This was the same historic restaurant that stood for many decades under the legendary name of Sam's Seafood. It briefly became Kona, and for several years, starting in 2009, was Don the Beachcomber. This restaurant had no connection to the historic Don the Beachcomber chain; the trademark on the name had lapsed and had been purchased for new business ventures. The operation contained many nods and tributes to the original Don the Beachcomber.

The owners hoped to honor the name by bringing back traditional Don the Beachcomber cocktails. The decor remained intact, and was augmented with more work by Bamboo Ben. Notably, the entrance was redecorated in tribute to the entrance to the original Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood.

The most densely tikified area was the Dagger Bar, which was dark and filled with carved posts and pufferfish lights. The main dining room was more bright and airy, and had a large tiki watching over diners. The back of the restaurant was the deluxe "Hidden Village," available for special occasions, with a stage area, raised huts and second bar.

The owners of the restaurant did not own the lot of land it sat on, and periodically over the last decade or so prior to its close, there were threats of the restaurant being bulldozed to make room for a new condominium development. The threat seemed to rise and fall with the economy, and news came in June 2015 that the owners of the lot were asking for it to be rezoned for high-density occupation.

As of April 15th, 2018, Don's was closed down. Much of the interior decor was removed and put in storage. Part of the building was rented out to a restaurant named The Himalayan Grill as a temporary lease until they could find a permanent brick-and-mortar location. Delia Wu Snyder publicly stated she was looking for a new location for Don's to re-open.

*NOTE: According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal as of Aug 19, 2022, a Tampa-based hospitality company has acquired the intellectual property of an iconic California restaurant brand. Marc Brown, president of 23 Restaurant Services, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that the company has finalized a deal to purchase the Don the Beachcomber brand from Delia Snyder, who had owned it since 2003. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 23 Restaurant Services is the parent company of Ford’s Garage, Tiki Docks and Yeoman’s Cask and Lion. Some aspects of the Don the Beachcomber brand will be incorporated into Tiki Docks locations, and 23 Restaurant Services is also looking for stand-alone sites for the concept, Brown said.

The Don the Beachcomber in Madeira Beach, FL opened in February of 2024, the first of many planned by 23 Restaurant Services in the re-booting of the franchise.

The Castaway was a nautically themed restaurant overlooking the San Francisco Bay from Coyote Point Recreation Area. While not strictly tiki, it had many tropical and flotsam-and-jetsam elements, like float lamps, netting and monkeypod tabletops.

The Castaway closed in 1997 for major repairs, but the repairs never happened. After standing in increasing disrepair for over a decade, the building was bulldozed in February 2008.

This location had a sister restaurant at 66 Jack London Square in Oakland, California.

The Beverly Hills Hotel still stands, and indeed still has a lounge, but there was at least a short period when they jumped on the tiki bandwagon and had a small lounge menu of Polynesian drinks, complete with requisite color drawings.

Today, their most notable contribution to the tropical lifestyle remains their banana leaf wallpaper. The Martinique® banana leaf wallpaper was created in 1942 by heritage Southern California textile brand CW Stockwell, and selected by famed designer Don Loper in 1949 to adorn the walls of the newly renovated and redesigned hotel. It is on display at the Fountain Coffee Room, which has also restored the 19 bar stools that originally surrounded the classic curved soda fountain counter, built in 1949. Unfortunately, the Coffee Room does not serve cocktails -- although they do offer wine and champagne in addition to their ice cream shakes.

Beachbum Burt's was the short-lived 1970s tiki restaurant opened by Burt Hixson, who also owned The Warehouse restaurant chain in Southern California. The oceanside restaurant had an open-air courtyard in the center.

The building is gone, and in its spot today there is a Cheesecake Factory.

Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store and retailer of software, consumer electronics, household appliances and computer hardware. Fry's had in-store computer repair and custom computer building services. The company had a chain of superstores headquartered in Silicon Valley. Starting with one store located in Sunnyvale, California, the chain operated 34 stores in nine states by 2019, and as of June 2020 operated 31 stores. Most of the stores in the Fry's Electronics chain had themes. For example, the Burbank store which opened in 1995 carried a theme of 1950s and 1970s science fiction movies, and featured huge statues of popular characters such as the robot Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Darth Vader from the Star Wars movie series. The Woodland Hills store was Alice in Wonderland themed. This Manhattan Beach store was the only tiki themed store and featured a giant Moai head at the entrance to their theater in back, a koi pond outside with several weathered wooden tikis, and bamboo and tiki embellishments throughout the store and at checkout.

*Fry's Electronics abruptly shut down its 31 stores on February 24, 2021, citing the pandemic and changes to retailing.

This is one of a growing chain of Islands restaurants in the Southwest (California and Arizona) that started in West Los Angeles in 1982.

Islands restaurants have a vague and generic tropical theme that leans towards "Surf" but usually has a few tiki masks and other tiki-friendly decor.

For some time they were using masks and other wall-hangings from Oceanic Arts, although less in builds in later years.

This particular location in the Rolling Hills shopping plaza does have a rather nice, large tiki inside.

In 1961, the Thunderbird International Hotel was built at 525 N Sepulveda Boulevard, in El Segundo, California, just a few blocks south of Los Angeles International Airport.

Originally, it had a coffee shop, but a year after it opened, in 1962, they changed their mind and remodeled the coffee shop and re-opened it as the The Huki Lau.

A few years later, the Thunderbird International was sold and re-named the Hacienda. Along with this name change, The Huki Lau was re-named to the simpler "Tiki Hut".

Most recently, the Hacienda was split into two and completely redone, with the Aloft being formed from the south building and a Fairfield Inn formed from the north building.

There are no longer any signs of The Tiki Hut.

The Zombie Hut was a Hawaiian/Polynesian-themed restaurant, nightclub and Tiki bar located on Freeport Blvd. between Florin Road and Sutterville Road in Sacramento, California that originally opened in 1945 after the end of WWII and continuing for 45 years until its closing in 1990.

It was known for its dance entertainment, including the Samoan Fire Knife Dance and Slap Dance.

This location is now a strip mall.

Tiki Farm is the largest modern mug manufacturer, creating mugs for sale at stores and restaurants, or through the Tiki Farm website. Tiki Farm has created many limited edition mugs in partnership with modern tiki artists such as Shag, Joe Vitale and Crazy Al. Tiki Farm has produced affordable reproductions of some of the popular vintage mug designs, such as the Suffering Bastard, and Mr. Bali Hai. Tiki Farm also creates glassware, serveware, and other general tikiware.

Holden Westland is the owner and founded the company in 2000.

Their old location at 1305 Calle Avanzado also held a Mugoomba bar (built 2006) and played host to several Big Tiki Bashes.

They moved their facilities in 2011 or so and began a slow remodel hampered somewhat by their success which gave little time to think of much beyond production. Their complete remodel and re-outfitting of the new office at 1120 Calle Cordillera was completed in 2021.

Tiki Farm then moved to 981 Calle Negocio, Suite 100, San Clemente, California 92673 around May of 2024.

Bali Hai, the first apartment complex by A. G. Spanos Construction, was built in 1961 in Stockton, California. In 1962, the company built its second project, the Outrigger, right next to Bali Hai.

In 1965, Alex Spanos built the company’s headquarters in Stockton, California, and maintained the offices for the next 40 years.

On May 13th, 1942, Yachtsman and Bay Area Restaurateur, Frank "Skipper" Kent, opened Skipper Kent's Zombie Village in Oakland, California, right across the street from the original Trader Vic's on San Pablo Avenue. Like his predecessors, Donn Beach and Trader Vic, Skipper Kent wanted to create a South Seas inspired hospitality where patrons could be transported to paradise. Together, with his fellow host, Lucille "Hafe" Hafer, Zombie Village offered typical-of-the-time pseudo-Polynesian Chinese food, but the real star was the drink menu. The restaurant was South Seas-styled both inside and out.

Skipper described the Zombie Village in a letter written in 1953:

"...through massive driftwood doors, with huge Easter Island idols on either side, with a pause to inspect the unusual gifts from all corners of the earth which are for sale at the curio corner, then the beauty of the tropical dining room unfolds before you. Palm trees, Philodendrons, Marantas, Calatheas, and everywhere colorful Anthuriums and overhead the exotic orchid.

...In the Malayan, African, and Garden Rooms, the dining tables are made of selected Koa and Monkey Pod woods. Spears, shields, and Kris, from Africa to Malaya and the South Seas, all collected by the skipper on his many voyages, explorations, and travels, adorn the walls....."

Over the course of two decades, Skipper Kent's Zombie Village would become one of Oakland's best known tiki establishments, and he would go on to open a second outpost on Columbus Avenue in North Beach, known just as "Skipper Kent's". In 1967, a three-alarm fire destroyed the Oakland restaurant, putting an end to its 25 year reign as a Bay Area Landmark and a favorite among those who longed for a temporary escape to a tropical island paradise.

This famous little bar is a Los Angeles institution and was opened on April 28th, 1961 by Ray Buhen. It is now owned and operated by Ray's son Mike Buhen and grandson Mike Buhen, Jr.

The Tiki-Ti drink menu has over 80 drinks. These recipes are closely guarded family secrets. There are plenty of classic cocktails on the menu, but many of the drinks are the creation of Ray or his son or grandson. One of Ray's creations, Blood & Sand, is named for the Tyrone Power bullfighting film by the same name, and as it is being mixed the bar's patrons call out "Toro, Toro!" Mike or Mike will happily take the time to ask you a few questions and guide you to a drink you're sure to like.

On Wednesdays, a tribute is made to Ray (who passed in 2001) -- a bell is rung five times, and the whole bar stops what they're doing to toast to Ray.

For decades, Tiki-Ti was owner-operated, with no employees, making it one of the very few places in California that could allow smoking. In June 2015, the Buhens hired their very first employee, longtime regular Greg Bansuelo, to help behind the bar. Smoking is no longer permitted at Tiki-Ti.

The Buhens close the bar when they go on vacation; be sure to check the Tiki-Ti website's calendar to make sure they are open before you stop by. Tiki-Ti is extremely small (just 12 barstools and 5 tables), and is incredibly popular so if you don't like crowds, be sure to get there right as it opens, preferably on a Wednesday. Be sure to bring plenty cash as they don't accept credit cards (although this might have changed recently?). There is an ATM in the back, but it charges a hefty fee and is sometimes hard to reach when the place is packed.

In 2021, during the downtime from the Covid closure, the front of the interior bar was given a facelift by Anders Anderson (A-Frame) with bamboo fronting and diamond-shaped panels decorated with tapa cloth and carved tiki masks. Anders previously had donated a traditional swag lamp or two as well.