Politiki

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Politiki took a unique spin on tiki, featuring a line of tiki mugs in the likenesses of United States presidents: Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Nixon, Carter and Reagan (with a cameo by Nancy on the back, surrounded by astrological symbols). When it opened in 1993, there were three floors of tiki, but Politiki existed in its original form for only about 4 years. Afterwards, some decor remained but gradually disappeared with each new bar make-over.

Around 1999, the space became home to the Pennsylvania Avenue Pub and much of the tiki decor was removed.

For a time it existed only as the basement in the space's next incarnation as the Pour House, and in late 2004, almost all the tiki was gone.

The Pour House still displayed two of the presidential tiki masks on their exterior sign (Lincoln & FDR -- styled just like the earlier tiki mugs) but the bar closed in April 2014.

The next bar in succession was Stanton & Greene, which opened in 2015 and closed in 2018. They removed the two outside tiki masks in their remodel, which were the last vestiges of Politiki.

*However, for Politiki's 20th Anniversary (May 2018), the original owners brought it back as a pop-up in a different space (at Barrel on Capitol Hill) with new president-inspired tiki mugs (Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Steve Bannon).