Post #648353 by lunavideogames on Wed, Aug 15, 2012 10:47 AM

So the first day of the SoCal Tiki Tour went well. We waited on Don the Beachcomber to open at three, so we decided to stop at Billy's for lunch in Newport Beach.

It was our first time at Billy's and it was what we expected from the look of the place from the PCH. It was nicely furnished with lots of tikis. Tiki tiles in the bathroom and tiki door handles were very cool. You are forced to valet park even at noon which cost us $4 plus tip I ordered fish tacos. They were tasty but it was strange that they came with fries. We asked the waitress for the wifi password and she told us that she didn't know it as she typed away on an iPad. The average age of the customers was around 70 and we brought that average down.

Billy's
Navy grog **

Then we made a stop at the beach for a bit and went to Don's. Matt our mixologist was very friendly and helpful. He gave us a tour of the whole establishment. He went above and beyond by giving us some of his personal lunch. Fresh caught fish with fried rice. Drinks were great and the food was great. We bought some mugs and chilled at the bar for hours. Ran into Soccertiki and Woohoo wahine. It was good to meet some people from the forum. Our whole time at Don's was a great experience.

Don the Beachcomber
Mai tai ****1/2 - My favorite, but the mint was forgotten, my fault I am sure. Also it is premixed so I had to take away half a blowfish, but they are still the best!
Navy grog ***** - This was a great drink. Even better than Bali Hai which is one of my favorite drinks there.
Missionaries downfall ***

After that we checked into our hotel and grabbed some dinner. Walked over to the Purple Orchid. The furnishings were cool. The bar itself was really cool and decorated with tons of art. We were the only ones there celebrating tiki. No one else ordered any tiki drinks besides us. The bartender was very nice and helpful. They served our drinks in Tikifarm Rum Belly mugs which was awesome! I have never been to a tiki bar where they serve you from mugs that are more expensive than the drinks inside them. That will add to my rating of the drinks. The drinks were nothing special unfortunately. But if I lived in El Segundo I would definitely be here all of the time.

Purple Orchid
Mai tai **
Scorpion in a volcano bowl ***

So I think we might have to go to the downtown Trader Vic's for lunch today, since the Beverly hills one does not open til 5. Then we are off to Tiki Ti where we are meeting up with a couple more people.

My drink rating system is one to five * (which are blowfish). Five blowfish is the best score and one blowfish is the worst.

Can't upload pictures from an iPad. I guess pictures will be added this weekend.

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2012-08-20 17:02 ]