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar
Anaheim, California, United States
Opened in May 2011.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar finally answers the question we've all been asking ourselves: what would it be like if the Enchanted Tiki Room actually served alcohol?
Trader Sam's is named for the "head" salesman from the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland, and the decor is a mix of influence from that ride and the Enchanted Tiki Room, with a little of Walt Disney World's Adventurer's Club thrown in for good measure. Top-notch Disney designers Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily were able to work on some of the decor. The bar is utterly packed with entertaining bric-a-brac and artifacts from "Sam's" archives. The music is a pitch-perfect mix of Exotica, hapa haole and traditional Hawaiian tunes.
The servers have been given the same training as the skippers on the Jungle Cruise, and keep the atmosphere lively, silly, and very friendly. The bar has lots of surprises and interactive elements, some triggered by ordering particular drinks.
The quality of drink ingredients is higher than one might expect, with fresh-squeezed citrus and syrups from Portland's B. G. Reynolds in use. The alcohol content of the drinks tends to be a little light -- keep in mind, they want their guests to continue to enjoy their vacation the next day. Let your server know you're looking for something more in the vein of classic tiki, and they'll steer you in the right direction. If you like the punny performance given by the Jungle Cruise skippers, you'll love the drink names: "HippopotoMaiTai", "Schweitzer Falls" and "Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum" are some of the cleverly-named cocktails.
Kids are welcome at Trader Sam's, as long as they don't sit at the actual bar; there are several tables around the room where kids can sit. There is also an outdoor patio, where Hawaiian musicians perform nightly.
There is a small menu of pupus available. The bar is near a casual dining tropical restaurant that opened at the same time, called Tangaroa Terrace.
In 2015, a sister location opened at Walt Disney World in Orlando: Trader Sam's Grog Grotto.
Aqua Surf Shop - Haight-Ashbury - San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States (Closed)
This was the Haight-Ashbury location of Aqua Surf Shop. This store had a variety of surf gear for sale, and also some Tiki Farm mugs. There was a collection of vintage and modern tiki mugs on display behind the counter, and the store was decorated with several tiki carvings by Bosko. The entrance had a tile mosaic depicting moai. This location closed in 2012.
The original location in San Francisco's Ocean Beach neighborhood had even more tiki character, and it remained open until the area was redeveloped in 2015. That Aqua location moved, and the new store has no tiki.
Trader Vic's - at the Newberry Plaza Building - Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States (Closed)
This sadly short-lived Trader Vic's location opened in late 2008, struggled, and finally closed in 2011. It was on the ground level of the Newberry Plaza Building.
The new location used much of the decor from the legendary old Chicago Trader Vic's, which was in the Palmer House Hilton until it lost its lease in 2005.
As of 2021 the Newberry Plaza location is now a Morton's Steakhouse.
Hawaiian Bill's - at The Caliente Tropics
Palm Springs, California, United States (Closed)
Hawaiian Bill's was the reincarnation of the Reef Bar at the Caliente Tropics hotel in Palm Springs. The Reef Bar had been remodeled by Bamboo Ben when it was still operated by the hotel; in 2006, the bar was transferred to independent owners, and the name was changed to Hawaiian Bill's. Traditional Hawaiian food was served, with live musicians playing Hawaiian music on Fridays and Saturdays.
Hawaiian Bill's closed in the summer of 2008. Today the space is again The Reef Bar.
Not a lot of photos around from Hawaiian Bill's today, but below is a photo showing Rory Snyder, Doug Horne, and Hawaiian Bill at Hawaiian Bill's circa 2006 (holding brown Doug Horne Tiki Farm Grog mugs).
Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge
Great Falls, Montana, United States
The Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge has been part of the O'Haire Motor Inn since 1962. The main attraction is the mermaid show -- there are windows in the bar that look into the hotel's pool, and mermaids put on a show on weekends. This mermaid show and the push towards being more "tiki" began in 1995 as the Tiki Revival was just beginning to ramp up. Another attraction is "Piano Pat" Sponheim, who has been playing piano five nights a week (Tuesday through Saturday) since 1962.
When actress Daryl Hannah, who famously played a mermaid in the movie Splash, was filming in the area, she made a special visit to the bar, even donning a mermaid suit and jumping in the pool to give a show.
In 2003, the bar was featured on a list of the top 10 bars in the world in GQ Magazine. In 2004, a crack in one of the glass pool walls threatened the bar; the glass walls have been replaced with new triple-pane glass.
The bar's ceiling is lined with bamboo, and there are beachcomber-inspired fish trap lamps.
The bar does especially well on weekends during the mermaid show, when patrons line up to get into the small 72-person capacity bar.
The Suttles' Tiki Point
Grove, Oklahoma, United States
Tiki Point is a Moai statue looking out over Courtyard Hollow, a small part of the Grand Lake o' the Cherokees in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. Information on the tiki is sparse, but it may have been created in 1967 by Earl Suttle, who once owned the land the tiki sits on; it has since been split up into smaller residential parcels. The moai is easily seen from the water, but it is unclear if it is accessible from the road. It is not actually on Number 6 Lake Road, but probably nearer to one of the side lanes that turn south off the road -- most likely S 604 Lane -- but it may be on private property.
The Shady Dell
Bisbee, Arizona, United States
Founded in 1927 as the Thompson Motor Court and later renamed the Shady Dell in the 1950's.
Closed for a time, but re-opened in its current form in 1996.
The Shady Dell is a collection of restored midcentury trailers and buses that have been turned into deluxe rental suites for visitors to this remote historic Arizona town. Each of the trailers on the property has a different setup, and one of the trailers is a 1947 Airporter bus that has been turned tiki. It features a handcarved outrigger bar, a kitchen and small bathroom, and a vintage television and phonograph.
Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge - Original Location (Closed)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States (Closed)
This was the original location for Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge, which opened on this spot in an old A & W Drive-In in 2003.
In November 2010, Psycho Suzi's moved to its last location, which was much larger and more grand, just down the street. That location closed on August 19th, 2023.
South Seas Club - Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska, United States (Closed)
Open at least as early as 1943.
Bar owned by Walt Gronert, as identified by Bob Barnett. Bar located on north side of 4th Avenue between G and H Streets, as identified by C. Gill.
The logo/menu design was greatly inspired from an early Trader Vic's menu but with a few changes.
It had a name change (probably in the late 40s) and was known as the Seven Seas Club by 1952, but the interior remained much the same.
This bar was apparently damaged/destroyed by the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964.
Site is currently home to Trapper Jack's Trading Post as of 2026.
Samoan Village Motor Hotel
Phoenix, Arizona, United States (Closed)
The Samoan Village Motor Hotel opened in 1964, and also featured a restaurant and bar. It was designed by architect Peter Lendrum, and had three large rounded "hut" structures with dramatic pointed rooftops; one was the tiki-supported porte cochere, the largest was the restaurant. The hotel itself was a two-story horseshoe shape with a pool area and tikis in the courtyard.
It was a competitor with the nearby Kon-Tiki Hotel.
As of 1993, the site was still standing but no longer in operation, and Lendrum's long-neglected tiki huts looked disturbingly like a series of nuclear reactors.
"That Polynesian-village frou-frou stuff was big back in the early Sixties," said Lendrum in an interview with the Phoenix New Times. "Why was it so popular? I have no idea."
The Samoan Village was demolished not long after.