Name:Lucky Tiki, The
Type:bar
Street:15420 Chatsworth St.
City:Mission Hills
State:CA
Zip:91345
country:USA
Phone:818-892-2688
Status:operational

Description:
A small bar in the norther part of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Formerly a locals-only dive bar. Now a brand spankin' new tiki-themed bar, complete with carved tikis, thatch and tons of bamboo. The bar is a small one, tucked away in a tiny strip mall at the corner of Supulveda & Chatsworth. The decore is great, the bartenders are personable and the tropical drinks are tastey.

(edited by Sabu to fix spelling)

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2005-01-13 18:13 ]

I just came from my first trip to the Lucky Tiki. Great. It has atmosphere and the co-owner/bartender Tim was very nice and great to chat with. The other bartneder, Suzanna, was also very nice! I'm posting this as I'm still buzzing from the drinks. I had the Lapu Lapu and, of course, the Mai Tai. They were both very tasty. I must admit, one of my favorites is the Lapu Lapu and Tim from the Lucky Tiki made one that was perfect and refreshing. The decore is classic tiki style--with blowfish lamps, tons of bamboo and thatch, even the barstools were carved tikies. There is a little "back room" where couples can sit with a more intimate setting. I had a wonderful time talking with Tim and Suzanna and enjoying their drinks! I can highly recommend it! Great atmosphere.

The Lucky Tiki sets a new standard of how new Tiki Bars should be done:
Floor to ceiling bamboo and rattan, Tiki carvings a-plenty, and mood lighting unite to create an otherworldly atmosphere that leaves the outside reality behind.

I am worried that the bad weather is making it harder for the Tiki fans to make the trip to this fairly remote location, so consider to combine the expedition with checking out two other worthy locations in the neighbourhood:

The Bear Pit Barbecue restaurant (?name?), with it's amazing neon beckoning you right off the freeway, and:

The SAFARI ROOM, a small just-around-the-corner drive from the Lucky Tiki at 15426 Devonshire Street, must have been a fine Exotica Bar and restaurant in it's heyday, as some of the remaining O.A. carvings testify. It has been renovated since, but the urban archeologist can see traces of the original concept everywhere. Good steaks and seafood to ground the exquisite Lucky Tiki cocktails.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2005-01-09 12:08 ]

Bigbrotiki,
Yes, the bear pit has GREAT Bar-B-Q!! I had never heard of the Safari beofre. I'm definately going to check it out!!

Went to The Lucky Tiki, very cozy. The decor is awesome! They did it up proper. Bigger than Tiki-Ti but then again so's my linen closet. Tasty drinks that gave me a great buzz with no hangover! Try the Miehana if you can't make it down to Disneyland.
BTW, the food at the Bear Pit is not that good, though their giant neon sign is a killer artifact. FOr BBQ, you must go to Dr. Hogly Wogly's, about two miles down the road at Sepulveda and Roscoe. Best 'cue in L.A. (Texas style).

Made the quest up the 405 during rush hour to visit (don't ya just love how it takes 80 minutes to go 30 miles??). I immediately felt at home, with the help of the bartender. My man and I decided we would try all four tropical drinks on their specialty menu. My fav was the Miehanna (sp?) - good recommendation IcedTiki!!

So many little details to look at while enjoying good conversation. Gotta say the lamps with two different faces on either side were fantabulous. And the tiki mug collection and display are groovy.

Great job TikiBob! I wish you success, although you have obviously been blessed by the gods already!

Beautiful tiki bar, bamboo and tiki everywhere! Also, there is Martin Denny on the jukebox to complete the trip to tiki nirvana.

However, do bring your own tiki mug. The ones there can only be used after purchase.

Those of you who love Tiki-Ti, Trader Vic's or The Purple Orchid will be underwhelmed. While this part of Los Angeles needs a tiki bar, it can do without the Sunset Blvd. prices. Three signature drinks, a cranberry juice and appropriate tips to the bartender set me back $40 in less than an hour. If you want to charge Atwater Village prices, then move it to Atwater Village and make the decor as fun as the Bigfoot. Additionally, the drinks were only average in taste and the liquor content was insufficient: i.e. I barely felt a tropical wind after consuming two drinks in 45 minutes. Using fresh fruit, juices and a blender would help tremendously. The bartender, while pleasant, would be better served by not overimbibing in his own inventory. The decor is a double with a fielder's error allowing an extra base to third. As currently constructed and managed, the Lucky Tiki has a short future.

Posts like the above always have me wondering if the poster has a personal agenda. I am not saying he/she has in this case, but not having to share one's identity makes it easy to post with malvolent intent beyond pure critique. And it is uncanny that T-T-T registered with TC to post this a the first post.

I have had an amazon review of the BOT in which the reviewer was trying his damndest to support his low 3 star rating with which he toppled my 5 star status. It was obviously (to me) written with the intent to lower the rating, because he was way off in almost all of his points, but no one will ever know the "a reader" 's true motive. Yet the review sits there and is read and taken as fact.

I'm not saying such is the case here, merely musing.

I tell ya Sven, This guy /girl IMHO has none of the "thrill of the hunt" for Tiki. So Bobby's place isn't the Mai Kai, big deal at least it has some MANA! Sheeeaaattt.

Ha ha ha,
Tic-tok-tak huh? more like Tic-talk-smack, Nice way to start out your posts on TC. Time to pick a new name and start over.

I agree with Big Bro! Tik-Tok has an agenda. It is strange that all the posts have been positive. Does Tik-Tok own his own rival bar? I know for fact that some of the locals that used to haunt the Wild Cherry are ticked off that it went tiki. Perhaps he's from the that old faction. And judging from the crowds on the weekends, the LT has a bright future.

They don't get much nicer than the owner of THE LUCKY TIKI, super nice guy, good mana.

Hi All, I'm on my way to the Lucky Tiki to check it out for myself.... Stay tuned for an honest, unbiased critique.
Ok, I'm back. Gen-Xers, happily sipping beers and mai tais packed shoulder-to-shoulder filled this tiny slice of Tiki Saturday night. While the place is appropriately decked out in bamboo and rattan, it lacked some of the laid back friendliness essential to a well worn tiki. Perhaps that'll come in time. Anyway, the drinks are tasty and the service is fine. Since it's a bit pricy for the neighborhood bar around the corner, consider it a treat, rather than a staple, and enjoy!

[ Edited by: Ti-Leaves on 2005-03-06 12:13 ]

Went to the Lucky Tiki last night with The Sperm Whale, and I gotta say that T-T-T couldn't be more wrong with his assessment of this place. This bar is absolutely perfect. I had three excellent drinks (Mai Tai, Lei Lani Volcano, and the Miehana). The bartender Tim was very friendly and accommodating.

As far as the decor goes- the place is exactly perfect. If the "devil is in the details", then Satan himself must have had his hands all over this place. There is not one thing that I could see that looked out of place. All the contributors (Tiki Tony, Crazy Al, Tiki Diablo, Lucky, et al.) did a wonderful job. I drove there all the way from Orange County and I was not disappointed.

Also, we got there around 6:30 so we were a bit hungry when we left. On the advice of Sven's earlier post, we decided to give the Safari Room a try. As soon as we walked in the door, we knew we had made the right choice. Not only did it just give off a vibe of having been there forever, the smell of steaks cooking was wonderful. I had the steak and shrimp scampi combo and Spermy had a steak sandwich. We were both very pleased with our meals.

As with other posts, I can only speculate why T-T-T gave such a horrible review in his post. However, all I can say is that I will have no problems with making the long drive from Orange County again to go have some more libations at the Lucky Tiki. It is well worth the trip.

Yeah - What Riptide Said!!!! Good all the way around!!!

On 2005-01-13 17:03, IcedTiki wrote:
Bigger than Tiki-Ti but then again so's my linen closet.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

Utopiandreem & I made the trek to Lucky Tiki & enjoyed the decor & the bartender Diane (if i remember correctly) very much last night. Drinks were good as well. If your ever in the area, it a must see. Got alot of good ideas for decoration for our own home bar.

TBird.

I just made a quick trip up to Mission Hills to try this bar out (Wednesday evening).

It's a veritable spacious palace compared to Tiki-Ti, and is packed full of very nice tikis and room treatments we should all give resounding applause to the owners for consulting what must have been "real Tikiphile" craftsmen.

The fireplace wasn't lit (but it looks real), but the entire lighting level and overall feel of the place was very nice. I tried the "meihana" drink, which was a bit sweet and under-rummed to my taste. The very friendly barmatron (Diane(?) - it was a bit loud [from the jukebox]) had another much more potent and stealthy drink she gave me a sample of that was called "Come-on-and-lay-me" or something like that.

It tasted unusual, something like a Tropical riff on a Long Island Ice Tea. I'd probably try it properly, but I can't quaff such tacnuke drinks and still expect to drive home.

I only had one drink as I didn't have long to stay, so I'll refrain from commenting on the quality of the drinks.

They sell their own tiki mugs for $10.

People were very friendly, and in fact, I had more bar denizens talk to me than did at the Tiki-Ti, where aside from Mike (Sr), I had non-trivial dialogue with only one person.

The barmatron was very gregarious and while a self-confessed "I don't like these tiki drinks", she did wax poetically about how "cool" the sorts of people the bar attracted. She was rather amazed when I told her there was a website of hardcore Tiki-lovers who collected information about places like this.

The jukebox was playing some awful Guns-and-something-or-other rock/heavy-metal stuff, so I promptly reconfigured the mood with some Les Baxter [Strange Village and Stone God]. Wow, I was amazed they had Moods of Exotica in the machine --- that stupid album is over $90 on elame, er, ebay.

I don't know what the naysayer(s?) are on about, but this is a very very noteworthy specimen of "newly fashioned" Tiki bar.

It doesn't have the dense built-up history, artifacts and feel of the -Ti, of course, but it's not even a year old. It would be like saying Stanford is a weak university because it's not 800 years old like Cambridge.

And it doesn't have the -Ti's smoke, a definite advantage for me.

At this point, comparing in the bartending department is a no contest. Mike's a master, even if his Mai Tais are served in highball glasses w/o fresh mint.

I intend to give The Lucky Tiki a more proper sampling... it'd be nice to find some other TCers with whom to compare notes (in person), as I'm still calibrating my tastebuds to these drinks. For almost my entire life, I've never really experienced any "bars" and cocktail drinks - just wines, and straight-up/with a water back single malt scotches.

I'm "getting it" with respect to how these drinks are meant to taste, but in the wild, it's a pretty elusive thing.

I honestly can't imagine how you could expect any better in the decor/tiki department - I sense the Powah of the Tiki Force behind its design. It had alot of real bamboo, lots of little dark nooks, pufferfish, floaty balls, and tikis all over.

=Kukoae=

This place just went WAY UP on my scale. We went sunday night for drinks with that blond bartender, that gal can mix!, what a talent.

i could not have said it better myself riptide the lucky tiki is awsome the people are great and i love it. il see yah there...kirby

On 2005-05-30 22:11, kirby wrote:
i could not have said it better myself riptide the lucky tiki is awsome the people are great and i love it. il see yah there...kirby

Kirby -
Thanks for the "shout". I call 'em as I see 'em, and the Lucky Tiki is great. Let me know when you will be down that way again. I have no problem driving "far, far, away" for such a great place to chill and get great drinks.

As a side note, Kirby- your website and your artwork are great. I will have to find a place and then figure out which work to purchase. I look forward to meeting you someday.

Thanks so much Twowheelintiki! It was truly a pleasure to serve you and your lovley companion (is it Carmen?) It's meeting great new tiki-philes like you that make the strange hours and marachino stained fingers all worth it! I only wish you could have stayed later to hear DJ Lee, and hob knob with the great turn-out of tiki centralites last Sunday. Hopefully we will see you again soon-I look forward to trading drink recipies with you!
Mahalo,
Suzy

Hey right on! (a little belated) welcome aboard atomikitty - I too can atest to your mixology skilz for all those great non-alco fruitpunches you served me the night of the tsunami relief party. I'm looking forward to making the trek back up when I don't have to drive...to try some of the other yummy concoctions!

i didnt know there was a lucky tiki in fiji???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=571&item=6184346878&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Did you notice that tap handle appears to have one of the Dollar Tree tikis glued on top of a block of wood (the ones that were being sold last year)? And if you look at the label, the font for "Lager" doesn't match the font on the logo. I'd say say "Buyer Beware".

See the tiki at the far right in the picture posted by Juno last year and tell me I'm not right:
Dollar Tree Tiks!!!!!!

[ Edited by: UtopianDreem on 2005-06-11 17:28 ]

Humuhumu lists a Lucky Tiki mug in her collection on Oogamooga.com. Is this a new mug that they are offering or is it a one-off?

That's a Tiki Farm mug; it's a general production item you can find in stores, and there is also a "Las Vegas" version of the same mug. I'm not clear on the genesis of the design -- if this is a mug that Tiki Farm had in their plans, and it just worked well for the Lucky Tiki, or if this is a design that Lucky Tiki requested, and they & Tiki Farm agreed to not make it exclusive to Lucky Tiki. There's also a shot size version of the design.

I've got 2 Lucky Tiki mugs in my collection -- the one that's ackshully called "Lucky Tiki", and an earlier mug Tiki Farm did for them just as they were opening that is one of their production mugs (pale green rarotongan) with a black screenprint of the Lucky Tiki logo on the back. Word at the Lucky Tiki is that there is a third design on the way, based on the head of the Lucky Tiki logo. But I'd just count that one as rumor at this point.

Lucky Tiki Mugs in Ooga-Mooga

Went there this past August (sorry for the delay in posting about it--I just uploaded the photos) and couldn't be happier. During my sordid '70s youth the Valley was full of tikis and Polynesiana of every description. Most of it is gone now, so I'm glad some folks have seen fit to revive it. It's a straight shot of just a mile or so from my parents' house, too--all I have to do when I'm up there is point my car in the right direction.

Anyway, here are some photos I took:

The Lucky Tiki is moving in October! The Mission Hills location will be open for seven more months, with the last day being September 30. After that, they'll be closed for a few weeks until they reopen in a new, larger location in North Hollywood.

Lucky Tiki Moving in October

On 2006-02-13 15:49, Humuhumu wrote:
The Lucky Tiki is moving in October! The Mission Hills location will be open for seven more months, with the last day being September 30. After that, they'll be closed for a few weeks until they reopen in a new, larger location in North Hollywood.

Lucky Tiki Moving in October

Tonga Hut & Lucky Tiki in No Ho together?

Bring it on!