This place has been here since at least 1940 when they ran advertisements in the local newspapers to let people know about their jitterbug dance contests and live hula dance reviews.

Today, the front still has a couple of neon palm trees flanking their sign, but the interior looks like a regular dive small town beer and cocktail bar with no Polynesian Pop or South Seas flourishes.

The Tropics opened on June 19th, 1941.

It was located in the Hotel Wolverine and was "Michigan's most unusual night spot and cocktail lounge," as a postcard called it. A huge sign on top of the red brick building blazed "Tropics Room." Inside, bamboo fixtures, fake trees and papier mache animals transported Detroiters to the South Pacific.

The club was made up of the Native Village and the Cocktail Lounge. The former was a replica of a South Pacific island village that "skillfully captured all the beauty and charm of far-off tropic lands. A romantic atmosphere is added by the exotic music of a fine dance orchestra atop America's only traveling band stand," a postcard boasted.

The Native Village offered nightly dancing in air-conditioned comfort. The Cocktail Lounge was authentic right down to the pitter-patter of rain on the roofs of the Rainfall Bars. A waterfall tumbled down behind the bar. Orchestras lured couples out onto a large dance floor that was lighted up in colors.

As a result of financial decline in later years, the Hotel Wolverine was turned into federally subsidized senior housing in 1968.

By 1985, the building had degenerated and was closed by the city where it stood vacant for another dozen years before being demolished in 1997. Today it is a parking lot.

Opened in March, 1943.

Also referred to as "Eddie's Pago Pago" for owner Eddie Brandhorst.

Apparently, Eddie opened a second Pago Pago location in April 1945 at the former location of the Waikiki at 319 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs but he only ran it for a short time.

The Hawaiian Roof was located in the Hotel Adelphia.

The Hawaiian Roof appears to have been a pre-tiki 1930s-40s venue.

The hotel was built in 1912 after designs by Horace Trumbauer. It consisted of 21 stories and 400 guest rooms.

There was a "Jenny II" restaurant located at 1715 G. St. NW which sometime before 1968 became the Aloha Hut.

This was a 20-unit hotel with bar and restaurant in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

Group photo below dates to 1948.

Some time after 1955, it appears the site changed hands and underwent a name change from "Ted Enoch's Waikiki" to "The New Waikiki".

It burned down in a fire on March 5th, 1979 along with the Hurricane Cove Bar (a pre-tiki bamboo bar).

Located at the Thor-Go Mall on 43rd and Dunlap.

As of 2023, this mall appears to now be re-named the Angal Dunlap Shopping Mall.

Bob Brooks 7 Seas night club was a pre-tiki establishment (although they did have both physical tikis and tiki graphics in their menu and advertising...so a case could be made they they were full-blown tiki earlier than many think), originally opened at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard by Ray Haller in 1935. Capitalizing on the popularity of the South Pacific as a dream vacation destination, Haller borrowed ideas from the popular Don the Beachcomber club a few blocks away and decorated the 7 Seas with a collection of tropical plants, nautical items, lava rocks, and other items of decor that fit the Polynesian theme. The most notable feature was a corrugated tin roof upon which nightly tropical rain storms--complete with thunder and lightning effects--rattled with considerable realism. Don the Beachcomber "borrowed" this idea.

When Bob Brooks took the club over a few years later, he upped the ante by stealing some of Don the Beachcomber's bartenders (including Ray Buhen of Tiki-Ti fame) along with their recipes for exotic rum drinks for an extra $10 a week which was a lot back then. Brooks also added an authentic Polynesian floor show, which was unique among South Pacific-themed clubs at the time. Another factor adding to the 7 Seas' popularity was its proximity to Grauman's Chinese Theater. Movie-goers had only to cross Hollywood Boulevard for an exotic climax to their evening on the town.

Another highlight of the 7 Seas was that Bob Brooks had several Edgar Leeteg paintings hanging up from his visits to Tahiti. These were removed in the 1950s after Leeteg's death when their value suddenly skyrocketed. However, he hired a Leeteg protege to make duplicate replacements.

Under new ownership in the 1960s, the popular night spot became the Seven Seas Supper Club. By the 1970s, however, the 7 Seas was declining into nothing more than a seedy bar. To make matters even worse in the early 1980s, owner Eddie Nash was tried with porn star John Holmes for the "Wonderland" killings and for drug trafficking through his nightclubs, including the 7 Seas. Today there is nothing left of this one-time Polynesian paradise but picture postcards, matchbook covers, and memories.

*NOTE: Bob Brooks had a second Seven Seas location in Las Vegas at the Nevada Biltmore, but it was short-lived, lasting just from 1942-1944.

Open at least as late as October 1963.

Harold Andreasen Jr. and Gordon Corson, proprietors. Lloyd Chang, manager. Serving American and Chinese cuisine. South Seas atmosphere In cocktail lounge.

It appears this is the same location as Honolulu Harry's Waikiki but that the name might have just been shortened to "Club Waikiki" in later years. Matchbooks with the same address point in that direction.

Alternately, photos of Harry's show "Club Waikiki" painted on the side, so it's possible this club was just a section of the larger complex like Don the Beachcomber's had its Dagger Bar, for instance.

Today, the site is home to The Covington Luxury Apartments, which were built in 1965, so Club Waikiki must have closed some time between 1959 when Harry's was doing dance reviews and dinner theater and 1965 when the Covington was built.

Mai Tai, Excelsior's thatch-roofed Polynesian restaurant and bar, opened in 1978 and quickly became a hot spot around Lake Minnetonka.

The Mai Tai was founded by John Logan, former head chef at the Ambassador Hotel in St. Louis Park.

Fun was the main concern at Mai Tai, and the bartenders were able to mix about 30 different Polynesian drinks. The décor was decidedly tropical and included an outrigger canoe and a 200-foot waterfall. In a May 1984 interview, some of the restaurant's founders said they had 12 varieties of seafood flown in daily along with fresh orchids from Hawaii that were placed on the tables.

Live music was part of the appeal, as was the varied menu. Dinner specials one night included a dish of beef, shrimp and scallops, veal cordon bleu and chicken kiev. Fashion shows and classic boat shows also brought in customers. With the popularity came parking problems and in 1986 a trolley service was started so customers who had to park far away could easily get to the restaurant.

Throughout most of the 1980s, Mai Tai was the go-to spot for many people, including young adults who were fond of the varied drink menu. Hangovers weren't the only headaches caused by the excessive drinking, and some city officials and residents viewed the establishment as a nuisance.

The Mai Tai closed in 1989.

As of 2021 the property was in transition. It had been home to the Bayside Grill which closed in 2017 and then appeared to have been leased out as office space to Asystec and possibly others.

As of 2024, the space is now known as the Bayview Event Center & Charter Cruises.

Tiki Port is a Chinese/Polynesian restaurant, it opened in 1977. The decor includes painted murals and beautiful Orchids of Hawaii style swag lamps, but the theming is more Chinese than Polynesian. It serves traditional Chinese/Polynesian favorites, including a flaming pu-pu platter.

Tiki Port has a slightly-more-Polynesian sister restaurant in Medford, Tiki Island.