The Waikiki Room at the Hotel Nicollet - Minneapolis, MN - General Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Wed, May 28, 2003 12:03 PM Puamana and I have been comparing our collections lately by e-mail - seeing where they overlap. She specializes in menus and I specialize in postcards. We thought we'd try a weekly feature where we choose a particular tiki bar in both our collections and show you both the menu and the postcard, (and maybe a matchbook or napkin if we've got one). Besides being nice eye-candy, it gives you a more complete picture of what these places looked like, what drinks they served, and maybe a little history as well. This week we're focusing on the Waikiki Room at the Hotel Nicollet in Minneapolis. Postcards showing the outside of the Hotel Nicollet are fairly common on ebay. There were actually two buildings. The first was built in 1858. A grand hotel when it was built, by the 1920s it was considered an embarassment and was torn down and rebuilt larger still: Nothing tiki about it. But sometime in the 1950s, the Waikiki Room was created inside: The postcard states: "Exotic Waikiki Room... As Hawaiian as the glowing splendor of Diamond Head... The Waikiki Room's exciting tropical decor...its fabulous Polynesian cuisine and beverages ahave been imported directly from Hawaii to give you a thrilling new experience in dining pleasure." I like the strange mixture of the green vinyl and the bamboo. These 'stealth' tiki bars are some of my favorites - housed in an old brownstone or art-deco building that gives no hint of the Polynesian paradise within. I'll try to do a post of just these hidden hotel tiki bars sometime in the future. For more info on the Hotel Nicollet and the Waikiki Room, (including what the site looks like today), follow the "Next" and "Back" links on this page: http://www.lileks.com/mpls/hotels/nicollet/10.html Puamana's menu should fill in some more details about the place. Sabu [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-05-28 17:13 ]

Puamana and I have been comparing our collections lately by e-mail - seeing where they overlap. She specializes in menus and I specialize in postcards.

We thought we'd try a weekly feature where we choose a particular tiki bar in both our collections and show you both the menu and the postcard, (and maybe a matchbook or napkin if we've got one). Besides being nice eye-candy, it gives you a more complete picture of what these places looked like, what drinks they served, and maybe a little history as well.

This week we're focusing on the Waikiki Room at the Hotel Nicollet in Minneapolis.

Postcards showing the outside of the Hotel Nicollet are fairly common on ebay. There were actually two buildings. The first was built in 1858.

A grand hotel when it was built, by the 1920s it was considered an embarassment and was torn down and rebuilt larger still:

Nothing tiki about it. But sometime in the 1950s, the Waikiki Room was created inside:

The postcard states: "Exotic Waikiki Room... As Hawaiian as the glowing splendor of Diamond Head... The Waikiki Room's exciting tropical decor...its fabulous Polynesian cuisine and beverages ahave been imported directly from Hawaii to give you a thrilling new experience in dining pleasure."

I like the strange mixture of the green vinyl and the bamboo. These 'stealth' tiki bars are some of my favorites - housed in an old brownstone or art-deco building that gives no hint of the Polynesian paradise within. I'll try to do a post of just these hidden hotel tiki bars sometime in the future.

For more info on the Hotel Nicollet and the Waikiki Room, (including what the site looks like today), follow the "Next" and "Back" links on this page:
http://www.lileks.com/mpls/hotels/nicollet/10.html

Puamana's menu should fill in some more details about the place.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-05-28 17:13 ]

Post #36236 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Wed, May 28, 2003 12:03 PM