Post #341545 by tikibars on Thu, Nov 1, 2007 10:27 AM

From Tiki Road Trip 2:

"The Mai Tai Lounge is in the basement of Mt. Fuji Inn restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is interesting for its history: it was once a nightclub featuring a swimming pool in the center of the room, which was home to a dolphin and a young lady who would swim and frolic together. Patrons in the basement bar had a sub-aquatic view of the marine life via a series of glass panels behind the bar. In the early 1970s, the pool was drained and covered by a slightly raised platform, which is now a part of the main seating area of the restaurant.

Mt. Fuji Inn is still owned and operated by the Japanese widow of the original American owner, who died about twenty years ago. The family's service is friendly and attentive, with some staff having been on hand for decades. The food is on the good side of serviceable, but the sweet and sour chicken is far too sweet. The sesame chicken is far more enjoyable. The Mai Tai Lounge stays open a little later than the restaurant. A tiny section of the pool was left intact and turned into an aquarium (still viewed behind the bar). One will spot exactly two Tikis in the Mai Tai Lounge, both are wooden poles about four feet high. There are also three black velvet nudes on the walls, and while not Leetegs, they're fairly good renderings. A few Orchids of Hawaii lanterns hang from the ceiling. Modern rock plays on the jukebox. The place has that musty sort of basement smell, the result of decades of booze mixed with cigarette smoke that has nowhere to go. The Scorpion and the Mai Tai at the Mai Tai Lounge are indistinguishable, both are far too sweet (a running theme here?).

South of Blondo on 72nd, look for a fun neon sign on an authentic vintage diner - Bronco's Hamburgers - "Serve Yourself and $ave!". On Dodge Street, just east of 72nd, look for more classic neon on Wolf Brothers Western Store.

...looks like the velvets and the jukebox are both gone, but glad to see (I guess) that a few small new Tikis were added.

Every time I have visited this place, the drinks have been truly miserable.

But as the above poster points out, it is the only Tiki for several hundred miles, so let's hope they hang on.

Maybe some of the local 'ohana can help give them a facelift, like what those awesome cats and kittens in Portland are doing at The Alibi?

• James T.

Get my newest book, Big Stone Head at: http://www.bigstonehead.com

For Tiki Road Trip, Left Orbit Temple, global travelogues, and more, visit: http://www.tydirium.net

[ Edited by: tikibars 2010-08-01 21:03 ]