Tiki Bars
Lun Wah Restaurant
Roselle, New Jersey, United States (Closed)
Lun Wah was a Chinese restaurant located in a nondescript strip mall, with Polynesian decor and tropical drinks served in tiki mugs. It became Lun Wah in 1974, and before that time it was called the Red Dragon. The restaurant had lots of bamboo and tapa cloth on the walls, and like most other tiki joints in this corner of the country, the few tikis looked like they were painted by a kindergartener. Other features of the decor included booths in bamboo huts, illuminated palm tree wall scenes, artificial palm trees throughout the restaurant and a koi pond with a functioning rock waterfall. The ceiling of the dining room was painted white unfortunately, but the dim lighting helped to make it feel cozy. The menu included a flaming pu-pu platter.
In 2013, Lun Wah was taken over by a new family who were going strong and keeping the tiki character intact, and making some upgrades.
However, Covid shutdowns and restrictions took their toll and they were forced to close permanently in February 2021.
Mar Vista Lanes
Los Angeles, California, United States
Mar Vista Lanes was built in 1961, and was designed by famed Googie-riffic architects Armet & Davis. It once housed a bar called the Makai Cocktail Lounge, which had a spare, modernistic take on tiki. The Makai Cocktail Lounge closed some time during the 70s.
One lone tiki stood outside for many years until July 5, 2014 when it was reported stolen outside the Pepy's Galley Diner (which was the attached eatery until later in 2014).
Soon after, Bowlero purchased the property when AMF went bankrupt.
The new Bowlero version opened in April 2015 and is still current as of 2020. They have a long mural along the side of the building which touts its history since 1961 and sports a couple of tikis. They have also added at least one new carved tiki outside as well.
Foundation
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Foundation began as a punk bar, and around 2004 began a conversion into a punk tiki bar at the prompting of manager Don Nelson. Today the bar has left its punk roots behind, and has completed the metamorphosis into a beloved and completely punk-free tiki bar. It is chock full of tikis, many carved by local tiki artist Lake Tiki. The menu is full of traditional and modern tropical drinks, served in tiki mugs.
In 2017, a fully tikified vacation rental was added above Foundation, the Captain's Quarters.
Xanadu Gallery
Menlo Park, California, United States (Closed)
Xanadu Gallery was owned by one of the owners of the nearby Palo Alto Trader Vic's; he was responsible for many of the Papua New Guinea artifacts on display there. This gallery, on the southwestern end of Santa Cruz Avenue, had a wide array of different Oceanic artifacts, including tikis, masks, drums, war clubs and canoes. Most were from Papua New Guinea, but there were a few other pieces from other islands. After the passing of the owner, much of the Oceanic art was sold, and this location was closed. There was also a remaining second Xanadu location in San Francisco at 140 Maiden Lane, but it closed later in 2015.
The Reef - Long Beach
Long Beach, California, United States (Closed)
The Reef opened on August 8th, 1958, and was co-owned by George Millay, creator of Sea World. The original restaurant had interior designs by Bobby Mavis, and had "Hula Grounds" with many tikis.
Quote from a 1961 review from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
"The Reef Is a large place with numerous dining rooms which accommodate thousands of guests each week. Bearing such fancy names as the Coco Room, the Tonga Room (both dining rooms), the Pali Room (large banquet facilities), and the Tiki Room (cocktail lounge), each is smartly tropical in decor. Most of these rooms provide their guests with breathtaking close-up views of harbor shipping and Long Beach’s sweeping skyline. For those who like to dine or sip cocktails In open air the Reef has a long handsome patio which also overlooks the water. In addition the restaurant has a huge turn-park area which can handle groups from 150 to 1500. Tommy Noh, the Reef's lively young manager, directs a staff of 70."
The Reef burned down in 1974, and was later re-built in 1980 by David Tallichet, one of the original partners in the old restaurant.
Tallichet and his company have run over 100 restaurants around the country over the years. The other Polynesian project he is well-known for is the Ports O' Call Restaurant at the Ports O' Call Village.
However, Tallichet re-built the new Reef building in a mining theme, that was popular around the country at the time, with lots of raw wood beams. He was later heard to voice regret that he didn't stick to the original Polynesian theme so many area residents fondly remembered. It's since been remodeled several times and the mining theme has been erased as well. The current restaurant isn't really tiki or Polynesian at all but it is almost 3 times as large as its predecessor and is still run by Tallichet's family-owned company, Specialty Restaurants Corporation, which currently owns 18 other restaurants, including The Castaway in Burbank, Castaway in San Bernardino, the aviation-themed Proud Bird ear LAX and 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys as well as Orange Hill in Orange.
Chateau Avalon
Kansas City, Kansas, United States
Chateau Avalon opened in 2004 and has 23 unique rooms decorated in a variety of themes, including Mayan, Egyptian, Renaissance, and of course, Tiki (Tahitian).
There are two rooms, both on the third floor, decorated in their "Tahitian" style (although the tikis used are actually large Moai). One of the two is a two-level "Treehouse" suite.
Trader Vic's - Shanghai
Jingan Qu, Shanghai, China (Closed)
This Trader Vic's location opened on December 31, 2006, and it was the first in China -- where one has to wonder if the famed Chinese ovens were advertised as such in this new location, and whether they had the same exotic impact.
The location was on a corner in the Jing'an district, at the heart of Shanghai. The entry of the location was flanked by two large Maori-inspired tikis, and the interior was light and airy, but did have an assortment of flotsam & jetsam hanging from the vaulted ceiling.
The location closed @ February 15th, 2008.
*NOTE: Their drink menu was a standard Trader Vic's style cocktail menu which has remained much the same since the 60s, but prices were listed in Chinese Yuan. Nowhere on the actual menu did it actually say "Shanghai, China" but it did have a list of all the international locations on the inside cover -- so was probably just the standard template for several international locations at the time.
Kon-Tiki - Kuwait City
Kuwait City, Kuwait (Closed)
Opened in 2004. Kon-Tiki was a Polynesian restaurant in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Salwa, a sort of suburb of Kuwait City. It is right on the Persian Gulf. Alcohol is illegal in Kuwait, and so this was a restaurant only. The design of the restaurant was very unusual, in that it actually sat directly beneath an authentic Kuwaiti dhow, the Al Boom, which is in permanent dry-dock; the hull of the ship formed a dramatic curved wall and partial ceiling for the restaurant. It did appear to have some tikis.
Closed in 2008. Replaced by Rangoli Indian Restaurant. As of 2019, The Kimchi Korea Grill occupies this location.
The Jungle Room - at Graceland - Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Graceland is the mansion of Elvis Presley, and today it serves as a museum, with daily tours. Graceland is notable as a tiki destination for one reason: the legendary Jungle Room. This was Elvis' den, and it was decorated entirely with chunky Witco furniture, made of singed Cypress. Included is a small bar with stools, decorated with tikis. The room is also notable for its lime-green shag carpet, not only on the floor, but also on the ceiling.
Legend has it that Elvis found the furniture in a showroom in Memphis, and bought the entire set; coincidentally, that same day, his father Vernon had seen the set in the same store, and mentioned to Elvis how ugly it had been, without knowing that Elvis had bought the whole shebang.
The Jungle Room was the site of Elvis' final two studio recording sessions in 1976, when he set up a makeshift studio in the room. Tracks from the sessions have appeared on several posthumous releases.
Samoan Sea Apartments
Los Angeles, California, United States
Nestled somewhat awkwardly between the Harbor Fwy and an on-ramp sits the Samoan Sea Apartments. It was likely built in the '60s, and the front of the building still has a lot of charm. There is a large A-frame entrance, flanked by pier posts with nautical chain, and plenty of lush landscaping. There are two very big tikis that are still in great shape, thanks to their concrete construction. The tikis are painted, and look very similar to the spitting tiki drums in Adventureland at Walt Disney World. The rest of the grounds are sort of well-maintained, but one gets the sense that the days of luxury living at the Samoan Seas are firmly in the past.
Young's Cafeteria
Glen Dale, West Virginia, United States (Closed)
Young's Cafeteria, a longtime family restaurant, first opened in 1968 in Wheeling before moving locations twice, ending up at its final location along Wheeling Avenue in Glen Dale in 1976.
It had a back room that was tikified, with tikis, lauhala matting, lamps and bamboo.
It was in Glen Dale on the main road through town, adjacent to the town of Moundsville. Since it was a restaurant only, there were no tiki drinks to be had here -- at least, not any alcoholic ones.
Young's closed at the end of 2016.
Tahitian Lanai and Papeete Bar - at the Waikikian Hotel
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States (Closed)
The Tahitian Lanai, and its Papeete Bar, were located in the Waikikian Hotel, right on the beach at Waikiki on Oahu. They opened on October 1, 1956. Spence Weaver, of Spencecliff Restaurants, operated the restaurant, and Bob Bryant, founder of Tiki Bob's in San Francisco, was hired to manage the restaurant.
Bob Bryant said of the Waikikian and Tahitian Lanai, "Before leaving the Mainland for the first time, everybody has his own dream of what Hawaii and Tahiti will be like. In designing this hotel-restaurant complex, we tried to fulfill those ideas. We tried to make this a 'dream Tahiti' instead of just a duplicate of the real island."
The restaurant housed 40 tikis, including a large Marquesan that was purported to be at least 200 years old, and a number of black velvet Leeteg paintings.
Diners could sit poolside surrounded by tiki torches, in private huts named after Tahitian Royalty (like the Queen Pōmare IV Hut or Prince Hinoi Hut), or in the main dining room.
The Waikikian closed in 1996, and the items from the hotel and restaurant were sold in an auction that took place at the Tahitian Lanai.