This location served Chinese & Polynesian cuisine and cocktails and is notable for the Witco God of Fortune that graced its menu as well as the custom Witco tikis at the location itself.

Established in 1938, making it a pre-tiki establishment.

Their bartender, Manuel Lopez, created the tikis for many area establishments including this one. Manuel practiced carving since @1959. He tended bar at the Pelican from 1944 through the 1970s.

One of his carvings, at the Rix Motel on Clearwater Beach, made it into the newspapers in 1966 when it was stolen.

This venue was known for its mascot pelican formed from driftwood and for its stuffed and fried shrimp.

The Pelican burned down in 1974. Among what was salvaged in the fire was the namesake driftwood, and the restaurant was rebuilt, but later closed -- and now this spot has been overtaken by condominiums.

Last B&W photo shows rebuilt entrance.

While open, they did have an extensive cocktail menu (see below) and issued a variety of pelican swizzles in different colors.

The Hotel Waikiki was built in 1974 on the Playa del Inglés - Gran Canaria - Spain.

Servatur acquired the hotel around 2010 and is the current corporate head as of 2024.

Originally, the hotel sported some very nice Marquesan styled tikis on its grounds.

However, although the current advertising still talks about a tiki bar poolside, it appears the original vintage decor has long been disposed of with successive remodelings, leaving only a bland resort atmosphere. The only tikis in evidence appear to be some large and cartoonish (probably fiberglass) tikis by the childrens' pool area.

This second Nalu location opened in Rehoboth Beach on April 9th, 2019.

It tilts a bit more to the surf than the tiki spectrum of decor with surfboard tables and Hawaiian wave mural walls, but no carved tikis in evidence like the original location.

The food menu is much the same as the sister location. They have a self-described "Pacific island fusion" menu with pad thai, tacos, burgers, and poke bowls leading the way.

The cocktails are served in tiki style glassware.

Opened in 1954, this short-lived establishment was technically at the very beginning of the tiki era, but from all accounts was still very much a pre-tiki Hawaiiana bamboo and surf bar/restaurant.

The interior was decorated with bamboo, rattan, and natural materials, with some large sheets of tapa on the walls as well. However, no actual carved tikis or tiki mugs.

The cocktail menu, shown below, is basically lifted from Don the Beachcomber's, including some of the graphics.

An advert from 1955 describes Steve Romer's Surf Rider as “Tops in Hawaiian entertainment featuring George Kainapau, the Golden Voice of Hawaii." Customers could also dance to the music of the in-house band called The Surf Riders.

The restaurant served Cantonese and American food, had private banquet rooms and a fashion show luncheon was held every Wednesday.

According to newspaper reports, the restaurant went into receivership in 1957.

This location is not to be confused with the Bakersfield Surf Rider, opened a few years later, which epitomizes the over-the-top decoration in the Golden Era of Tiki.

There were many unrelated restaurants that used this name over the years, and it is worthwhile to note that the name and what it evoked reaches back to the pre-tiki era.

*NOTE: This location at 137 S. Lake Avenue would eventually become home, four years later, to The Tahitian, which fully embraced the Golden Era vision of Tiki.

Today, with the area having gone through several construction remodelings, there is no sign of the original building. As of 2024, it appears to have been in what is now a parking lot area adjacent to Fidelity Investments.

Opened @ February 2018.

This bar and restaurant has a large A-frame shaped roof with grassy thatching. One side is taken up with a long bar whose backbar is formed by boat-shaped shelves. The other side of the room has a large tiki mural with some Aztec/Mayan influence. This mural often serves as a backdrop to their live music performances. Movable tables and chairs fill the space between.

Tiki decor is a bit sparse and there is a dearth of actual carved tikis. However, they have a strong cocktail menu with both classics and signature drinks -- all served in tiki mugs.

Opened Friday, October 13th, 2023.

Friday the 13th was appropriate to open a "Tiki Hell" themed bar with lava floors and demon-themed barware.

The name is derived from Milton's epic poem and although the decor is a bit red-saturated and hellish, there are definitely tropical elements to be found as well such as thatching, ship's crates, burned wood, etc...

"Upon the beaches of the lake of fire, deep within the depths of the Abyss, sits a small bar."

However, this is also one of the new wave of tiki bars that try to sidestep cultural appropriation issues by not having any actual tikis or hula girl imagery in their bar. They have a large menu of cocktails derived from the list of classics originated by Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, but many of them are riffs with hell-themed names.

Opened in 1963 at Villa Plaza, a new construction in Lakewood just south of Tacoma (although advertising materials say "Tacoma" for this location).

It was a 2-story construction with A-frame entrance and a Witco Mbulu Ugulu mask just below the roofline.

This restaurant started off life as a nicely appointed Polynesian Restaurant with decor sourced from Witco and some fern tikis sourced from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair that ended just half a year before The Tiki Restaurant opened.

Martin Denny even did a live performance back in the early days here.

However, in 1966 they decided to have topless go-go dancing upstairs and it appears to have gotten seedier/more sketchy as the years went on...

First off, the dancing was illegal. There were some arrests made and negative headlines before the bar was able to secure a cabaret license and legitimize the dancing.

Then, in 1974, a patron killed a bouncer.

Shortly after this, the restaurant was sold and became Peking Restaurant for a few years until in 1978 it was burned down in a suspected arson.

Nothing remains today.

Opened November 14th, 2022.

Flamingo Tiki is AHMM’s second project for client Humankind Hospitality, and it joins the Oso on Paseo bar in the thriving arts community of the Paseo District of Oklahoma City.

The interior features a large central bar with curved banquette seating and there is additional terrace seating outside. The new interior teams mid-century styling and materials with a tropical color palette that extends to its bright pink exterior. The tropical theme is further enhanced by the introduction of indoor planting, LED planted lighting, hanging planters and window boxes.

Although there is "tiki" in the name and they serve a number of traditional tiki cocktails, the decor and theming of this location is skewed towards "Baja Tropical" like the affiliated Oso on Paseo -- even serving the same menu of Baja tacos. The ambiance is not the traditional dark tiki room with layers of nautical and Polynesian artifacts, especially carved tikis, that originated with Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. Rather, the exterior pink facade and subdued but tasteful interior call to mind an upscale beach resort.

They do serve drinks in a variety of tiki mugs, however, and their food and drink has garnered rave reviews since their opening. They also have a variety of swizzle sticks.

Opened September 2nd, 2022.

A collaboration between the team behind Liberty Street Bistro—chef/owner Michael Kelly, his wife Alex, and executive chef Maggie Lloyd—along with designer Pat Nunnari and beverage director Jessica Gonzalez. Located in the old Blue Martini space, next door to Primo Waterfront.

Inspired by a visit to the Fuschia Tiki Bar, who also did consultation on the initial cocktail list.

The name "Jet Set" harkened back to the glory days of air travel, with bartender as pilot.

Although there was decor you would normally see in a tiki bar, with lots of tropical foliage and thatch, fish floats, and tiki mugs, there were no carved tikis and the tiki decor was rather sparse by traditional standards set by Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber.

“Tiki itself has its origins in post-war escapism,” Nunnari says. “These guys who came back wanted to think back on paradise. It’s an Americanized sort of thing—it’s kind of fake in that respect, which leaves a lot of room for you to put your own twist on it.”

“It’s very hard to talk about tiki history without the appropriation of cultural iconography, specifically tiki gods, coming up,” says Alex Kelly, another partner in the project. “We get that, acknowledge it, and are not looking to add to the fetishization of Pacific Islander culture with The Jet Set. We have leaned heavily into the idea of mid-century modern air travel. What we aim to do at The Jet Set is focus on the quality of the cocktails our guests will be drinking.”

Best intentions aside, the bar did use plenty of mugs with tiki iconography and one of the most prominent pieces of bar art was a flip-up gate with a western-style painting of a cartoony pin-up native with a bone stuck in her hair (and holding a tiki mug). So, there was a little inconsistency in the application...

There was lots of stuff to love, though. The Jet Set had a very cool 30' aluminum jet fuselage with lit-up passenger windows in their dining area and a large outdoor patio as well. Unlike many tiki bars, they also had a great deal of space to work with and there was plenty of seating.

As time went on, they added to their decor with vintage style lamps and other details. They also became known for their live music presentations.

Unfortunately, they closed September 28th, 2024. No official reason given for closing...

Opened in 2012. This is a rum and craft cocktail bar that makes, by all accounts, fantastic tiki cocktails.

Though the interior design is not tilted as heavily toward tiki aesthetics as some of its more immersive cousins, they do have tiki decor, including several small tikis behind the back bar, tropical fern wallpaper in areas, and vintage prints that often find themselves inhabiting both home and commercial tiki bars -- such as Vladimir Tretchikoff's Green Lady (a.k.a. Chinese Girl) in the lounge and J. H. Lynch's Tina (1964) by the front bar.

They also serve drinks in tiki mugs and glassware and have several collectible mugs on display in their cabinets.

From Collage:

"Since its foundation in 2012, in the Born district of Barcelona, ​​the Collage cocktail bar has opted for signature creations. Creativity, research and respect for raw materials are the pillars on which we base our work. Always looking for new techniques, flavors and ingredients to provide a unique experience. We are specialized in rum and our sources of inspiration are in classic cocktails, in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and in the Tiki universe.

In our Born Cocktail Bar we have a curated selection of almost two hundred rums of different origins and styles. We travel around the world looking for old treasures hidden in bottles and barrels of rum. We have achieved a collection of Rums that could almost be a museum. We value unique collection pieces and limited editions. Let yourself be guided by our team of bartenders who are passionate about rum, if you want to travel through this wonderful world."