Post #468643 by Swanky on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 9:27 AM

On 2009-07-12 15:32, JOHN-O wrote:
Well isn't Tiki food really supposed to be unimaginative 1950's-style Chinese food. Anyone who's had authentic Chinese food is going to make the comparison and be really disappointed. I'm guessing that a lot of the bad reviews are based on 21st century American palates trying to digest the type of cuisine which was popular with their grandparents. It's just like classic Continental food falling off the radar after the 1950's and early 1960's.

Oh well, at least a good strong cocktail is still timeless. That's why Tiki-Ti is still packing them in 4 nights a week. Tiki-Ti is one of the most popular and highly rated LA nightspots on Zagat and Yelp. It's interesting that for such a small place, Tiki-Ti has 200 more Yelp reviews than Mai Kai.

I think the key to Mai Kai's continuing existence is to market to hipsters looking for an ironic kitschy experience rather than families on vacation. These are the people who will "get it". I'm not sure though how many hipsters travel to Ft. Lauderdale in lieu of Miami.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2009-07-12 22:20 ]

There are plenty of people who get it and love the Mai Kai. Hipsters are not going to keep the place open. We manage one night a year at Hukilau okay, but getting 300-1200 of us in there for dinner every night of the week is just not possible.

The Mai Kai is a very large operation with over 200 employees. It takes a lot of customers to keep it going and doing well. I just don't want a handful of people who read a menu, and order and then are shocked when they get the bill, or, who walk in and complain that it's dark, to command the internet reviews. Those who love the Mai Kai vastly outnumber those who complain. But no ton the web reviews. I guess it's like the suggestion cards. They tend to skew negative too.

I like the idea of putting this toegther at Oasis and other events. Maybe we can do this at Hukilau next year. Make a website with links to all the review sites for Mai Kai and then a list of every other place we can think of and encourage people to sit down and review.