Luau Polynesian Lounge opened in 1997, and was more of a nice little neighborhood restaurant than a traditional tiki bar. The decor was bright and airy, and included more surfboards than tikis. There was, however, a rather striking carved Ku (with mouth reminiscent of Milan Guanko's carvings) serving as a hostess podium, and a number of tropical drinks were available on the menu. The food is what really made Luau stand out -- the mainland interpretations of classic Hawaiian food were quite good, and they served a can't-miss pupu platter, complete with flaming Sterno.

Luau Polynesian Lounge closed in early 2010.

This location was formerly called The Zen Trading Post, but is now called Zen Island.

It is a women's clothing and bikini boutique.

They also have a large selection of jewelry, art and coastal home decor, including tiki mugs, although it's not clear at this point how many of the mugs shown are for sale and how many are just store decoration (especially along top wall rails).

The Tonga Room is a great example of an old, classic Polynesian restaurant. It can be found in the basement floor of the upscale Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The Tonga Room has gone through several incarnations over the years, themed initially upon opening on September 18th, 1945 as a cruise ship (the S.S. Tonga), then in the '50s as a Mondrian-esque Chinese restaurant, then finally in the '60s the current theme of a Polynesian paradise took hold. Before becoming a restaurant, the space was the hotel's swimming pool.

The bar area of the restaurant has some impressive nautical theming, complete with a large ship's mast and sail, and plenty of rigging. There are two long dining rooms. The left dining room lies beneath a peaked-roof A-frame structure of impressive scale, with gorgeous carved details. The right dining room includes tables clustered under smaller round thatched huts, each one filled with large, colorful float lamps. Around the entire restaurant there are no shortage of old carved pieces tucked in between tropical foliage.

The dining rooms and the bar wrap around the real star attraction: a water-filled lagoon (the remains of the room's swimming pool origins), with a small tapa-lined boat with a thatched roof, where a band plays. Every thirty minutes a thunderstorm erupts, and rain falls into the pool. Unfortunately, this grand spectacle is also where the Tonga Room experience goes sadly sideways: while earlier in the evening the soundtrack is appropriate Hawaiian music, the house band plays dance hits of the '80s. The band starts playing at 8pm, at which time a cover charge is added to all bills (adding insult to the injury). The more low-key Happy Hour buffet at the Tonga Room, which goes from 5-7pm Monday-Friday, is quite popular.

In early 2009, the Fairmont announced plans to add a new tower of condominiums; this plan would have displaced the historic Tonga Room. This led to a fight against the removal of this unique piece of San Francisco history. The end result was positive: the Tonga Room is now protected under special landmark status by the City of San Francisco. The owners could still choose to close the Tonga Room, but every artifact within must be painstakingly cataloged, tracked, and preserved, and hopefully that daunting task will stave off any dreams of converting the space. The hotel has since changed ownership, and the new owners have no interest in the old condo plan.

In 2013, the menu was revamped; the tropical drinks being served are now much truer to the traditional recipes, and prepared with more care. Tonga Room's management has said that this new menu has led to a dramatic increase in bar sales, giving hope that this new trend towards a higher quality experience at the Tonga Room will continue.

This location stood adjacent to a Sambo's restaurant in 1975.

Around 2012, this site became the Presidio Parkway Inn.

Opened in 1969.

Hawaii West is a pool bar in San Francisco's busy North Beach neighborhood, with a couple of tikis.

Their cocktail menu only lists 4 cocktails.

When Bali Hai first opened, it was called The Hut (1953-1954), and was a subsidiary of Christian's Hut in Newport Beach. The business didn't do well initially, until the manager Tom Ham took it over and renamed it Bali Hai. Atop the building, you can still see "the Goof," a funny-looking guy who was the mascot for Christian's Hut. Bali Hai developed their own mascot, Mr. Bali Hai, whose droopy-lidded face can be seen at the front door, and on the tiki mugs. Today, Bali Hai remains a popular Polynesian restaurant, with many fine examples of Polynesian art both indoors and out.

Bali Hai is located on Shelter Island in San Diego, along with Humphrey's Half Moon Inn and Trader Mort's Liquor.

Miami Beach's Luau was created in 1955 by owner Jerry Brooks, who hired nightclub designer Franklyn Hughes (sometimes spelled Franklin Hughes) to create a space full of Polynesian spectacle. The entry to the restaurant was a thatched hut with an exaggerated pointed peak, and the sign was a towering rock wall with large blue letters vertically spelling LUAU. The front landscaping was dense with palm trees, and in the '60s also included stylized white moai by Lewis Van Dercar. Van Dercar also sculpted some unusual pieces inside the restaurant, including a dayglo-painted shipwreck scene behind the bar, with elaborate lighting to transition the scene from daytime to nighttime. By the '60s, Luau was owned and run by "Trader Syd" Mass. Each table had a large rattan queen chair at its head. Luau served a full menu of glorious tropical drinks and "Polynesian" cuisine typical to the era.

There was a sister location, "Luau II" at the nearby Marco Polo Hotel. After the demise of Luau, its name changed to "Gold Coin."

Luau closed around 1974, and the location is now an empty lot.

This classic Southern California tiki apartment building has an unusual amount of its Polynesian elements intact. The dramatic A-frame entryway shelters a collection of waterfalls and waterways, lined with nautical chain, and guarded by tiki rail posts. There is one very large old tiki still standing out front, and there are lush, tropical plantings and a cluster of tall palm trees.

Inside, there is a tiki-themed recreation room for tenants to use, which although not a vintage feature, is nonetheless cool.

Featured on page 280 of Sven Kirsten's Tiki Pop book with an early photo of owners admiring the front tiki. The front looks very similar except the early photo shows several fish floats hanging from the front entrance as well.

This location has a unique circular structure that reminds many of the Don the Beachcomber "Flying Saucer" locations (such as in Dallas and Marina del Rey).

From Hawaii Cinco Cero:

"A bridge over a stream and a breathtaking waterfall are the elements at our main entrance that’ll take you to an exotic and sophisticated facsimile of the Hawaiian Islands. Founded in 1982, Hawaii Five-O restaurant opens its doors to offer the most exquisite tastes to those demanding palates, with its delicious and varied dishes.

Our world-class menu will invite you to try the best dishes and wine for the most demanding connoisseur, with five chefs and six different cuisines and styles including: seafood, grill, Japanese, Chinese, regional (Mexican) and contemporary fusion. Offering a wide variety of lobster preparation and our famous dish ‘Paradise Shrimp’, cuts of flank steak, and the traditional Rib-Eye Five-O (Certified Angus Beef), or a dish of our famous oriental cuisine such as sushi or teppanyaki, or our delicious seafood tacos and our famous Mexican entries.

A combination of raw materials, such as bamboo, palms, and crystal, create a scene, complemented with vegetation and exotic flowers that invite you to a gastronomic paradise. A combination of objects, traditional utensils, masks, and crafts dress the restaurant’s walls to give you a taste of the Hawaiian paradise islands. Atmosphere, color, culture and high cuisine, make Hawaii Five O create a unique place in Monterrey.

We also have a different option for our guests located on the lower level of our facilities, an extension called Aloha Sushi Bar & Lounge."

September 26th, 2024 was their soft opening.

Lots of details in this bar, including a huge mosaic style Easter Island Moai mural behind the back bar.

It's dark and divey with black velvet paintings and carved tiki masks lit by hanging swag lamps.

Hosting live music acts.

Pele & volcano logo designed by Rarabird.

Long-time tikiphile, Dr. Shocker (and his wife, Rosie Raddish), is behind this venue, so its certain that the classic tiki cocktails will be on point.

This liquor store was re-located to this location at 8 41st Avenue when the Lanai Bar & Restaurant closed in 1988 -- later to become a Walgreens.

Before this, from @1960-1988, it was located between the Villa Chartier and The Lanai (right next to the main entrance), in the Villa Square.

The store had a beautiful neon sign and a Barney West tiki out front at one point.

The Barney West tiki was sold off due to the owner's financial difficulties when their liquor license was revoked in 2002.

Closed @ 04/2024. Later became Phillips Liquor, and more recently King's Liquors.

Opened circa 2010.

This was not a classic tiki bar but more like a college/sports bar lightly skinned with tikis and beach decor.

It had both an inside seating area and a back outdoor patio with its own bar.

The interior walls were painted solid colors over the years (light gray or orange) or covered in bare brick (patio exterior). The ceilings sported exposed beams with track lighting. Lots of TVs around the room playing sports.

They placed some inexpensive tiki masks and carvings around, along with a few old surfboards and a Sailor Jerry's Hula Girl Statue, but the overall vibe of the place still screamed college bar or sports bar.

It didn't help that they had a very limited selection of non-craft tropical cocktails and did heavy promotion of their "Shot-Ski" where shots are lined up for several drinkers to lift and drink at once as a group activity off a literal ski.

Their closing was also rather abrupt in 2023, but probably not terribly missed by people looking for an authentic tiki experience.