Hula's Island Grill & Tiki Room, Santa Cruz, CA (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

H Humuhumu Member San Francisco Joined: Aug 22, 2002 Posts: 3691	H Humuhumu Posted posted on Fri, Dec 15, 2006 8:44 PM Hanford and I made the quick trek over the hill to Hula's last night, and had a truly fantastic time. The place is gorgeous, especially the Tiki Room (be sure to ask to sit there). The main area has plenty of Tiki touches, too, so it's no stark contrast, it all blends together really well. The food menu is diverse and yummy, much yummier than your average Polynesian restaurant. We got to chat quite a bit with co-owner Chris (citibeach), and he was excited to tell us that a new, expanded drink menu with more tropicals is on its way (with a bit o' help from Forbidden Island's Martin Cate, so it should be great). In the meantime, the drinks list is a little lean, but they serve a darned good Mai Tai in Trader Vic's style. The music was appropriate, even though it wasn't strictly tiki (it was more modern, lounge/trancey instrumentals), and the volume was at a pleasing level that it didn't intrude. Chris said that they do play tiki music each day from opening time (4pm) to about 7pm, and then it shifts over to the more modern music. The decor was fantastic, as you'll see in my pictures below. Chris is planning on adding more to the decor, and he's being very particular about choosing items that fit with the feel of the place, which is great, because he's got a good eye. The service was very, very friendly, and speedy. The place was packed with people when we arrived; Chris said it's been that way since opening, without having to do any advertising. Hula's in Monterey has done really well, too. Both these locations are great examples of a successful tiki bar that hasn't had to compromise the quality of their tikiness to attract customers. Check out California Events for info on a get-together there soon! All the pictures from our trip are here: http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/hulassc/ :down: The Tiki Room :down: Cabinet of Munktiki mugs (check out the tiki knobs from OA): :down: YATtM (Yet another Tiki tOny masterpiece): :down: This lamp from 'Onatiki is really a monster -- there are lots of his lamps throughout the place, and they look great: :down: This is one side of the main dining room -- as you can see, the non-Tiki Room parts of Hula's are still pretty darned tiki: :down: These floats from Polynesiac are all over the joint, and they're really pretty: :down: Bosko's stuff is all over the place, too. His distinctive style is easy to spot in the posts & plaques above -- the poles in particular I really loved. This massive mask is on the front of the building:

Hanford and I made the quick trek over the hill to Hula's last night, and had a truly fantastic time. The place is gorgeous, especially the Tiki Room (be sure to ask to sit there). The main area has plenty of Tiki touches, too, so it's no stark contrast, it all blends together really well. The food menu is diverse and yummy, much yummier than your average Polynesian restaurant. We got to chat quite a bit with co-owner Chris (citibeach), and he was excited to tell us that a new, expanded drink menu with more tropicals is on its way (with a bit o' help from Forbidden Island's Martin Cate, so it should be great). In the meantime, the drinks list is a little lean, but they serve a darned good Mai Tai in Trader Vic's style. The music was appropriate, even though it wasn't strictly tiki (it was more modern, lounge/trancey instrumentals), and the volume was at a pleasing level that it didn't intrude. Chris said that they do play tiki music each day from opening time (4pm) to about 7pm, and then it shifts over to the more modern music. The decor was fantastic, as you'll see in my pictures below. Chris is planning on adding more to the decor, and he's being very particular about choosing items that fit with the feel of the place, which is great, because he's got a good eye. The service was very, very friendly, and speedy.

The place was packed with people when we arrived; Chris said it's been that way since opening, without having to do any advertising. Hula's in Monterey has done really well, too. Both these locations are great examples of a successful tiki bar that hasn't had to compromise the quality of their tikiness to attract customers.

Check out California Events for info on a get-together there soon!

All the pictures from our trip are here:
http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/hulassc/

:down: The Tiki Room

:down: Cabinet of Munktiki mugs (check out the tiki knobs from OA):

:down: YATtM (Yet another Tiki tOny masterpiece):

:down: This lamp from 'Onatiki is really a monster -- there are lots of his lamps throughout the place, and they look great:

:down: This is one side of the main dining room -- as you can see, the non-Tiki Room parts of Hula's are still pretty darned tiki:

:down: These floats from Polynesiac are all over the joint, and they're really pretty:

:down: Bosko's stuff is all over the place, too. His distinctive style is easy to spot in the posts & plaques above -- the poles in particular I really loved. This massive mask is on the front of the building:

Post #272857 by Humuhumu on Fri, Dec 15, 2006 8:44 PM