Post #786625 by Quince_at_Dannys on Tue, May 8, 2018 8:35 AM

How about some love for the 70s?

The MASSIVE expansion of the Mai Kai that turned it into what we recognize today was done in 1971. Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's corporations--as well as many smaller tiki restauranteurs--were still opening thriving establishments throughout the 70s and even into the 80s (especially in the midwest, which was late to the game). Some of Les Baxter's best exotica was made in the 70s (Que Mango, Bora Bora, African Blue). Martin Denny was tearing it up live in Hawaii and Arthur Lyman was still going strong. Hawaii 5-0 was kicking ass in the Nielsens.

The awful syrupy drinks we associate with the 70s and 80s were less a product of their time and more a product of frugality of bars and chain restaurants as corporate mentality of operations became the norm. The places that were good and survived (e.g. Tiki Ti, Mai Kai, Trader Vic's), generally stayed good. And the best bar guides I have found that actually feature authentic tiki drinks from the pre-Grog Log era are from the 1970s (Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide 1972ed. and Playboy's Host and Bar Book)

The 70s were by no means a "low point" and if anything you could point a period from the late 80s to about 2000 as the low point, culminating in the closure of the Kahiki.

On 2018-05-07 10:46, Cammo wrote:
There was never a dip in Tiki's popularity, so there's never been a "rediscovery" of it. The 1970s were supposed to be a low point - but actually saw the opening of the Polynesian Village Resort at Disney World, Hawaii 5-0's biggest popularity on TV, the Brady Bunch going to Hawaii, Waikiki's high rise building boom, and a huge expansion in sales for Hawaiian clothing manufacturers. The demise of small local Tiki bars was because it all went big nationally, not the opposite.

Just ask Magnum. You'll find him, Rick and TC at the beachside bar of the King Kamehameha Club.

[ Edited by: Quince_at_Dannys 2018-05-08 08:36 ]