Tiki Bars
Tiki Bob's Cantina - Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Closed)
This location opened in 2002 and closed in about 2007.
This was one in a chain of Tiki Bob's Cantinas (no relation to the historic Tiki Bob's in San Francisco).
These have died out since the early 2000s, and were known for being dance clubs with very little tiki theming and aimed at young college-aged people.
Ports o' Call - Dallas
Dallas, Texas, United States (Closed)
This was a Steve Crane Associates restaurant, part of the same group of restaurants as the Kon-Tiki chain and the Luau in Beverly Hills.
It was located on the 37th floor of the Sheraton Hotel's Southland Life Tower. It opened on July 29th, 1960 and had four different themed dining rooms (Macao, Saigon, Papeete, and Singapore).
The Sheraton Dallas hotel was a very modern hotel when it was built as part of the Southland Life Insurance complex in 1958.
The entire complex went through some changes of owners and names over the years but eventually came under the ownership of Sheraton once again and underwent a series of renovations from 2009-2019 and is once again known by its original name as the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.
Coco's On The Canal
Kemah, Texas, United States
Opened in early 2022.
This bar is known for its live performances, with regular music, karaoke, and burlesque showcases held in a stage area.
The interior decor includes a large tiki head built into the back bar as well as glass fish floats suspended from the ceiling and lots of artificial greenery.
They also have a large back deck with an excellent canal view as one would guess from the name.
Tiki Di Amore - at Casa Di Amore
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
This outside tiki bar was launched during the summer of 2018 to compliment the already thriving Casa Di Amore Italian restaurant.
The themed environment features a private hut, seating around a fire pit, a life-size deep sea diver, and a throne embraced by a giant octopus, the “Tikipus,” created by locals 3 Specialty Design Services.
The Luau Room - at the Royal Nevada Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (Closed)
Opened February 3rd, 1957, at the Royal Nevada Casino.
Steve Crane's Luau was the model for this establishment that, unfortunately, turned out to be rather short-lived.
The construction of the Royal Nevada began on Dec. 1st, 1953. Designed by Paul Williams, in his 'Hollywood Modern' style, it opened on April 25, 1955.
Key elements of the Royal Nevada's design offerings were its front mounted fountain of curved neon tubing, the crown road sign and roof mounted crown. Photo below shows a lovely model with giant crown at the opening day 'crowning ceremony'.
The Royal Nevada's inside attractions were its 'Dancing Waters' fountain show, its Luau Room, Palm Room and Cabaret Room.
The Luau Room closed around 1958 when the Royal Nevada closed.
In 1959 the whole property became part of the Stardust.
Although remembered by few, this precursor may have prompted the Stardust to open the Aku-Aku in 1960.
Tiki Hideaway - at the Mean-Eyed Cat Bar - Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom
This is the third in a series of Tiki Hideaways (the first opened in Leeds and the second opened in Liverpool at a sister Mean-Eyed Cat). It is part of the Escapism Bar Group family, which was founded in 2004 by husband and wife team Phil and Mel Harrison.
This space was previously home to a Thai BBQ restaurant that closed in October 2022.
This third Tiki Hideaway opened September 28th, 2023 in the basement under The Mean-Eyed Cat, and resembles the other two versions with a long bamboo bar, thatching, lit tiki mask wall sconces, palm frond wallpaper, and stools around the perimeter.
There is also a photo booth.
Tiki Hideaway - at the Mean-Eyed Cat Bar - Liverpool
Liverpool, United Kingdom
In March of 2023, Tiki Hideaway opened this second location at 71a Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4AZ. This new location is dubbed a "lair", hidden within the existing Mean-Eyed Cat Bar, though with its own exterior and entrance.
The first location is in Leeds.
Kahunaville - at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (Closed)
This Kahunaville was one location in a nationwide chain of restaurants, but it was the longest lasting.
It doesn't appear to be the case with the other locations, but this location had some actual Bosko tikis in one area, the elevated area on the right immediately as one walks in. They also had a few SHAG (or at least SHAG-like) paintings in one area.
The bar offered a variety of tropical drinks although not much that would be categorized as "craft cocktail" by today's standards. See the giant toilet mug in the last photo below...
Their eclectic food menu featured about 90 items, which included "Kahunaville-sized" sandwiches, salads and entrees with American, Mexican, Cajun and Asian influences.
The parent company of Kahunaville, Adventure Dining Inc., once operated nine nationwide locations, including homes in Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Tampa. The Las Vegas, Nevada "Party Bar" (2001-2016) was their last holdout before the chain folded.
This type of corporate chain typifies what many tikiphiles dislike most about corporatizing the Tiki aesthetic -- bending the decor more towards a Chucky Cheese buildout (or perhaps Rainforest Cafe if one is being kind) with cheaply molded and cartoony fiberglass and plastic decorations in primary colors, dumbing down the cocktails of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic into chemical-tasting slushy boat drinks (but served with "flair"), and offering a big scattershot food menu in hopes of appealing to every American tourist palate. For those that grew up with these, there is some nostalgia, but they were not terribly mourned by fans of traditional tiki bars and restaurants.
This venue was a bit better than the others, it seems, due to its location within the Treasure Island Casino. It also tilted a bit more to adults as evidenced by scantily-clad hostesses dancing on the bar tops, but nothing to blink an eye at when Vegas is concerned. They also hosted hula dancer shows and ran the Treasure Island outside pool bar, serving the same tropical drinks.
The Vegas location produced a great many ceramic tiki mugs, most of them from Poolside Pineapple, which was located in Las Vegas also.
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.
Hawaiian Bill's - at The Caliente Tropics
Palm Springs, California, United States (Closed)
Hawaiian Bill's was the reincarnation of the Reef Bar at the Caliente Tropics hotel in Palm Springs. The Reef Bar had been remodeled by Bamboo Ben when it was still operated by the hotel; in 2006, the bar was transferred to independent owners, and the name was changed to Hawaiian Bill's. Traditional Hawaiian food was served, with live musicians playing Hawaiian music on Fridays and Saturdays.
Hawaiian Bill's closed in the summer of 2008. Today the space is again The Reef Bar.
Not a lot of photos around from Hawaiian Bill's today, but below is a photo showing Rory Snyder, Doug Horne, and Hawaiian Bill at Hawaiian Bill's circa 2006 (holding brown Doug Horne Tiki Farm Grog mugs).
Trader Vic's - at the Caribe Hilton - San Juan
San Juan Antiguo, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Closed)
This Trader Vic's was opened in the Caribe Hilton in 1961. It had a large A-frame entrance, with the front of the A-frame painted with rows of small, simple tropical-motif scenes, and an even larger, matching, swooping A-frame structure over a section of the restaurant that overlooked the ocean. The space is now called the Lemongrass Restaurant, and still has the larger, swooping A-frame structure.
Tonga Bar - in the Harbor Cafe
Tønsberg, Norway (Closed)
Opened in the early 2000s.
This small tourist town in south Norway held this tiki bar, which was surprisingly rich in details like tapa cloth and bamboo despite the scarcity of such items in the area. The bar's hours fluctuated seasonally based on the presence of tourists in the town; the main season is summer and winter is the off-season.
It appears that some time after 2014 that the tiki elements were stripped out in favor of a modern dance club interior.
There is another Tonga Bar still operating as of 2023 in Bergen.