Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here... - General Tiki

H hama Member Joined: Oct 06, 2002 Posts: 1	H hama Posted posted on Sun, Oct 6, 2002 11:07 PM Tikifish reffered me to this site. My brother-in-law sent me a link to an ebay auction of a mug from Chin Tiki (in Detroit). Thought I'd be interested since I worked there, met my husband there...one thing led to another to this site. I never realized there was such an interest in all things tiki. Tikifish wanted to hear some anecdotes about Chin Tiki. So, thank you Tikifish, for that article on Chin's in Livonia and bringing back memories of a simpler time. Anecdotes? Chin Tiki was billed as a Polynesian restaurant that had 4 people who were really Polynesian (my husband, his mom and brother plus one of the bartenders). The rest of us were from all over. Fun place to work and I stayed there even after I got my "real" job as a drafter. The floor shows were great and were pretty authentic (my mother-in-law and the bartender-who was one of the dancers) helped, the manager of the group made sure to supply the girls with the coolest costumes (I stayed out of the way when my mom-in-law was making them!), the latest shirts from Hawaii and anything Tahitian that my mother-in-law could bring back from visits home. Chin Tiki had all the requisite tiki bar decor but the most stunning thing was the mural behind the bar of undersea life. Done in neon colors that glowed with the blacklites, it was painted by a regular at the restaurant, Blaine Perrigo (and I may have his name and/or spelling totally wrong-this was a while ago!). I hope the Chin's were able to save some of that mural. As employees, we were able to eat there for free. This was great since I was so poor! Lunch was from the buffet, sitting at the tables in the bar after the lunch rush hour. Dinner was made for us by the cooks but we also had access to the appetizer drawers! A few of the other hostesses and I would order pizza from one of the best pizza places on Cass ,close to Wayne State. We'd tell the person taking the order to stop by Chung's on the way and have Phil pay for the pizza and then bring it to us at Chin Tiki. (Phil was Marvin Chin's cousin and often stopped by to visit). We'd have the pizza sitting behind the hostess desk on one of the bus stands, got lots of comments from customers about smelling pizza, for gawd's sake! Ronnie Linn (sp?) and his wife, Chris ran a tight ship. The place was classy and they kept it that way, in spite of a couple of us hostesses who were barely out of our teen years! Don't know if any of you are interested in any of this. These are memories from a long-ago youth of a restaurant that was supposed to evoke a polynesian atmosphere. It was about as real as any tiki bar and in the ensuing years, I've come to know that culture a little better. Somebody on this site had recommended going to the Pacific Islander festival here in San Diego. That and any other heivas around the west will get you closer to the polynesian spirit. Tiki bars are fun, though!

Tikifish reffered me to this site. My brother-in-law sent me a link to an ebay auction of a mug from Chin Tiki (in Detroit). Thought I'd be interested since I worked there, met my husband there...one thing led to another to this site. I never realized there was such an interest in all things tiki. Tikifish wanted to hear some anecdotes about Chin Tiki. So, thank you Tikifish, for that article on Chin's in Livonia and bringing back memories of a simpler time.
Anecdotes? Chin Tiki was billed as a Polynesian restaurant that had 4 people who were really Polynesian (my husband, his mom and brother plus one of the bartenders). The rest of us were from all over. Fun place to work and I stayed there even after I got my "real" job as a drafter. The floor shows were great and were pretty authentic (my mother-in-law and the bartender-who was one of the dancers) helped, the manager of the group made sure to supply the girls with the coolest costumes (I stayed out of the way when my mom-in-law was making them!), the latest shirts from Hawaii and anything Tahitian that my mother-in-law could bring back from visits home. Chin Tiki had all the requisite tiki bar decor but the most stunning thing was the mural behind the bar of undersea life. Done in neon colors that glowed with the blacklites, it was painted by a regular at the restaurant, Blaine Perrigo (and I may have his name and/or spelling totally wrong-this was a while ago!). I hope the Chin's were able to save some of that mural.
As employees, we were able to eat there for free. This was great since I was so poor! Lunch was from the buffet, sitting at the tables in the bar after the lunch rush hour. Dinner was made for us by the cooks but we also had access to the appetizer drawers! A few of the other hostesses and I would order pizza from one of the best pizza places on Cass ,close to Wayne State. We'd tell the person taking the order to stop by Chung's on the way and have Phil pay for the pizza and then bring it to us at Chin Tiki. (Phil was Marvin Chin's cousin and often stopped by to visit). We'd have the pizza sitting behind the hostess desk on one of the bus stands, got lots of comments from customers about smelling pizza, for gawd's sake!
Ronnie Linn (sp?) and his wife, Chris ran a tight ship. The place was classy and they kept it that way, in spite of a couple of us hostesses who were barely out of our teen years!
Don't know if any of you are interested in any of this. These are memories from a long-ago youth of a restaurant that was supposed to evoke a polynesian atmosphere. It was about as real as any tiki bar and in the ensuing years, I've come to know that culture a little better. Somebody on this site had recommended going to the Pacific Islander festival here in San Diego. That and any other heivas around the west will get you closer to the polynesian spirit. Tiki bars are fun, though!

Post #10136 by hama on Sun, Oct 6, 2002 11:07 PM