Which Tiki bars does GROG need to see in the Bay area? - Tiki Travel

PP Prikli Pear Tiki Socialite New Braunfels, Texas Joined: Jan 04, 2017 Posts: 1025	PP Prikli Pear Posted posted on Thu, Oct 27, 2022 11:23 AM Grog, The Wife and I just did this same thing the first week of October--hitting as many Bay Area tiki spots as we could manage. I've yet to do writeups on them but here's our list: WEDNESDAY Trad'r Sam (San Francisco) Tonga Room (San Francisco) Zombie Village (San Francisco) Smuggler's Cove (San Francisco) THURSDAY Winchester House (not tiki) (San Jose) Dr. Funk (San Jose) Last Rites (San Francisco) FRIDAY de Young Museum (large PNG art collection) (San Francisco) Trader Vic's (Emeryville) Forbidden Island (Alameda) Pagan Idol (San Francisco) Trad'r Sam, as is well-documented, is an absolute dive with cocktails sketchy even by 1980s standards, but it was a great deal of fun. We arrived shortly after opening before it got crowded with regulars. The owner, Angie, is a real character. Tonga Room is the Tonga Room: Good food, okay drinks. You go for the history and ambience. Zombie Village is in the Tenderloin, with the homelessness and open drug use on the streets that entails, so plan accordingly. Smuggler's Cove has fantastic drinks. For a three level bar, it's way smaller than what we expected. Dr. Funk was an enjoyable, neo-classical tiki bar. It's a bit out of the way, but we built in a visit to the Winchester House. Last Rites is technically not tiki, but the plane-crash-in-remote-jungle concept was quite well done (and yes, it's absolutely a tiki bar). Trader Vic's was the impetus for this trip, as we wanted to visit at least once before the (potentially) lose their lease. Forbidden Island has the tiki-bar-as-a-neighborhood-bar vibe down pat. That's not easy to pull off. Pagan Idol was dazzling, but later in the evening it filled up with young hipsters doing tequila shots which killed the tiki vibe. Go early or midweek if you visit. Each bar we visited had a distinct identity. Not a stinker in the bunch. Looking back, we shouldn't have front-loaded day one so heavily but weren't sure if we'd be able to get into most places later in the week.

Grog, The Wife and I just did this same thing the first week of October--hitting as many Bay Area tiki spots as we could manage. I've yet to do writeups on them but here's our list:

WEDNESDAY Trad'r Sam (San Francisco) Tonga Room (San Francisco) Zombie Village (San Francisco) Smuggler's Cove (San Francisco)

THURSDAY Winchester House (not tiki) (San Jose) Dr. Funk (San Jose) Last Rites (San Francisco)

FRIDAY de Young Museum (large PNG art collection) (San Francisco) Trader Vic's (Emeryville) Forbidden Island (Alameda) Pagan Idol (San Francisco)

Trad'r Sam, as is well-documented, is an absolute dive with cocktails sketchy even by 1980s standards, but it was a great deal of fun. We arrived shortly after opening before it got crowded with regulars. The owner, Angie, is a real character.

Tonga Room is the Tonga Room: Good food, okay drinks. You go for the history and ambience.

Zombie Village is in the Tenderloin, with the homelessness and open drug use on the streets that entails, so plan accordingly.

Smuggler's Cove has fantastic drinks. For a three level bar, it's way smaller than what we expected.

Dr. Funk was an enjoyable, neo-classical tiki bar. It's a bit out of the way, but we built in a visit to the Winchester House.

Last Rites is technically not tiki, but the plane-crash-in-remote-jungle concept was quite well done (and yes, it's absolutely a tiki bar).

Trader Vic's was the impetus for this trip, as we wanted to visit at least once before the (potentially) lose their lease.

Forbidden Island has the tiki-bar-as-a-neighborhood-bar vibe down pat. That's not easy to pull off.

Pagan Idol was dazzling, but later in the evening it filled up with young hipsters doing tequila shots which killed the tiki vibe. Go early or midweek if you visit.

Each bar we visited had a distinct identity. Not a stinker in the bunch. Looking back, we shouldn't have front-loaded day one so heavily but weren't sure if we'd be able to get into most places later in the week.

Post #806178 by Prikli Pear on Thu, Oct 27, 2022 11:23 AM