Tiki Bars
Trader Vic's - Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California, United States (Closed)
Opened August 11th, 1955.
This Trader Vic's was located in the Beverly Hilton and until 2004 was owned by Merv Griffin -- the hallway between the hotel and the restaurant was lined with blown-up black & white photos of Griffin with various celebrities from the 70s and 80s. It was originally called The Traders. Its location at the edge of Beverly Hills attracted some of the vintage set of celebrities. For instance, Hugh Hefner visited Trader Vic's with a group of Playmates in a photo below.
The Beverly Hills Trader Vic's last day of business was on April 29, 2007. After 50-plus years of operation, this Los Angeles institution was closed, to make way for the development of a tower of condos or hotel rooms.
A few bits of the restaurant were moved to a bar near the pool area, which was called Trader Vic's Lounge, and served Trader Vic's drinks. However, Trader Vic's Lounge closed at the end of January 2017.
Many items from the Trader Vic's location went up for auction on July 12th, 2024 through Julien's Auctions at https://www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/tiki-paradise-546
Trader Vic's - Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon (Closed)
This Trader Vic's location operated from 2000 to 2006. It was located in the Gefinor Rotana Hotel.
Trader Vic's - Bangkok
Khet Khlong San, Bangkok, Thailand
Opened in 1992.
Located in the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort (formerly the Marriott Royal Gardens Riverside).
Trader Vic's - Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
This Trader Vic's opened in the basement level of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta in 1976. This is the only one of the Trader Vic's locations in the United States today that has not been updated in a way that removes some of the original charm. There have been ebbs and flows in the quality of the drink offerings over the last decade or so, but its value as a piece of Polynesian Pop history has helped it remain an important attraction.
Trader Vic's - at The Al Ain Rotana - Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Located in the Al Ain Rotana Hotel. Opened in 1999.
Shipwrecked Tiki Bar - Davis
Davis, California, United States
Opened August 4th, 2023.
The bar is owned by partners Melissa and Nate Yungvanitsait, owners of Northern California restaurant chain University of Beer.
Tiki purists will declare this is more of a pirate themed bar than a true tiki bar, and they may have a point, but there are also enough of the trappings of tiki bars that we all know and love to make this a worthwhile visit if you are in the area.
As has been pointed out time and again, tiki bars thrive on layering more and more details as the years go on with the "more is more" effect. So if patrons clamor for more tiki, then perhaps each successive visit will unveil more tiki.
As it stands now, here is what you will encounter:
The entrance is a beach-themed area with some tables, huts, a few very cheap tikis (including some plastic ones). You can order at the bar from here.
Going down the hallway, there’s a lounge section that’s nautical-themed including a nice photo op stop, giant squid arms made from metal, and some granite tiled walls.
The last section is a series of booths that are nominally themed as pirate jails, plus more pirate decor including a room with artifacts.
*NOTE: In 2024, Melissa and Nate opened another Shipwrecked in Sacramento. This sister location has less of a pirate theme and more of a Balinese Island Jungle Explorer theme -- think Tomb Raider or Rainforest Cafe for adults...
Tikis Meeting Spot - Waikiki
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
This bar & restaurant used to be named Da Big Kahuna (@2006-2015) and had the same tikis out front as today and the same decor (both inside and out) but skewed a bit more to the dive bar and nightclub side.
Not to be confused with Big Kahuna's Pizza (since 1994 and still running).
Da Big Kahuna was known for its fish bowl cocktail and for its large handled Tiki Farm mug.
The owners decided to expand and opened two locations in Florida (Fort Lauderdale in 2010-2016 and Jacksonville in 2012-2014) but eventually all three businesses closed.
Then the Waikiki location was renamed as Lava Tube, and opened @2018 under new ownership with less emphasis on being a nightclub and with a revamped food menu.
Around May of 2025, the name changed to Tikis Meeting Spot, although the decor and drink menu appear to be the same, so it appears to be yet another light re-branding or ownership change but not a complete overhaul.
The Monkey's Paw Tropical Tapas & Tiki Lounge - Macon
Macon, Georgia, United States
Formerly located in a secret lounge above the Downtown Grill (2020-2024).
The Monkey's Paw closed their Downtown Grill location and re-opened at this new location in the basement of Pearl Passionate Cuisine & Cocktails (which closed June 23rd, 2024).
The Pearl venue became a new location called The Monkey's Paw Tropical Tapas on July 11th, 2024 with tapas dining upstairs and the Monkey's Paw Tiki Lounge downstairs.
Reservations must specifically choose which areas patrons wish to reserve (restaurant or lounge).
Don Hammond’s 7 Seas
Omaha, Nebraska, United States (Closed)
Omaha, Nebraska nightclub owner and local personality Don Hammond opened his 7 Seas club on December 1, 1947.
“Skipper Don” spared no expense, adorning his club in tropical splendor with a maritime / Pacific island motif. For nearly a decade, Don Hammond’s 7 Seas offered patrons a seemingly limitless parade of live musical acts and entertainers, while serving a full menu and cocktails.
In March 1957, Hammond sold the 7 Seas to Gene Purcell, a featured performer for Lawrence Welk, and whose musical combo was a fixture throughout the Omaha nightclub scene.
Five years later, in April 1962, the 7 Seas was acquired by the adjoining Diplomat Hotel as part of an expansion and closed.
Don Hammond would go on to manage other night spots across the Omaha area, including The Tiki Lounge at the Flamingo Supper Club.
Photo Credit: Don Hammond’s 7 Seas, October 25, 1951. Courtesy of the Bostwick-Frohardt/KM3TV Photography Collection at The Durham Museum Photo Archive.
The Mai-Tai Supper Club - Schofield
Schofield, Wisconsin, United States (Closed)
This listing is for the Mai-Tai Supper Club's second location at 141 Grand Avenue in Schofield, Wisconsin. They opened in mid-June of 1974.
It was behind the Kenron Motel on the North end of Schofield, just on the left as you came into Schofield from Wausau. Today (as of 2024) this location is a U-Haul Moving & Storage.
Their large roof sign left little doubt as to what they served -- "Beef N' Spirits"! According to advertisements, they served a complete menu including steaks, seafood, and chops.
Matchbooks from the first location advertise the same, but with the addition of Cantonese appetizers and entrees as well. And Exotic Cocktails. It's unclear whether this second location also served Cantonese food.
However, this location's history is eclipsed by what happened to the old location!
The Mai-Tai Supper Club is shown here in 1978, the same year the original restaurant location at 1539 Rose St. in LaCrosse was sold by Rachel Skoug to Glenn Addis.
The first location on Rose Street lasted under the "Mai Tai" name at least through Mother's Day of 1980 according to newspaper advertisements in the La Crosse Tribune.
In January 1983, Addis sold the property to Arthur Lucas, who renamed the LaCrosse restaurant location "Arthur's Restaurant". The restaurant closed five months later.
Later that year, Lucas was convicted of first degree-murder. According to news reports, Lucas shot Theodore and Carlene Ann Buschkopf in a Winona, MN., hotel room; Theodore Buschkopf died from his injuries. Investigators later discovered that Arthur Lucas and Carlene Ann Buschkopf had planned the hit in order to collect life insurance money to fund the restaurant's intended reopening.
Instead, the building was razed.
Carlene died in custody in 2010. Arthur was released in 2013 after serving nearly 30 years in prison.
Bob Brooks Seven Seas - at the Nevada Biltmore Hotel - Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (Closed)
This was Bob Brooks's second Seven Seas location. The first was in Hollywood.
This pre-tiki bar was located in Las Vegas at the Nevada Biltmore, but it was short-lived, lasting just from 1942-1944.
From the Las Vegas ashtray website:
“The Biltmore was built on this corner in 1942 by Bob Brooks. His single-story resort on 17 acres -- featuring a hotel, cottages, showroom, casino, restaurant, bar and pool-was Polynesian-themed, a motif he'd brought with him from his famous Seven Seas restaurant and lounge in Hollywood.For nearly three years the investment paid off, thanks to business from the expanding Army Air Field at the north end of town. But by the end of 1944, Brooks saw the Biltmore's future dimming and sold the resort. It changed owners (one of whom was famed bandleader Horace Heidt who later opened the tiki-themed Horace Heidt's Magnolia Estate Apartments) until June 1948, when four well-known members of the white community purchased the resort as the Nevada Biltmore Hotel Corporation.“
Photos below show the Biltmore exterior with neon tubing sign for "Seven Seas Room" unlit in the daytime (see wide and then close-ups of sign).
Island Room - at the Tropics Motor Hotel - Seattle
Seattle, Washington, United States (Closed)
The Tropics Motor Hotel was located in Seattle by the Space Needle.
It was built in 1958-1959 and opened in 1959.
It served as the host hotel for the 1962 World's Fair. It was once the only luxury hotel in downtown Seattle.
The masonry, five-story hotel cost approximately $1,750,000 to erect.
The Island Room had a mix of island decor - including Polynesian as well as Caribbean.
The pool area of the hotel also had a lava rock waterfall feature with clamshells and a tile mosaic of Hawaii's Diamond Head.
Closed some time shortly prior to 1991, when the iconic sign was taken down.
It then became a Quality Inn and Suites, and continues under that name today (as of 2024).