This Chinese Restaurant was located directly across from the Kuo Wah Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Like Kuo Wah, Imperial Palace had its own cocktail mugs, many of which were patterned after ancient Chinese serving vessels.

The Imperial Palace was in this location up through at least the mid 90s. At some point thereafter, they moved around the corner to 818 Washington St., where they are still located as of 2021.

An episode of Season 4 of Beverly Hills 90210 was shot inside the old location, called "Emily" (a.k.a. The Pink Pearl).

Chin Mon Wah (Young family patriarch) and his childhood friend, Chin Kwok Yen, purchased the building in the late 30s. Prior to placing a restaurant in this location it had at the ground floor a photo studio at 942 and stores at 946-950 Grant Avenue with the remaining two floors above being the Gum Mon Hotel.

At this time they remodeled the building to house the Kuo Wah Cafe at 942 Grant Ave which served American Style food and 946-950 to serve Chinese food. The Lions Den Nightclub was in the basement and its entrance was at 942. This is where the bar was located at that time. The Lions Den had shows featuring Chinese performers that would sing, dance and tell jokes just like all the mainstream nightclubs of the era. The Gum Mon Hotel still remained. Sometime after WW II, in the mid to late 1950s, the Lions Den Nightclub ceased to exist due to the changing times and became a dining room. Its bar was relocated from the basement to the main floor location of the Cafe which served American food. Many politicians, heads of state and other dignitaries were hosted.

In the early 60s, Chin Mon Wah's son, Andy Young, had by that time became general manager, and again undertook major construction. The Lions Den basement, main floor Kuo Wah Cafe and second floor hotel rooms were remodeled into a single restaurant called the Kuo Wah Restaurant instead of "cafe". A new bar was built in the basement, the kitchen was relocated from the main floor to the basement. A second remodel of the existing bar took place and the 2nd floor hotel rooms were cleared to make way for a 300+ person dining room. An outdoor courtyard was created at the front entrance of the building so that diners could sit out on nice days to eat or have cocktails.

Upstairs, they had a burlesque dance review based on a number out of the hit play (1958) and film (1961), Flower Drum Song. In the film, “Fan Tan Fannie” was performed by the strip-teasing female comic lead, Linda Low, played in the film by sex symbol Nancy Kwan. Their postcards advertised the dancing girls doing 3 shows a night along with "togetherness dancing" whatever that meant...

Between 65' and 68' there was a nightclub in the basement called The Drag'on A' Go-Go, which featured local bands. This is when they started to offer free tiki mugs with any of their exotic Polynesian cocktails. These mugs were exclusively from Otagiri Manufacturing Co. This continued until 1975 at which time they sold the restaurant to investors who rebuilt once again to make a Hong Kong style dim sum eatery. At this time the restaurant was still called Kuo Wah.

Since then the restaurant changed hands at least two more times. Its name for 20 years or so was Grand Palace.

Then, in 2021, owners with a love of history decided to bring back a version of The Lion's Den Club as the new Lion's Den Lounge and Bar. The address for this newer club is 57 Wentworth Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108, but it occupies the same footprint as the old club and honors its style and memory.

This pre-tiki establishment was open at least as early as 1945. Before this, in 1943, it was home to the Rose Bowl.

The exterior was marked by huge neon vertical letters spelling out "TRADE WINDS".

Hy Ginnis, the original host, died in 1955. Arthur Adler took over soon after.

It was located on Chicago's Rush Street which was quite notorious at the time for gambling, prostitution, and all sorts of debauchery.

Arthur Adler was killed by the mobster "Mad" Sam DeStefano in 1960.

Later in the 1960s, this location housed the Whiskey A Go Go.

Owned by Herman A. Klabunde and operated 1939-1947.

This pre-tiki establishment served tropical cocktails and Chinese food.

They also had a "rain-on-the-roof" effect with lights, sounds, and running water.

Located at 327 Broadway in Santa Monica, at what is today a thriving shopping area just at the edge of the Third Street Promenade.

Opened in May 2012 by the owners behind The Sugar Cane cocktail bar in London's Clapham Junction.

According to their website:

"Kona Kai is a Tropical cocktail bar that promises to transport you to the shores of the South Pacific. Renowned for its spectacular signature cocktails made with premium spirits, home-made infusions and tropical ingredients.

Designed and built by the famous Cheeky Tiki designers, Kona Kai has become a port of pleasure for many Londoners! So why don't you come in and see for yourselves.

Typically, we play range of music, Charts, Hip Hop, House and some old school mash-ups."

Opened in 2018.

This bar boasted: "A wide array of Tiki Cocktails and Classics, One of the Largest Rum Selections in the Country, a good range of soft drinks including our Homemade Ginger Beer and a Selection of Beers!"

The interior had a long bar decorated in bamboo and with a backbar decorated with geometric clusters of bamboo end-pieces. The ceiling had several canoes suspended from the rafters. Walls were painted blue, with booths outfitted in a mix of padded blue and red benches and red/green/and white antiqued wood "captain's chairs". There was one large carved tiki on the bar at the end and several masks and other pieces of assorted tiki art spread throughout.

Closed as a result of Covid shutdowns in September 2020.

A gifted artist and cartoonist, Val Valentine worked for the Fleisher Studio in Miami in the 1930s, illustrating the cartoons “Popeye” and “Betty Boop” and the animated feature “Gulliver’s Travels.” He also was the original creator of “Casper the Ghost.”

Valentine moved to Panama City Beach in the mid 1960s after working on several other notable attractions in Florida and other states, including Silver Springs in Ocala.

In 1965, Valentine purchased a struggling roadside animal display (Ross Allen's Alligator Show) and proceeded to construct a massive concrete volcano at its center, complete with billowing smoke and faux molten lava. The attraction was renamed “Jungle Land” and became one of the premier sights in Panama City Beach.

Jungle land featured several tiki masks, including a large moai with giant boar's tusks through its nose that graced the roofline at the front entrance.

Many photos show the "natives" of Jungle Land -- pretty young blonde girls in leopard print bikinis with spears in their hands.

Not long after Jungle Land opened, the park was purchased by the owner of Miracle Strip Amusement Park, for which Valentine also shared his talents, designing such attractions as Dante’s Inferno, the Abominable Snowman, the walk-through haunted house known as the “Old House” and Shipwreck Island Water Park.

Val passed away in 2015.

Jungle Land was eventually purchased by Alvin’s Island department store and became one of their dozens of locations, however, after it became apparent that bringing up the site to code would be cost prohibitive, it was announced in 2020 that it would be demolished and a new construction built.

Aku-Aku offered Polynesian food and comedians.

They also had locations in Newton and Cambridge, MA (both now gone).

Since 2004, this site is home to a Ninety Nine Restaurant, Starbucks, and a Rollstone Bank & Trust.

This apartment complex was built in 1961.

It has 47 units and the front features a very large A-frame. There is also a smaller A-frame pool house building in back.

Traveling from north to south along Rosemead boulevard, this was a frequent stop for tiki enthusiasts before hitting other landmarks like the Kahlua Apartments and Bahooka.

It was remodeled in 2008 and re-named "Huntington at Pasadena" to cash in on their proximity to The Huntington Museum, but before this, it was known as "The Outrigger" and had a unique tiki in front that was partially obscured by shrubbery.

Sven Kirsten, when referring to Tiki Archaeology, often showed a photo of this tiki completely covered in foliage with one hand sweeping the leaves aside to reveal a tiki eye peering out.

Opened October 22nd, 1970.

Billed as a combination of Chinese, Polynesian, and Mexican art. The building was designed by Hin Fon Yip, Vancouver architect.

Created by Ken Yuen (manager), Jack Yung (president and supervisor), and Donald Chang (chef).

Two hand-carved doors opened to a foyer of Inca stone forming an interior wall with water feature and a pagoda theme. You then entered the Tiki Lounge and dining room area with blue domed ceiling and twinkling stars.

The second separate dining room was Oriental themed.

Closed around 1988.

Built in 1974 and last renovated in 2015, the InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa is set amid tropical gardens and bordering a lagoon. This upscale spa resort is 7 km from Bougainville Park and 8 km from Papeete Market. Polished rooms with balconies come with flat-screens, minifridges, and tea and coffeemakers. Suites add living rooms and terraces. Wi-Fi and room service are available, and kids age 15 and under stay free with an adult. In addition to a chic spa, amenities include 2 freshwater pools, 1 of which has a swim-up bar. Dining options include 2 posh restaurants, a lobby bar, the swim-up bar, and their Tiki Bar.

Tiki Bar is their main bar, located just next to Te Tiare restaurant. It is a popular rendezvous for hotel guests as well as local residents, and it hosts live entertainment from Wednesday to Saturday, creating a lively atmosphere.

*The Tiki Bar and the present-day InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa are not to be confused with the Tahara'a InterContinental Hotel which has been abandoned for many years and is much further from the airport.

Opened March 1963.

The Kon Tiki opened as part of the new La Louisiane Restaurant, owned by Rube Levine and Jimmy Sholtz -- featuring steaks, seafood, and Italian cuisine.

Rube and Jimmy retained Mr. Edward Chun, formerly of the Polynesian Room of the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Mr. Chun was nationally famous for his Cantonese specialties, and personally supervised the preparation of the Kon Tiki's Cantonese creations.

Later, La Louisiane became House of Chun, so presumably Mr. Chun took over the main restaurant as well.

This space was reputed to have become a gay bar in its later years.

Kon Tiki was open until 1990.

The area, south of Linwood Boulevard to 34th Street, between Main and Gillham, was deemed blighted and ridden with crime in drugs in the late 1980s, and these buildings, as well as other homes, apartments, and commercial buildings, were demolished in the early and mid-'90s as part of the so-called "Glover Plan" to be replaced by the Midtown Marketplace development, a large commercial development anchored by big box retailers Home Depot and Costco.