Post #27270 by tikibars on Wed, Mar 19, 2003 11:42 AM

On 2003-03-19 08:03, Thor wrote:
What I want to know is why American Chinese restaurants frequently have these silly drinks in enormous, oft collectible glasses, with umbrellas, dry ice, and other accoutrements? Is it related to Tiki? Do the two dining establishment genres overlap? I figured that most people here know more than me about this, you might have something to say.

Many of the old Tiki style restaurants served Chinnese food when they opened, because 40 or 50 years ago, it was still considered 'exotic'.

Over time, the people opening straight-up Chinese restaurants had seen so many of them done with Tikis and Tropical Drinks, that they incorporated them into the design, either by rote, or because they figured it would lure more customers in.

The Chinese/Tiki hybrid is so widespread that it gets it's own category on my web site and book, and it could be argued that this category is the one with the most survivors (outside of California).