Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

HH Hurricane Hayward Grand Member (1 year) 16 miles from The Mai-Kai Joined: Jun 07, 2008 Posts: 1867	HH Hurricane Hayward Posted posted on Wed, Sep 24, 2014 1:39 AM David (and Mike), If you search back through the history of The Mai-Kai on Tiki Central, you'll find some negative comments from time to time, perhaps the price of being under the microscope to such a degree. I've been consistently dining and drinking there at least once a month for the past 10 years, and remarkably I've noticed very little change. The live music in The Molokai bar is still hit or miss, and occasionally the bar staff will not be 100% on their game, but you have to keep several things in mind: The Mai-Kai is a very large, high-volume restaurant/bar. The facility includes eight dining areas and a bar/lounge that combined seat more than 700. I was told by the owner that at the restaurant’s peak, they served 1,600 diners a night for seven nights a week in season and that business is not off that much. The kitchen and service bars alone take up 10,000 square feet. The staff of mixolgoists, servers, performers and other staff totals more than 150 workers. There are obviously a lot of moving parts, and though amazingly the place usually operates like a well-oiled machine, there's bound to be inconsistencies in food, service and even cocktails from time to time. (Just for a frame of reference, the Tiki Ti and Smuggler's Cove each seat around 50 and neither serves food.) A few years also I posted a photo tour of The Mai-Kai's behind-the-scenes operation, which is fascinating to see: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/12/28/behind-the-magic-a-backstage-tour-of-the-mai-kais-mysterious-bars-and-kitchen/ Regarding the cocktails, it sounds like most of the recent bad reports are directed at The Molokai, which is actually not the main bar. It's typically staffed by less experienced bartenders and more subject to inconsistencies in drinks and food. I wish this weren't the case, but it seems to be true. I've sent back perhaps one drink per year, always in that bar. If you sit in one of the dining rooms, you'll almost never get a bad drink. Of course, that's small consolation if you're there for happy hour or spending the night in the bar, but still the odds are pretty good you won't be disappointed. I spent most of The Hukilau drinking with folks like Beachbum Berry and Martin Cate, and I heard very few complaints. The report of bad service is a bit out of the ordinary since that's one thing that is the most consistently good, though the bar is perhaps the most laissez faire. Same as the advice you would get regarding any establishment, I would urge anyone who has inferior food, drinks or service to clearly let the server(s) know and explain why. I'm sure they get lots of drinks sent back by tourists who just don't care for them. But if you can tell them, for example, that the Cobra Kiss has way too much Pernod or the steak is undercooked (both of which recently happened to me), perhaps the message will get passed along. And feel free to take your criticism/critique to a manager. I'm sure they'll want to correct the problem. My rare steak issue was certainly addressed. Related to that is the unique bar configuration that dates back to Don the Beachcomber (explained in my story linked above). You'll never see a bartender and you'll never be able to walk up to a bar and watch them make your drink. It's all done in back bars, hidden from view. And while this is very cool to all us cocktail geeks, it sort of isolates the bartenders with little or no feedback from the public. So anytime you have an issue, do try to let them know. Like any business, constructive feedback can only help. There's also a wildcard factor for some of us that's hard to deny. We set the bar very, very high for places like The Mai-Kai, sometimes unfairly. Its certainly within our rights to hold everyone to a high standard, and I'm probably partly to blame because of my glowing cocktail reviews. But it's always good to try to take a step back and not judge too harshly. Certainly there are many aspects of The Mai-Kai that will always live up to our standards. If they fall short here and there, I'm sure the issues can and will be corrected in due time. Okole maluna!

David (and Mike),

If you search back through the history of The Mai-Kai on Tiki Central, you'll find some negative comments from time to time, perhaps the price of being under the microscope to such a degree. I've been consistently dining and drinking there at least once a month for the past 10 years, and remarkably I've noticed very little change. The live music in The Molokai bar is still hit or miss, and occasionally the bar staff will not be 100% on their game, but you have to keep several things in mind:

The Mai-Kai is a very large, high-volume restaurant/bar. The facility includes eight dining areas and a bar/lounge that combined seat more than 700. I was told by the owner that at the restaurant’s peak, they served 1,600 diners a night for seven nights a week in season and that business is not off that much. The kitchen and service bars alone take up 10,000 square feet. The staff of mixolgoists, servers, performers and other staff totals more than 150 workers. There are obviously a lot of moving parts, and though amazingly the place usually operates like a well-oiled machine, there's bound to be inconsistencies in food, service and even cocktails from time to time. (Just for a frame of reference, the Tiki Ti and Smuggler's Cove each seat around 50 and neither serves food.) A few years also I posted a photo tour of The Mai-Kai's behind-the-scenes operation, which is fascinating to see:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/12/28/behind-the-magic-a-backstage-tour-of-the-mai-kais-mysterious-bars-and-kitchen/
Regarding the cocktails, it sounds like most of the recent bad reports are directed at The Molokai, which is actually not the main bar. It's typically staffed by less experienced bartenders and more subject to inconsistencies in drinks and food. I wish this weren't the case, but it seems to be true. I've sent back perhaps one drink per year, always in that bar. If you sit in one of the dining rooms, you'll almost never get a bad drink. Of course, that's small consolation if you're there for happy hour or spending the night in the bar, but still the odds are pretty good you won't be disappointed. I spent most of The Hukilau drinking with folks like Beachbum Berry and Martin Cate, and I heard very few complaints.
The report of bad service is a bit out of the ordinary since that's one thing that is the most consistently good, though the bar is perhaps the most laissez faire. Same as the advice you would get regarding any establishment, I would urge anyone who has inferior food, drinks or service to clearly let the server(s) know and explain why. I'm sure they get lots of drinks sent back by tourists who just don't care for them. But if you can tell them, for example, that the Cobra Kiss has way too much Pernod or the steak is undercooked (both of which recently happened to me), perhaps the message will get passed along. And feel free to take your criticism/critique to a manager. I'm sure they'll want to correct the problem. My rare steak issue was certainly addressed. Related to that is the unique bar configuration that dates back to Don the Beachcomber (explained in my story linked above). You'll never see a bartender and you'll never be able to walk up to a bar and watch them make your drink. It's all done in back bars, hidden from view. And while this is very cool to all us cocktail geeks, it sort of isolates the bartenders with little or no feedback from the public. So anytime you have an issue, do try to let them know. Like any business, constructive feedback can only help.
There's also a wildcard factor for some of us that's hard to deny. We set the bar very, very high for places like The Mai-Kai, sometimes unfairly. Its certainly within our rights to hold everyone to a high standard, and I'm probably partly to blame because of my glowing cocktail reviews. But it's always good to try to take a step back and not judge too harshly. Certainly there are many aspects of The Mai-Kai that will always live up to our standards. If they fall short here and there, I'm sure the issues can and will be corrected in due time.

Okole maluna!

Post #728262 by Hurricane Hayward on Wed, Sep 24, 2014 1:39 AM