Post #668785 by lunavideogames on Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:40 PM

Yes, on my second Mai Tai adventure in Waikiki, I agree that House Without a Key has the best Mai Tai in town!

House Without a Key Mai Tai
We got there at 9:10 pm and they close at 9:30. They were very accommodating and let us sit and chill as long as we wanted. We didn't want them to have to stay late so we just drank the one and left. They offered to make us another, which was very nice of them. The setting was also very nice. As we were walking out of the restaurant we noticed a dress code sign. I don't think we fit it, but they treated us kindly regardless.

Tiki's Grill & Bar
Tiki's still has some good Mai Tai's and I have to give them props as well. It was closing time and I asked for 2 Mai Tais. I said we could just bring them to our room since we were staying at the hotel. He had already started to clean up everything so I said don't worry about it. He told us to stop and he made them for us anyway. It was very nice of him to do and we appreciated it.

La Mariana Mai Tai
I love this place. The drinks are decent but the atmosphere is amazing! Also I like the food a lot! The Reuben sandwich is super. I get one every time I am there. It was a bit busier than the last time we were there, I guess due to the Hawaii 5-0 episode that featured their restaurant.

Sad to say we did not have a good time at Rum Fire. I guess I have to agree with Mo-Eye that you should avoid this place. This was our third visit to this place. Our first time was fun and I tried a bunch of their drinks. They are very expensive and small, but we had fun with the scenery and everything. I did have like 5 or 6 drinks in a couple hours and walked out without a buzz. Last year we tried to go back at 9:30 one night and they said that they were closing and wouldn't serve us. This year at 9:30 we decided to check their website to see how late they were open before we walked the 5 blocks. They were open until 12 midnight. Cool, so we headed over there and got there at 10 pm. The waitress, as we sat down, said that it was last call. I said, "your website said that you are open til midnight?" She said, "this will make the weekend come sooner." And she walked away. This WAS my weekend... I really didn't care too much about her weekend at that point. We got our drinks, my Dragon Fire Cooler tasted like soap and had 3 sips of liquid for $8.50. My wife got the Hawaiian Love Affair that tasted only like 99 bananas and was the same size as mine for $10.50. We watched as the servers were rude to their customers and ignored others. Did I mention that the place was FULL? As we were leaving we heard the hostess say, "I was just surrounded by Chinese people, I should have called security!" I guess their motto is to be rude and charge lots of money for small (not good) drinks. No need for customer service or regular hours, they just need new tourists to rip off every day.

We didn't make it to the Chart House, but we will have to next time. Had a couple at the Royal Hawaiian, but I didn't take a picture. I liked them, but they were not my favorite.

We went to Arnolds quite a few times too. This place reminds us of home. It is not a tiki bar, but it is totally decked out in tiki decorations. It is just a dive bar though, which we like. They do have Mai Tai's, but they are nothing special. But it is one of our favorite places to hang out in Waikiki.

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2013-02-25 19:02 ]