King's Tropical Inn was opened in 1927 in Los Angeles/Culver City.

The inn stood at 5935 Washington Blvd. and was built in a Spanish/Moorish style.

Users recount that: "the place had tables in little roofless bamboo 'huts' and the painted night sky had moving stars and clouds. And 'tropical' music played."

They were known for their chicken dinners with biscuits and honey.

It was also a major pre-tiki location that updated and changed over the years. The Treasure Island Bar appears to be a newer edition, added in the late 50s or more probably, the 60s.

They did produce some souvenirs, including a ceramic ashtray with a chicken on it for their 25th anniversary in 1952.

Closed in 1968 and the building was later demolished.

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. The term ‘yacht rock’ coined about 10 years ago, is the music of Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan. It has a huge history. 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.

This tiki bar appears to have been active @1961-1962.

It was later the location of the Bali Hai which ran from June of 1963-1969.

The Tropic Isle's tiki mascot figure was issued in mug form, both with and without dry ice pockets on top rim.

As of 2022, this location appears to be a Vans shoe store or adjacent to where the shoe store currently stands.

The Indo-China -- which served everything from Moo Goo Gai Pan to barbecued pork chops -- had a colorful clientele ranging from politicians to beat cops to Chinese American families celebrating special occasions. Until it closed in the early '60s, it was one of the most popular places in town.

The restaurant decor hearkened back to Joe's time working at Zombie Village and Joe also offered tropical drinks as well.

Joe Jung was best known for introducing dual menus -- Western and Cantonese -- in exotic decors outside Chinatown. "The idea," according to his son, David, "was not only to introduce Westerners to Chinese food, but to offer favorite American dishes, like fried chicken and prime rib, to Asian diners in a setting in which they felt comfortable."

Joe started his career by working for the legendary Frank Fat in Sacramento. There he learned the art of Chinese restaurant cooking and became Fat's youngest chef.

In 1940 he began to work for the Zombie Village in Oakland, owned by Skipper Kent who, along with "Trader Vic" Bergeron, whose Hinky Dink's restaurant was in Oakland at the same time, pioneered the marriage of Polynesian motifs with Chinese/Western cuisine.

But it was actually black cooks -- men who worked for the railroads and on their days off cooked at Zombie Village -- who taught Mr. Jung the basics of preparing the dishes for which he was to become famous: fried chicken, biscuits, prime rib and Southern gravy.

In the 1960s, when the O'Farrell Street location was razed to make room for the Nikko Hotel, he moved the restaurant to Chinatown at the corner of Clay and Stockton streets, where it quickly became a favorite of succeeding generations, especially for buffet parties, weddings, baby parties, and birthday celebrations.

Mr. Jung died May 8, 1998. He was 82.

Opened in 2019 on the site of what used to be Buchanan Arms, a British pub.

Upon opening, there were minimal changes made to the decor (some skeletons and cutlases and nautical netting) but this was in keeping with what the owners described as a pirate bar serving up British pub fare (Fish n’ Chips, Bangers n’ Mash, and Shepherd’s Pie).

However, from early on they had a heavily tiki influenced cocktail menu.

The cocktail program and regular food menu received excellent reviews and customers were told that they were going to lean more heavily toward tiki with future updates.

Further remodeling took place and in November 2022, the bar re-opened with a much more heavily tiki influenced interior including tons of rattan and thatched huts. The pirates and skeletons are still there also, but the overall tropical ambiance is much enhanced -- right down to Jose and Juan, skeletal versions of the parrots found in Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

The name phased out from "The Burbank Pub" and into "Broken Compass" some time around the beginning of 2023.

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.

The poolside tiki looks to have been made by Trader Luke, who also carved tikis for other establishments in the area.

Opened October, 2019.

A tiki bar and speakeasy with a beer focus, Forbidden Cove belongs to its Kearny Mesa neighbor, Kilowatt Brewing.

The Kilowatt crew has opened Forbidden Cove inside their original Kearny Mesa brewery, accessible through a cloaked entrance. The space is a tiki-enthusiasts dream with a touch of psychedelic inspired neon and blacklight nuance that Kilowatt patrons have come to know and love. Being Forbidden Cove cannot serve distilled liquor, the menu is beer-based tiki drinks, as well as those made with Kilowatt Brewing’s hard seltzers and "undistilled spirits".

Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, the Cove is only accessible if you make online reservations. Wait in the Kilowatt tasting room for an escort, who will guide you to the Cove via secret entrance.

The clock was ticking upon opening for this location as the landlord had already announced their intention to demolish the space in a year and a half, but then COVID happened, so the future remains uncertain...

Opened in 1958.

A classic tropical resort hotel on Mission Bay. Originally built by the Scripps family as a Spanish Colonial style summer house, the buildings were rebuilt in a Hawaiian Colonial style in the late '50s to better fit in with the tropical grounds. The hotel's been renovated many times since then without losing its Tiki touches.

Throughout the decades, the Evans family has gone to great lengths to import traditional Pacific Island art. All of the ethnic art including spears, personal jewelry, hand-woven rugs, and warrior shields are from New Guinea and were made prior to World War II. As you face the front desk, look above and you will see a very large tapa cloth made of Mulberry bark. It is from the New Hebrides Islands located off the coast of New Guinea. When this piece was commissioned, it was the largest one done since 1920 and took many different island families over a year to make. The wood that makes up the front desk is called Black Koa wood, which is native to the Tahitian Islands. The totem poles throughout the property were handcrafted in Bali specifically for the Catamaran. As you approach the stairs on the way to the Atoll restaurant, look to your left and you will see a large carving encased in glass that looks like a stool. This piece of art is known as the "speaking stool." It was found by Michael Rockefeller in a headhunter village in 1961. This stool is the second largest one known in existence.

Opened August 30th, 2022.

Lost Inferno is a tiki bar with a strong homage to the classic 1985 film by Stephen Spielberg, The Goonies. The name of the bar directly references the pirate ship from the film, which belonged to One-Eyed Willie.

There are pirate skeletons and sections of the bar feel like they are a cavern straight from the film. They are a little light on actual tikis in the decor, although they do have some tiki masks up on the walls.

This was a 1930's era pre-tiki tropical bar, and it is difficult to know whether this version or the one in Los Angeles came first. Both advertised "Rain On The Roof". They appear to have been owned separately, however, and were not sister locations.

Today, this location is a parking lot.

Soft opening on October 11th, 2022.

From Lime In The Coconut:

"Lime in the Coconut takes you to a place of salty air and sandy toes. Time slows down and the island vibe transports you someplace tropical. Enjoy casual island fare from Hawaii, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, and the Caribbean. The menu, designed by executive chef Jeremy Galapon (formerly of the Bali Hai, San Diego), features fish, pork, chicken, tofu, and vegetable sandwiches, salads noodles, and snacks.

Vacation vibes begin with craft cocktails designed by Snake Oil Cocktail Co. and made with fresh, hand-pressed juices and the finest rums, tequilas, gins, and liqueurs. Mocktails are equally tasty and tropical for those choosing to forgo alcohol.

You don’t have to travel to escape."

Opened April 20th, 1958, specializing in Chinese style smoked ribs and tropical drinks. They did have branded tiki mugs as well.

Owners Tex Loving and Howard Lee spent $300,000 on this location, which replaced the original Samoa House located on Van Nuys in Sherman Oaks.

The building and furnishings were designed by Architect John Hutchison of Sherman Oaks, former partner of Hutchison, Kinsey, & Boeke. Structure was of contemporary styling and featured a roof of reinforced gypsum slab design. It was completely air conditioned.

Samoa House was a Valley institution and became a successful jazz club in the 1960's and 1970's...and closed by 1975.

Today, this is the location of a Chase bank.