The Outrigger Restaurant was an older fine dining establishment on Hamilton Island, a small resort island between the Queensland coast and the Great Barrier Reef. The decor was Polynesian, but the food was described as Australian. It is not clear just how Polynesian the decor was, and if there were any tikis. However, at some point the restaurant was apparently converted into a multipurpose wedding and event reception area which it currently serves as -- at least as of 2021.

Built in 1966 by architect Max Kevin.

This A-frame motel had a few changes in 2014 with new signage out front and the roof changed from blue to more of an orange (closer to its original color) by owner Tim Rice.

Rice said there was no intent to bring back the pool. Also, apparently, the rooms themselves were never Hawaiian themed, so beyond the structure itself, the sign, and the name, there is nothing more to see on the grounds -- no artwork or standing tikis.

This area has been somewhat depressed for several years, but has seen recent improvements.

It's not certain if there are more tiki upgrades in the Lodge's future, however. In May 2021 the signage was changed to a bland white and gray corporate logo with the only hint of tiki being the name...

Bali Hai opened in 1980. The restaurant has a thatched roof, and is guarded by a row of five large moai at the entrance. Inside, the ceiling has cascades of strung shells, there are wood carvings representing Polynesia and also South and Central America, and a dramatic white coral wall is pegged with stone tikis. There is a floor show featuring dances from both Chile and the South Pacific.

The Kona Kai apartments were built in 1962. The decor was outfitted by Oceanic Arts. There is an identical apartment building in Granada Hills, the Kona Pali. The building has a dramatic A-frame entrance, with a tile mosaic of the Hawaiian islands. There are carved tikis throughout the grounds.

The Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in tribute to his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was the last descendant of the Kamehamehas. The museum was built on the site of the Kamehameha School for Boys, which had been established by Princess Bernice. After her death, Charles Reed Bishop started the museum to showcase the Kamehameha family heirlooms and other Polynesian artifacts. The school eventually moved, allowing the Bishop Museum to expand, and it has grown over time so that it now houses a rather massive collection. One of the important pieces is a historic Heiau Ku carving - there are only two others, in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, and in the British Museum in London. In 2010, all three Ku tikis were put on display at the Bishop museum. The other two were shipped back to their respective museums three years later. The museum also features a section dedicated to what they call "Ku Kitsch," known to us as Polynesian Pop, with many fine examples of modern uses of the image of Ku, including a mug from Tiki Farm.

Opened in 1998.

Rock-a-Hula was a small vintage and new clothing store in the heart of the trendy Melrose shopping district. All sorts of clothes could be found here, but there was an emphasis on aloha wear, including a handful of very nice '40s era rayon shirts in a locked case. The inside of the store used bamboo, rattan, lauhala matting and thatch extensively, but there was very little in the way of actual tikis here -- only a handful of small mugs for sale.

Closed in 2006.

Now home to a different vintage clothing store -- 2nd Street.

The Royal Tahitian, built in 1960, and opened June 24th, 1961, claimed to be the world's largest Polynesian restaurant, with 250 acres of tropical landscaping and "lagoons" -- however, this was simply a reference to the Ontario National Golf Course next door. The main floor was the restaurant, with a bar downstairs, and a show area outside. It featured a dramatic asymmetrical swooping A-frame entrance.

In later years, after the Royal Tahitian closed in 1967, its building became the club house for the golf course. In 2003, the building was set to be demolished, but it lingered for several more years and was torn down some time after 2010.

Just down the street there is an apartment building built in 1962 (now the Whispering Lakes Apartments) that once featured some large Milan Guanko tikis, and still retains some Polynesian influence.

This new Trader Vic's location opened in November 2004, marking the return of Trader Vic's to San Francisco proper. Until the early '90s, Trader Vic's had a location in San Francisco at Cosmo Alley. This new location had most recently held the famous Stars restaurant. Renovations were rumored to be budgeted at $3.5 million dollars.

The restaurant had several dining rooms, many suitable for private parties. The main dining room and bar area were large and open, with many Papua New Guinea masks and very large carved tikis. There was a bit of a rough start as the restaurant first opened, but after a series of improved bartender hirings, the drink quality improved.

The restaurant never quite found its footing, and closed in December 2007, after just three years in operation.

The Hawaiian Luau was located in The Fontainebleau Motor Hotel and opened on May 21st, 1963. It was known as a great place to enjoy an evening of Polynesian foods and exotic tropical drinks. The South Pacific motif featured tapa cloth from Samoa, Japanese net floats & peacock chairs. In Skipper Vince’s bar, you would find Idol images decorated with imported hapu tikis that were hand carved from giant ferns.

The Hawaiian Luau was a Polynesian paradise but the hotel also featured the Empire Room, The Chandelier Lounge and the Fontaine Coffee Shop.

The Fontainebleau Hotel opened on April 27th, 1959, just 4 years before the Hawaiian Luau. Its long name was treated to an equally long sign -- one of the largest illuminated signs in the city at the time -- spelled out in 8' tall blue & white letters.

The hotel was a key part of "The Miracle Mile," a bustling commercial thoroughfare that was the main route from Jefferson Parish into the city until the 1970s. That's when the expressway was built and the decline began.

The hotel was closed in the 1990s and Roland Von Kurnatowski converted the Fontainebleau to apartments and units that could be used for storage. A Burger King also sat on the lot.

Most recently, in December 2020, businessman Sidney Torres purchased the property. He said he plans to re-name the apartment complex Pelican Apartments and to open a drive-through chicken operation where the Burger King once operated to maintain the license while searching for a permanent tenant.

Trade Winds was erected by developer Martin "Bud" Smith, and opened March 4th, 1964. It quickly became the hot place to be in town.

The restaurant had a lagoon leading up to a soaring A-frame entrance; inside were a series of themed rooms, including a central gazebo-shaped structure, the Samoa Hut/Tiki Temple. The predominant theme was Polynesian, but some of the rooms included an East Indies room, a Sadie Thompson room, and a Zanzibar room, all designed by 20th Century Fox designer Fred Moninger, and decorated by Ione Keenan. There were many tikis, carved by Richard M. Ellis. There was a Polynesian floor show.

Some time in the 1960s, Hop Louie (of Latitude 20 in Torrance, Minnie's in Modesto and the Islander in Stockton) took over the restaurant. In the late '70s, it became a Don the Beachcomber.

In later years, it became Coconut Joe's Warehouse Restaurant, and then later still around 1981, it became Hawaiian Cowboy (some of the decor was removed to make room for a mechanical bull and a BBQ pit. About a year later, it became an ice cream parlor, and in 1984, the building was demolished. The site is now a road.

Built in 1961, this is one of five Polynesian-themed Tropics motels once owned by Ken Kimes. The most elaborate of the chain was in Palm Springs, now called the Caliente Tropics Resort.

This motel was previously connected to the next door Tiki Cocktail Lounge. Further down was a Sambo's restaurant (which now houses Modesto Car Toys).

Most recently, the Tropics Motel has been renamed the Tiki Lodge. The pool area is fenced off and is opened seasonally only. The four tikis carved by Ed Crissman around the parking lot now have lighting on their chests/foreheads and solar powered batteries on their heads.

There is now a fence between the motel and the next door Tiki Cocktail Lounge which has separate owners and has branded itself as a gay bar.

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.