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Sharkeez – Manhattan Beach, CA
The sombrero-wearing shark mariachi and the full name of “Baja Sharkeez Mesquite-Mex Coastal Cantina” tell you straight up that this bar’s identity is anchored far from the South Pacific. That is to...
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Psycho Suzi’s – Minneapolis, MN
*Editor’s note: This is the old location. Check out my review of the new Psycho Suzi’s here. I knew that other tiki sighting in Minnesota would not be the last as I had penciled in a visit to Psycho...
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Hula’s Modern Tiki – Phoenix, AZ
On the way back to LA from Mesa, AZ, our two-car caravan stopped at Hula’s Modern Tiki in Phoenix for Sunday brunch. There were quite a few folks enjoying the nice weather on the outdoor patio, but we...
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Mai-Kai Restaurant – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Hands down #1 on my list of the Best Tiki Bars is the Mai-Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. (And I say that coming from California where we’re pretty spoiled by all the awesome tiki spots close by.)...
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Kowloon Restaurant – Saugus, MA (near Boston)
Kowloon in Saugus, Massachusetts, is both a restaurant and roadside attraction. Its giant A-frame, pagodas and Ku tiki entice hungry motorists from route 1 north of Boston, and its fellow conspicuous...
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Tong’s Tiki Hut – Villa Park, IL (Chicago Area)
When you first pull in to this strip mall in the western suburbs of Chicago and see the covered up windows of Tong’s Tiki Hut, you might mistake the Villa Park restaurant for being closed. Upon closer...
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Tahiti Nui – Hanalei, Kauai, HI
Tahiti Nui Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge in Hanalei has the distinction of being, to my knowledge, the only tiki bar on the North Shore of Kauai. (Although, that’s about to change with the opening...
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Lamenting the Short-Lived Lani Kai in New York
Sadly, 2012 saw the closing of several tiki bars, including the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach, Hong Kong Inn in Ventura, Okolemaluna Tiki Lounge in Hawaii, Trader Vic’s Palo Alto, and Lani Kai in New...
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Alphie’s Restaurant – Goleta, CA
Even though I went to college just a few miles away from Alphie’s, I must admit I’d never heard of this restaurant until I read James Teitelbaum’s guide Tiki Road Trip. This family-run diner in...
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Smuggler’s Cove – San Francisco, CA
Behind this unassuming black glass façade is one of the best tiki bars in America: Smuggler’s Cove. There’s no identifying sign and I would have completely missed it if it weren’t for the driftwood...
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Hapa J’s – San Clemente, CA – Home of the Man Fries!
I first heard about Hapa J’s a few years ago through Tiki Farm. Back when the tiki mug company was still located in San Clemente, they organized a few dinner and drinks nights at the nearby...
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Aunt Tiki’s – New Orleans, LA
A few months ago when we visited New Orleans, Chad and I were walking along Decatur Street in the French Quarter on our way to Cafe du Monde when I stopped in my tracks, pointed up and shouted:...
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Tonga Hut – Palm Springs, CA
Next year Palm Springs Modernism Week will celebrate its 10th installment and it seems like appreciation for mid-century modern architecture keeps growing, so now is a great time for the city to get a...
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VenTiki Tiki Lounge & Lanai – Ventura, CA
We’ve passed through Ventura many times driving on the 101 from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, but we were never really compelled to stop by this coastal town until VenTiki Tiki Lounge & Lanai came...
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A Tricky Trio – Players Sports Grill, Tiki Bar & Arcade, San Francisco
On our last visit to San Francisco, Mr. Hockey found an ad in our little tourist map for Players Sports Grill & Arcade that billed it as “San Francisco’s only waterfront tiki bar.” He asked me if...
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Torpedo Room at Eat Street Social – Minneapolis
With its vintage vibe and old-fashioned soda fountain drinks, Eat Street Social in Minneapolis seemed like a place I would have liked even if they hadn’t installed a pop-up tiki bar last September....
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Lunch at Capt. Cook’s: Set a Course for…Nachos!
Five years ago when I first set foot on Disney’s Polynesian Resort, I was pretty unimpressed by the decor of Capt. Cook’s, the quick-service restaurant in the Great Ceremonial House. Dated pastels and...
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A-Frame Goes Hawaiian with Local Favorites & Tiki-Inspired Drinks
Five years ago, chef Roy Choi of Kogi food truck fame transformed an old IHOP in Culver City into an Asian-influenced “urban picnic” dining spot called A-Frame (after its iconic shape, naturally). In...
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Bootlegger Tiki – A Rum-Soaked Oasis in Palm Springs
In 1926, a young man named Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt left home and traveled around the South Pacific, Caribbean and beyond. Back on American soil, he was a bootlegger during Prohibition and when...
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Germany Tiki Tour, Part 3: Trader Vic’s Munich
Our little tiki tour of Germany started in Nuremberg with Kon Tiki and Die Blume von Hawaii, and concluded a little farther south into Bavaria with Trader Vic’s Munich. During the 1950s, ’60s and...
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