Hula's Island Grill & Tiki Room, Santa Cruz, CA (restaurant)

Name:Hula's Island Grill & Tiki Room
Type:restaurant
Street:221 Cathcart Street
City:Santa Cruz
State:CA
Zip:95060
country:USA
Phone:831 426 4852
Status:operational

Description:
We opened two weeks ago, and the place is packed with very happy people. It is our second location, the original being down the coast in Monterey. I wont go on about how great I feel about the place because obviously there is a bias. I would like to share with you the names of many of the people that helped in the decor of this great space.

First off Bosko was a big help to me in working out design ideas and his work is represented throughout the space and the exterior facade of the building. Tiki Tony has carved 3 6ft. Gods. One being at the entryway of the Tiki Room, the other two sit on the roof of the building, overlooking downtown Santa Cruz. Very cool. Onatiki helped me with the lighting and we have 7 custom Tapa cloth lights and 6 wall sconces throughout. I think the biggest piece he has done to date hangs in the entryway. Munktiki has an incredible display opposite the tikiroom entrance in a custom Koawood cabinet. Polynesiac customized/lit 14 colorful glass floats of all sizes, they are fantastic. Thank you to the guys at Oceanic Arts once again for just being there and have great prices. Bob also sold me a Marlin off the wall that they only rented out. Looks great in the Tiki room. Martin Cale of Forbidden Island for your consulting work on the bar. Mark Ryden for the art prints, although you have no idea who I am, and dont even know that they are hanging in the restaurant. Tiki Farm for the mugs. Alan for doing such an amazing job on the bartop, all koa wood and 28 ft. long. A guy named Marc, who I met through EBay, great job on the Tiki Mug lamps that light all the booths. Nick at Tiki Magazine, a pre thank you for the great write up that you are going to do on the place. Wink, wink.
If I have missed anyone, I apoligize. I just wanted to put the word out to everyone that we are open, and would love to start hearing comments and suggestions for the place.

c

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-10 02:15 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-11 08:55 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-11 09:36 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-12 20:30 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-12 20:31 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2006-12-12 20:36 ]

[ Edited by: Citibeach 2007-01-23 09:10 ]

Very cool news...been to Hula's in Monterey many times and the food and drinks are always excellent!!! The best part about a Hula's in Santa Cruz is that there is now a Hula's closer to me in San Jose.

Great news!! Always good to hear of new Tiki places opening - especially ones done right!!

Best of luck ... May the Tiki Gods be with you!!

Am I correct in assuming you're not related to the Hula's Grill on Maui that's part of the TS Restaurant operation?

Good Luck at your new location! :)

[ Edited by: PremEx 2006-12-09 14:48 ]

No relation to Hula Grill or TS Restaurants. Good guys though and a good company.

We do own the Hula Hut in Carmel, CA, which opened May, 2006. It is a quick serve tropical grill. My next project starts in a month. I am partnering with a couple of friends in Denver to do a tiki bar there. The location is on South Broadway and the name will be "The Hut".

Well, us locals are getting rabid with anticipation...

Got a friend that lives walking distance to the Hula Hut there in Carmel, and she raves!

No offense but 'Onatiki did the lamps for you. I wouldn't normally say anything but the weekend we delivered them was a crazy whirlwind adventure. At a couple points I do believe we were approaching near death experiences. After such a bizarre trip I'd hate to see 'Onatiki not get his props.
The place looks great. Buttermilk and Bacon did a fantastic job.
Cheers.

[ Edited by: Matt Reese 2006-12-11 05:51 ]

You are absolutely right. Typed all that late in the evening and should have thought it out a bit more. Yes, Onatiki did do all the great tapa cloth lights in the place and Polynesiac(Jim) did all the glass floats. My bad.
I keep trying to edit my first message, but it is not accepting what I edit. WIll get it fixed.

Thanks for pointing that out to me, and I do remember that long road trip you guys took that day. Glad to hear that you both survived.

We are SO there ... Been waiting for this birth for sometime. Great looking place.

I am thrilled thrilled thrilled. My wish came true! Can't wait to make the short jaunt over the hill to check it out. I'm game for a get-together there someday soon, too.

On 2006-12-11 13:16, Humuhumu wrote:
I am thrilled thrilled thrilled. My wish came true! Can't wait to make the short jaunt over the hill to check it out. I'm game for a get-together there someday soon, too.

Count me in. I have yet to come out from under my rock and venture in since the opening. I did get a sneaky peeky when Ona and Matt rolled through and it was already looking pretty sweet. Nice work and congrats going out to all the artists involved. The guys did there homework and it shows. Unga, Stuckie and I were gonna check it out a couple weeks ago but it didn't happen. Maybe we can get a holiday get together planned. I look forward to doing it up proper unless I already got myself booted for my "Bacon and Buttermilk" comment. :D

Lost-Isle
Coconut Wired Podcast
Barefoot bloggin'

See you've added some photos (or they just didn't display for me when I first visited this thread)! Looks really great! Everyone that worked on it should be very proud. :)

Seein as we're in the S.Bay often, a hop skip and a jump over the hill is quite possible. We're looking quite forward to this. MaiTai and I were in Monterey one day a few months ago, on a tight schedule, and we drove past Hula's. Alas, we didn't have time to stop. We've been trying to get back there ever since. It'll be nice to see Unga and Chongo again too! We're VERY excited about this. :)

On 2006-12-11 16:11, Chongolio wrote:

On 2006-12-11 13:16, Humuhumu wrote:
I am thrilled thrilled thrilled. My wish came true! Can't wait to make the short jaunt over the hill to check it out. I'm game for a get-together there someday soon, too.

Count me in. I have yet to come out from under my rock and venture in since the opening. I did get a sneaky peeky when Ona and Matt rolled through and it was already looking pretty sweet. Nice work and congrats going out to all the artists involved. The guys did there homework and it shows. Unga, Stuckie and I were gonna check it out a couple weeks ago but it didn't happen. Maybe we can get a holiday get together planned. I look forward to doing it up proper unless I already got myself booted for my "Bacon and Buttermilk" comment. :D

---

Lost-Isle
Coconut Wired Podcast
Barefoot bloggin'

The Santa Cruz location looks great!! I know there are several us of here in Denver that are anxiously awaiting the arrival of 'The Hut'. I hope it turns out as nice as this place. You guys do nice work.

Zulu

Hanford and I made the quick trek over the hill to Hula's last night, and had a truly fantastic time. The place is gorgeous, especially the Tiki Room (be sure to ask to sit there). The main area has plenty of Tiki touches, too, so it's no stark contrast, it all blends together really well. The food menu is diverse and yummy, much yummier than your average Polynesian restaurant. We got to chat quite a bit with co-owner Chris (citibeach), and he was excited to tell us that a new, expanded drink menu with more tropicals is on its way (with a bit o' help from Forbidden Island's Martin Cate, so it should be great). In the meantime, the drinks list is a little lean, but they serve a darned good Mai Tai in Trader Vic's style. The music was appropriate, even though it wasn't strictly tiki (it was more modern, lounge/trancey instrumentals), and the volume was at a pleasing level that it didn't intrude. Chris said that they do play tiki music each day from opening time (4pm) to about 7pm, and then it shifts over to the more modern music. The decor was fantastic, as you'll see in my pictures below. Chris is planning on adding more to the decor, and he's being very particular about choosing items that fit with the feel of the place, which is great, because he's got a good eye. The service was very, very friendly, and speedy.

The place was packed with people when we arrived; Chris said it's been that way since opening, without having to do any advertising. Hula's in Monterey has done really well, too. Both these locations are great examples of a successful tiki bar that hasn't had to compromise the quality of their tikiness to attract customers.

Check out California Events for info on a get-together there soon!

All the pictures from our trip are here:
http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/hulassc/

:down: The Tiki Room

:down: Cabinet of Munktiki mugs (check out the tiki knobs from OA):

:down: YATtM (Yet another Tiki tOny masterpiece):

:down: This lamp from 'Onatiki is really a monster -- there are lots of his lamps throughout the place, and they look great:

:down: This is one side of the main dining room -- as you can see, the non-Tiki Room parts of Hula's are still pretty darned tiki:

:down: These floats from Polynesiac are all over the joint, and they're really pretty:

:down: Bosko's stuff is all over the place, too. His distinctive style is easy to spot in the posts & plaques above -- the poles in particular I really loved. This massive mask is on the front of the building:

Wow...pics and reports like these warm my heart and make my day! Just think how many more new Tiki devotees will be raised by such a well done contemporary place. :)
I mean how can you not be intrigued by all this modern primitive finery! Congrats to everybody involved!

WOW!! Chris - you really put that place together nicely. You have a great eye for detail. The comfortable feel comes through in the awesome pictures you and Humu posted. I can't wait to come up and check it out in person.

After 3 visits to Hula's in Santa Cruz 3 times in the last week, which is not trivial considering I live in San Jose, and I still needed to fit a trip in to Forbidden Island in Alameda between Hula visits. Chris has done a great job with the decor...especialy in the Tiki Room!!! On my visit Saturday night, Ian was kind enough to drop by my table and chat a bit about Hula's.

Great food (Island Poke is so good), delicious drinks (very tasty mai tai) and great service!!!

Looking forward to many more visits in the future!

Tiki Tony made a trip up this past Friday to unload (2) 500 lb. tikis, that I think are his best yet. Both are planned to be hauled up onto the roof of the place, but they are fast finding a home inside. One I photographed tonight, which has parked itself at the entrance of the Tiki Room, just opposite the display of Munktiki mugs. The other guards my Elvis black velvet in the TIki Room. Always worried someone with one too many Mai Tai's might want to walk out with him. That Tiki I could not get a photo of tonight because of a large party that booked the room.
Wanted to also thank Martin Cate of Forbidden Island fame for coming down and sharing his knowledge with us. Not only has he improved our Mai Tai, he has given us a couple of drink recipes. One in particular he came up with exclusively for Hula's. We named it the "Juan Ho". Always wanted a Don Ho drink, but its main ingredient is tequila, so we went south of the border and found Don's distant cousin, Juan. (Photo of Juan Ho attached).
3rd photo is of course the King himself on black velvet. Proof for all, so if it ever does take a walk, we all know where it really belongs. Ha!

Awesome New Years Eve! We started at the bar where there were quality noise makers and great Mai-Tais. Our tender gave tastes of some great rums that I have never tried. Plasma surf and the Juan-Ho blasted through the reverse end of the cardboard megaphone. Just walk in and ask what is your most colorful drink and you will be like family.

We took a break to see the diy nye parade which is whole story until itself but participation is a definite must do in the future.

When we came back, Ian was very gracious and seated us in the back room where the tables, art and service are high tilt.

We had the lemon grass Ono, the Luau Pork Plate and the Hapu prepared in the Wasabi fish special. All of the dishes were of the highest quality. For all of the foodies who might not be into Tiki, this place is a spot on 10.

The only downside I can see, is that the ultraclean bathrooms are without ornamentation.

I'm from northern Virginia where we are tiki deprived, but the Hulu Island Grill and Tiki Room is so fantastic that I will make it a destination vacation next year. If only the boardwalk could get Fascination running my life would be complete.

Here is the latest Tiki TOny that sits on a nightly basis with a portrait of the king. He is one of the "protectors" so I put him up to the task of protecting ELvis from vanishing out the back door.

wow, looks fabulous! being that my husband and i are located in monterey, we frequent the Hulas there in town..but this new one looks gorgeous, good job.
maholo for all the info and photos!

Bunch of images of our two new tiki gods that we have put on the roof of the building, but having a hell of a time uploading them. Thank you TIkitony for the new carvings. We now have 5 big tikis (500 lbs. each) from Tony. They are overlooking downtown Santa Cruz. Working on getting permission to line the roof front with gas burning tiki torches in between the two gods. Maybe then we can have a weekly fire dance, and annually do a sacrifice. Anyone know a virgin over 18 we could send to the Gods?

Looks great.How about opening one in Ventura, Santa Barbara or Oxnard. We are really TIKI outlet challenged down here. Keep up the wonderful work. Keep spreading TIKI through out the world. Hang loose and stay cool.
TIKI LEE

Hang Loose and Stay Cool

[ Edited by: T1K1 LEE 2007-07-01 20:28 ]

Our new 21 oz. Hula's Tiki Mug just came in from Tiki Farm. Very happy with it. We will be working on a shot glass next and then a 14oz. mug for next spring. Stop by and get one. We are running a deal right now. If you buy a double Mai Tai, or Zombie, you get the mug for 5 bucks.

Tiki Farm is shipping our first custom shot glass next month. I will post a photo as soon as I have one.

We had a "band meeting" at Hulas last night.
here are some crappy cellphone pics.
I had the double Zombie.

our drummer had a coconut mojito
Our Keyboard player had a Scorpion bowl, all to himself.

Then our drummer had a zombie

them our keyboard player had another Scorpion bowl...

then there were some Mai-tai's, and gimlet's...
and some other stuff...
oh, and some food.
Awesome.

Me and the girlfriend are stopping by your Monterey location tomorrow for dinner and drinks after hitting the aquarium. I actually never managed to make it to either location when I lived in the area so this should be a treat. Make sure you have enough rum.

-troy the wonder ape.

I stopped by Hula's while touring UC Santa Cruz with my son. Was first dismayed to see the construction out front.

Then I realized they were open. The place was packed on a Saturday afternoon with a waiting list for food seating. Had a couple of good cocktails recommended by the bartender, nice to see the work by Bosko and Tiki Tony. The bartender said a new mug was in the works.

I found out that the construction project in front of the building is for a "Parklet" which will replace on-street parking with outdoor dinning - cool.

DC