Tiki Bars
Wharf Fishhouse & Tiki Bar
Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Opened summer of 2023 and located in downtown Newport, RI, this two-level bar and restaurant is tucked away in-between shops and bars on the side of a building on Bowen’s Wharf.
The tiki decor is sparse but there are fish floats, walls covered with lauhala matting, fish netting on ceilings, and tropical plants throughout. The white ceilings and beige walls along with wide plate-glass windows run contrary to the usual dark and cloistered tiki bar environment. Neither are there the layers of tiki mementos and ephemera one might find at a Trader Vic's or other classic establishment, but Wharf Fishhouse is new and has room to add more if they wish.
Their selection of custom tiki drinks are served in various tiki mugs, and they have several Polynesian inspired dishes, with a variety of skewers, sliders, rangoons, wings, ribs, etc.. Additionally, they offer standard local New England fare.
From Wharf Fishhouse & Tiki Bar:
“POLYNESIAN INSPIRED SMALL PLATES, NEW ENGLAND CLASSICS AND TIKI BAR. RIGHT IN THE HEART OF BOWEN’S WHARF.”
Le Fern - at The Caliente Tropics
Palm Springs, California, United States (Closed)
Opened Summer 2022.
Le Fern was a tropically-inspired bar with midcentury drop lights, carved Tiki heads behind the bar, live plants and the Caliente Tropics’ original carved wood door.
“A la 70s, fern bars have always fascinated me,” Rory Snyder said. “It’s my generation." and "Think TGIF’s as a typical fern bar.”
Catering to more feminine tastes, fern bars were inspired by the early feminist era when women, earning their own money, began going to bars where they felt safe to go alone.
“Typically, the drinks were sweeter, like Grasshoppers, Pink Squirrels, and modified Mai Tais,” says Snyder. “BLTs, cheese sandwiches, Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame were on the menus.”
Le Fern offered more modern fresh produce libations such as lime, basil and other juice and herb concoctions. Club sandwiches, cheese fondue and other 70s throwback eats were on the menu.
With the closing of Oceanic Arts, Snyder was able to acquire an original Ed Crissman carved tiki at auction (several of which already resided at the Caliente Tropics) and this Crissman tiki was prominently displayed at Le Fern and served as inspiration for one of their tiki mugs.
Although some purists may decry fern bars as "tiki adjacent" at best or, at worst, part of the much lamented tiki devolution that took place in the 70s and 80s, Le Fern had some pieces (including the Ed Crissman carving) that far outshone those in other tiki bars.
Le Fern was also bigger than the sum of its parts when considered as part of the greater Caliente Tropics complex.
It closed Sunday, April 28th, 2024 with Rory promising that the space would not remain vacant for long...and indeed, it didn't. The Le Fern space was quickly incorporated into the adjacent Sancho's Restaurant as a Cantina. Some tiki pieces can still be seen here, including quite a few mugs behind the backbar.
The Isle Apartments
El Segundo, California, United States
This apartment community was built in 1960 and has 2 stories with 23 units.
The Isle sign is featured in Sven Kirsten's The Book of Tiki on page 219.
Their poolside tiki was made by Trader Luke, who also carved tikis for other establishments in the area.
@2025, this tiki was saved from a demolition dumpster by Neil Hirtzel of Torrance and is currently in his personal collection.
Hula Hut - Wheaton-Glenmont
Wheaton-Glenmont, Maryland, United States (Closed)
Opened some time in the 1960s.
This bar and restaurant billed itself as "Metropolitan Washington's Best, Newest, and Finest Polynesian Restaurant" with three themed rooms (Hilo Room, Kona Room, and the Hula Room).
Apparently the Hula Hut changed names and/or owners in the mid to late 1970s (sometime after August of 1975) to become the Tung Bor Restaurant which then moved to Wheaton Plaza, probably when the property was bought to develop the Wheaton Metro Station in 1990.
Kanaloa - Houston
Houston, Texas, United States (Closed)
Opened September 5th, 2018.
Appears to have no connection to the chain of English Kanaloa bars that flourished from @2009-2020.
The exterior of the 2-story brick building was painted all-black.
Inside, the bar was decked out with a ton of multicolored fish floats hanging from the ceiling, a long bamboo bar stocked with a slew of top shelf rums and liqueurs, blue padded booths, polished koa wood tables, and large tiki murals painted on the walls. Outside the back was a patio seating area as well.
Barrera and his business partners Keith Doyle and Roland Keller, the team behind Wicklow Heights, wanted Kanaloa to be a place that would — like any great tiki bar — take drinkers out of the real world and into a kind of Polynesian fantasia. They called on Tiki Bosko to carve the tikis flanking the front doors and the wooden tabletops. Māk Studio, the firm behind EaDo’s Chapman and Kirby, created the tiki face wall murals. The stylish interiors, with deep blue hues, were the work of Leticia Ochoa’s Clover Design Studio.
By all accounts their drinks were fantastic. The food was supplied by Houston food truck Oh My Gogi which was given free rein in the kitchen. Menu items included a series of “tiki tots” including jerk chicken (seasoned grilled chicken, mozzarella cheese and pineapple pico de gallo) and Baja Shrimp (mozzarella, pico and guacamole). For vegans, there was “Beyond Baja Tots” made with plant-based protein, mozzarella, pico de gallo, cabbage and guacamole. There was also both grilled and fried shrimp tacos, a Korean salad and a Korean rice bowl.
Closed June 15th, 2021 -- another victim of the Covid pandemic shut-downs.
Tiki Docks - Riverview
Riverview, Florida, United States
Opened September 10, 2020.
Tiki Docks Bar and Grill has three locations currently: Riverview, Port Orange, and St. Petersburg, FL.
The Riverview location is 15,000 square feet and has tiki murals on the exterior. The interior is a huge open space with blue painted support beams and blue floors, a large central bar with lots of televisions stacked upwards, and several Bosko carved masks behind the host area in front. The bathroom hall features a mural of an octopus that extends into both the men's and women's restrooms.
Mojave Oasis
Newberry Springs, California, United States (Closed)
Mojave Oasis was opened in Spring 2011, in Newberry Springs, by Amy Boylan (Queen Kamehameha on Tiki Central).
The concept was definitely influenced by the 1960s Lake Loreen's Blue Lagoon (which was located in Newberry Springs and was also situated on a man-made lake and had a plane called "The Tiki Bird").
Newberry Springs is a very isolated area, located 20 mi (32 km) east of Barstow, approximately 40 mi (64 km) due west of the Mojave National Preserve, and approximately 100 mi (160 km) south of Death Valley National Park.
Mojave Oasis was a private campground centered around a small pond/lake with both tent and trailer camping.
In addition to vintage trailers which could be rented, the property had paddle boats for going out on the lake, a wrecked vintage plane (The Tiki Bird), dozens of vintage tikis (some from Benzart Davis and some from Ben Wilson who ran the old El Tiki) and new carvings (like the carved mermaids by Tiki Ray for instance), a clam shell roofed bar (The Mermaid Lounge) and a hut called The Rapa Nui Roost -- both created by Danny Gallardo (Tiki Diablo), and an A-frame stage for live music performances.
Camp spaces could be rented out by appointment and Amy also held an annual Mojave Oasis event.
Financial difficulties forced the closing and sale of the property in 2016.
Tiki Motel - Tucson
Tucson, Arizona, United States (Closed)
This simplified 20-unit pueblo deco complex opened in 1947 and featured exposed red brick buildings and attached carports. The original art deco sign was discarded in the mid-20th century when the property was renamed the Tiki Motel. It was replaced with a sign in the shape of a Polynesian war shield and mask outlined with neon.
In the years since its heyday, the front pool was filled in with dirt and fenced off. The red brick was covered in stucco and most of the side windows covered over (many fitted with window a/c), leaving only the front and back windows for each unit. Industrial spike-out fencing lined the exterior and only a couple of palms were left.
Although the exterior paint on the buildings and the roofs had been maintained and it presented as a maintained motel, reviews warned that the low daily room prices attracted an unsavory clientele.
As of February 2021 the motel was listed for sale on loop.net for $900K.
The sign was the only thing tiki about this otherwise dated and bottom-tier motel. However, in November 2021, the Tiki Motel sign came down and was donated to Tucson Historic Preservation, thus ending this site's current interest to tikiphiles, but preserving the history.
The Hula Hut - Tucson
Tucson, Arizona, United States (Closed)
Started some time in the 1950s.
Known as a place to hear live jazz in the 1950s, legendary performer Anita O'Day sang at the Hula Hut as did "Queen of the Boogie" Hadda Brooks in 1957.
A North Coast Journal article written by Joseph Byrd states:
"The Hula Hut's facade was bamboo, cluttered with flotsam and fishing nets; inside it was lit with torches...Primitive masks and 'tribal' carvings were prominent, and tropical-themed fabrics festooned the booths. Hula girls were languorously draped around the printed menu, which featured exotic rum drinks, sweetened with fruit juices, flavored syrups and liqueurs. Beverages were usually served in equally exotic vessels, each with its garnish of fruit and oversized straw."
The Hula Hut endured a fire in 1957 and was built back better than ever. B&W newspaper photo below shows then-owner Tony Marciane and waitress Shirley Kiltz re-decorating with masks after first re-build.
However, the bar then succumbed to a second fire in 1958 which spelled its demise.
Ula Ula Tiki Room
Saint Francis, Wisconsin, United States
This small Milwaukee tiki bar opened in 2019 above Redbar, located at 2245 E. St. Francis Ave.
The lounge, whose name fittingly means "red" in Hawaiian, is only open on weekends – kind of like a pop-up bar in a permanent space.
Lee Guk, who was the proprietor of Tiki Joe's in Walker's Point, operates the lounge, along with Carrie Wisnewski and Nick Schell, who own the building and Redbar.
"We had a very under-utilized space (on the second floor) and this seems like a perfect way to showcase it," says Wisnewski.
Friday-Saturday nights 6-12am.
Cash only!
The Reef Bar - at The Caliente Tropics
Palm Springs, California, United States
The Reef Bar is within the Caliente Tropics Resort in Palm Springs, a historic tiki hotel that opened in 1964.
The bar at the Caliente Tropics has changed names, theming, and management many times over the years. Originally, the bar was the Congo Room restaurant, a steakhouse. After the Congo Room years, the bar adopted its most-used Reef Bar name, and there was also a brief period in the late-'00s when it was Hawaiian Bill's.
After many years with the bar in flux, as of March 4th, 2017 it re-opened under the management of Rory Snyder, perhaps best known as the organizer of the annual Tiki Caliente event at the Caliente Tropics (and Circa Caliente). The bar has large windows and a patio overlooking the hotel's swimming pool, and rather than fight the light, Snyder aims to differentiate from the other tiki bars in town and create a space that blends the mid-century history of Palm Springs with the classic tiki elements on the grounds. A menu of tropical drinks and food is available. See cocktail menu below...
In addition to mugs and glassware, the bar also sports its own line of branded rum bottles with label designs by Anthony Carpenter.
Royal Hawaiian Estates
Palm Springs, California, United States
The Royal Hawaiian Estates were built in 1960 and opened on New Year's Day 1961. It is a complex of 12 buildings containing 40 condominium homes with two shared central swimming pools, designed by the famous mid-century architect Donald Wexler and his partner at the time, Richard Harrison. The developer was Philip Short, and ownership was initially restricted to Jewish buyers over the age of 55 (Jewish people were not allowed to buy in the other private communities around Palm Springs at that time). Some of Hollywood's movers and shakers owned units as a vacation home in the 1960s. The property fell into disrepair in the 1990s and many of the defining architectural elements were removed. Restoration began in the 2010s, and today the mostly-restored complex is the first Historic Residential District in Palm Springs. The artist Shag (who has a store in Palm Springs) has a tikified vacation home in the complex.