Tiki's Virginia Beach, VA - Locating Tiki

K Kanaloa Grand Member (1 year) Escondido, CA Joined: Feb 29, 2004 Posts: 59	K Kanaloa Posted posted on Sat, Apr 8, 2023 9:09 AM 4312 Holland Rd Ste 107 Virginia Beach, VA https://tikisvb.com I've wondered about this place for a couple of years now and finally visited. Bottom line = the photos I've seen online (AKA https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tikis-bar-and-grill-virginia-beach) do NOT do the place justice. IMO, this place is a sleeper and a hidden gem. In the middle of a strip center, flanked by barbershops and a dentist, you'll find Tiki's. Bamboo covering the large windows, can't really see inside. Entering the foyer, you're surrounded by bamboo and hit with exotic bird sounds. Score +1 for a good escapist transition. Entering the place, it's dark. And small. Dark and lit only by flickering lanterns and pufferfish. Bamboo, tapa, and fish nets hanging from the roof. A handful of tikis, but nothing Party Cityish, which is what I would have expected in VA Beach. The decor overall is really well done, as subtle as a tiki bar can get. Great atmosphere, even the hallway to the bathrooms is really well done, with water shimmering red lights, a tiki in the corner and a flickering torch in the corner. The bar is backed by shelves against a large tapa, decorated with mugs, a shrunked head, a few tikis. Yeah, there's a small stuffed parrot but it's not even prominent and if you let that trigger you despite the awesomeness around you, I don't know what to say. Music - they seem to keep an endless loop of bird sounds and trickling water going all the time, and you hear it over the music and between songs. The music itself isn't a purist's dream - a mix of Hawaiian string bands, 40s, and surf guitar. I would have preferred exotica or even just Hawaiian string bands and steel guitar, but everything else was so good about the place I won't gripe. Drinks? I was driving and only had the Mai Tai. It was perfect, and also appropriately garnished: a sprig of lime, a spent lime shell island in a plain mai tai glass. Also Score +1 for their Musubi Happy Hours. Food? It's a combination of Filipino and Hawaiian local food. You'll get more selection of local food at the L&L up the road, but the menu is solid here. The kalua pig was tasty, but it was really no more than smokey barbecue so it disappointed this local boy, but everything else was outstanding. Seriously the tastiest sisig I've ever had. So tasty I'm planning a trip in a month just to eat it again. 10/10 overall. Tiki starved purists in the VA area may love Archipelago up in DC, but IMO, Tikis blows that place out of the water.

4312 Holland Rd Ste 107 Virginia Beach, VA

I've wondered about this place for a couple of years now and finally visited. Bottom line = the photos I've seen online (AKA https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tikis-bar-and-grill-virginia-beach) do NOT do the place justice. IMO, this place is a sleeper and a hidden gem.

In the middle of a strip center, flanked by barbershops and a dentist, you'll find Tiki's. Bamboo covering the large windows, can't really see inside. Entering the foyer, you're surrounded by bamboo and hit with exotic bird sounds. Score +1 for a good escapist transition.

Entering the place, it's dark. And small. Dark and lit only by flickering lanterns and pufferfish. Bamboo, tapa, and fish nets hanging from the roof. A handful of tikis, but nothing Party Cityish, which is what I would have expected in VA Beach. The decor overall is really well done, as subtle as a tiki bar can get.

Great atmosphere, even the hallway to the bathrooms is really well done, with water shimmering red lights, a tiki in the corner and a flickering torch in the corner. The bar is backed by shelves against a large tapa, decorated with mugs, a shrunked head, a few tikis. Yeah, there's a small stuffed parrot but it's not even prominent and if you let that trigger you despite the awesomeness around you, I don't know what to say.

Music - they seem to keep an endless loop of bird sounds and trickling water going all the time, and you hear it over the music and between songs. The music itself isn't a purist's dream - a mix of Hawaiian string bands, 40s, and surf guitar. I would have preferred exotica or even just Hawaiian string bands and steel guitar, but everything else was so good about the place I won't gripe.

Drinks? I was driving and only had the Mai Tai. It was perfect, and also appropriately garnished: a sprig of lime, a spent lime shell island in a plain mai tai glass. Also Score +1 for their Musubi Happy Hours.

Food? It's a combination of Filipino and Hawaiian local food. You'll get more selection of local food at the L&L up the road, but the menu is solid here. The kalua pig was tasty, but it was really no more than smokey barbecue so it disappointed this local boy, but everything else was outstanding. Seriously the tastiest sisig I've ever had. So tasty I'm planning a trip in a month just to eat it again.

10/10 overall. Tiki starved purists in the VA area may love Archipelago up in DC, but IMO, Tikis blows that place out of the water.

Post #808757 by Kanaloa on Sat, Apr 8, 2023 9:09 AM