Post #771833 by arbeck on Sun, Jan 8, 2017 10:31 AM

I'll echo what has been said about the Hotel Albatros. Not a Tiki bar, but has a menu full of Tiki drinks including a few that come in mugs. The food is quite good, especially the puffy tacos.

Just up the street, still in Ballard, is Essex. Again, not a Tiki bar, but they do a Tiki/Taco Tuesday. I've been once, the drinks are well priced and strong, but not amazing. They had three Tiki options when I went.

In Capitol Hill, Rumba is a rum bar. It's much more of a Caribbean themed place, but there is a little bit of crossover between the drinks. They also have what is probably the biggest rum list I've seen in Seattle and some interesting rum flights. They have added a Tiki Wednesday recently. The menu features a lot of classic, plus some more modern drinks and Spam sliders.

In downtown, near the market, The Diller Room is basically a dark dive bar. They have a pretty impressive Scotch list, but one of the bartenders, Jason Wojslaw, is a Tiki Enthusiast who works there Tuesday-Saturday. Officially only Tuesday is Tiki night, but if he's there he'll make you a Tiki drink (though it might be missing a garnish or two on days other than Tuesday). The menu is evenly split between half a dozen or so of each classic drinks and ones that he has created. Other people have reviewed it more in depth, so I'll just link to them here and here.

Tacoma Cabana and the North Shore Lagoon in the Anderson School are more traditional Tiki Bars, but both can be an hour drive from Seattle, depending on traffic. They are far enough away that they are a special occasion only. Plus, driving an hour after a couple Tiki drinks is usually not a good idea. I much prefer being able to take a cab/uber/lyft/public transit back home.

Finally, there is a place in West Seattle called New Luck Toy. It's owned by a local chef (Mark Fuller) who grew up in Hawaii. His more traditional restaurant fuses Korean, Hawaiian and American food. But this new bar is a tribute to a long existing, long closed Chinese American restaurant of the same name in West Seattle. The place is dark and looks exactly like you would expect a Chinese American restaurant from the 50s-70s to look. The drink menu (and it's much more of a bar than a restaurant) includes four frozen drinks. Three of them were Tiki based on my last visit (Pina Colada, Singapore Sling, Mango Scorpion). They also make a decent Mai Tai and a very delicious passion fruit caparinha. Most of the other drinks are vaguely tropical/exotic, but they aren't just sweet juice and rum. Even though it's a bar, the best part may be the food. It's a classic (but small) Chinese American menu with all the classics: General Tso, Egg Rolls, Roast Duck, Chow Mein, Salt and Pepper Shrimps, BBQ Pork, Fried Rice, etc. However, it's done at a different level than you would get at that kind of place.