Post #579120 by congawa on Sun, Mar 6, 2011 12:15 PM

Friday night (after seeing Bakersfield legend Red Simpson at Viva Cantina in Burbank) I dropped by Tiki No for the first time. I was blown away by the decor--I had a Mai Tai, which was definitely no competition for the drinks Kelly makes at the Tonga Hut nearby. When I walked inside (about 11pm), the bar was packed, and a DJ was playing modern rock/electronica. I believe I was the only person in the bar not in their twenties (or maybe early thirties), which bodes well for the survival of the bar in the near term at least. It appears to be a gathering place for the young hip NoHo folks, which seems to be where they were going with this.

Of course, the music prevented any chance of a Tiki vibe, outside of the decor (I see somebody was complaining about them playing Sinatra on an earlier visit--that would have been fine with me, as my recollections of original tiki restaurants in the late 60s/early 70s were that adult popular music was frequently played on the sound system, as was hapa haole, whereas exotica less frequently was). As I seem to get up to the Valley too infrequently as it is, this probably will be my only visit to Tiki No (this was intended as a quick post-Red Simpson gig nightcap, before heading home). Being in Long Beach and working in OC, my plans to get to the Tonga Hut Sunday gatherings usually fizzle, but having now seen and experienced Tiki No, Tonga Hut will remain my tiki bar destination when I'm in the area.

Caltiki Brent