Nautical style in tiki bars

Anybody have some pics of nautical flavored tiki bars? I have some pics , but am looking for some old postcards or photos.

You can't do better than the bar at the Mai Kai. There should be about 200 pics of that floating around Tiki Central.

Over a hundred views, and nobody has anything more to contribute? C'mon kids, that's lame! Granted, nautical style does not get me all hot like a fancy Beachcomber lamp does, but in the light of the recent Poly-pop genre discussions, this question should yield some better results. Or is this board nowadays only populated by consumers waiting for the next new Tiki mug?

I know: I am guilty of being overactive recently and making it easy for folks to just sit back and watch the show, but c'mon, even if you do not have big archives like Sabu or Mimi, someone must have some pictures from the Mai Kai's Molokai bar, which is indeed a fine example of Nauti-Tiki:

and how about the Tonga Room's "Cloud" ship-deck, mast etc? That's still around.
And most Trader Vic's have those "Officer's Club" dining rooms for the stuffed shirts ...which we all avoid, at least this Tiki Snob does. :)

And then there were Steve Crane's Kon Tiki Ports and Ports of Call. Danny already knows these, but as a guide for what to look for, here is the Chicago Kon Tiki Ports photo (mostly "Tiki", with some "Nauti" on the right). Already to be seen on p. 104 of the BOT, I always wondered about how the moat with the ship's rigging looked from other angles:

And then of course the Dallas Ports of Call "Singapore Yacht Club" room, already posted by "Tiki Geek" (a title of distinction!) Kenike's marvelous post here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=22867&forum=2&start=0

I think I better refrain from posting for a while, for fear of intimidating potential posters into thinking that their contribution will be not up to par, which is of course wrong, because every little bit of info and imagery ads to the wonderful puzzle of Polynesian Pop and is appreciated. So please, don't hold back, give posting a try.

Tiki D'

I'll take you to a Nautical bar and restaurant that'll "Blow Ye Down"! Check your pm, food & grog on me in June! :D

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Is this the part of the Tonga Room you are referring to?

http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

& great to see your posts more, bigbro!

Here are a few from my tiki excursions that had some nautical feel - hope they are helpful....

The FABULOUS La Mariana:

Trader Vic's London:

Trader Vic's Munich:

A couple more from the Tonga Room:

& The Rendez'vous, here in Kenosha (Wisconsin) - where I am headed for the night as soon as I get these pictures uploaded :)
Some call it "Pirate Tiki" style - Has a nautical feel ala the Pirates, skulls, etc.... They have a big carved wood sign behind the bar that's cool that says "Will Pilage for Rum"

They have a big carved wood sign behind the bar that's cool that says "Will Pilage for Rum"

It was a special request by Mike, not many people catch that sign :wink:

There is a knife stuck in it and it was made to look like the words were carved in by the knife.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-04-29 15:54 ]

Great photos.
Thanks guys!

Hey LakeSurfer - I figured that sign was most likely made by you, but I wasn't positive :)
Here it is for all to see:

& Here are some recent Mai Kai shots - most from the Molokai bar - a few of the patio outside - hopefully someone else has some pictures that capture the whole room a bit better? & maybe some older shots?

Outdoor Seating area:

Sweet folks, this is the stuff I was lookin g for! Keep them coming. if you have 'em. I love all of these pics.

Ok in answering the call to Sven's challenge,
I present one that I don't think anyone has
seen. It is very light on the theme, but hey
it is one of those unkown places, soooo....

The Pirates Table
811 Clevaland Street
Downtown Clearwater Florida

"All you may care to eat from the famous Salad
Bar; a delightful prelude to treasures from the
Hot Buffet. Homoemade bread,too. Luncheaon
and dinner daily. Wines, spirits, & Grog in the
Golden Galleon Lounge."

I call it "Nautical Minimalist" But I wonder if
the Galleon Lounge had more eye candy than the
main eating area.

Hey Clearwater peeps, see if the building is still standing! The address shows up on Yahoo Maps as Fiores Gourmet.

Heres a Tampa link to a review.
http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/GoodEats/Content?oid=oid%3A59524

No images though.

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2007-04-29 12:30 ]

Allright, I'm appeased, great work kids, thank you! Here is a cool concept that is nautical. We all know bar port hole windows that open up onto the pool (see Yankee Clipper Bar, Hukilau 2006), and we know aquariums lining the booths like at Bahooka.

But how about this Seafood restaurant in Havana that had it's street window port holes turned into aquariums

Another nice "inbetween that" concept is to put fake fish and underwater sea life between the pool glass and the viewer, as done in some Butlin's Holiday Camp lounges (above and below)

I just remembered a GREAT purely nautical place I visited when in Atlanta...arrgh, can't find the postcard I took, OR remember the name...Swanky, any Southerners, help!

I came across this picture from The Galley in Santa Monica. Not Tiki at all but Life Preservers as shelves look cool to me.

Here's some pictures I took at Harpoon Harry's in Huntington Beach in 2003:

http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/roadtripmay2003/harpoonharrys/

(They're kinda dark, so I won't bother posting them here individually)

And of course there's the Warehouse in Marina del Rey. I don't think I've ever taken any really good pictures of the place... it's worth going to check out yourself, anyhow.

Sven -
In Atlanta, you say you visited the place?
Hmmm... perhaps The Yacht Club, in Little Five Points?
I never thought of it as "nautical tiki," but I vaguely recollect some nautical stuff. Kind of avoided the place myself.

Port of Call (Port o' Call?) in New Orleans would definitely be a hit for this thread. Very very port-ish, lotsa bamboo, and a couple of lame tikis. On the edge of The Quarter.
Best burgers in the city.

There's a pirate themed bar in Pirate's Alley in NOLA too (right off Jackson Square). Lots of rigging (for frigging, if you're so inclined), fishnets, etc. Can't recall the name.
A

The Mai Kai doors....

Nautical Tiki ~ Tiki Nautical

SOLD!

Just saw this, Danny and Bigbro...I'll dig through the postcard archive and get some goodies up.

Here are a couple of pix from the Castaways Inn & Suites in Manitou Springs, Colorado which is where I stay when visiting family there. It is very nautical, with some tiki.

This is the best sea food restaurant in Columbus Ohio.
No tiki but it is natical. And great food.
The Windward Passage.

Hard to tell from these small photos, but this place has lots of nautical stuff. Appears to have been decorated in the early '70s and never touched.

I'll have to snap a few shots.. but there is a seafood joint down the road from my house that was torn down and rebuilt like the top of a lighthouse.. pretty nifty. My Grandmother worked there in the 70's and 80's making the salads.

I found a table with 4 swivel barrel chairs at a local antique store.. was thinking about buying them for my basement tiki bar.. I think this thread has convinced me.

Then there's the Kowloon here in MA. It's the closest we have to a real Tiki joint, and there's a boat in the middle of the main dining area. I'd put up pix, but my hard drive died last week, just got a new one. All was lost. But back to the NauTiki theme. I'll put up some pix when I find them again. Nautica and Tiki go together like Rum & juices, like ice and ceramic mugs. It's an allegory to our perspective on Tiki. Our forefathers who explored those areas were nautical types; how else would they get there, and how else would the rum get there?

I just read this. The place in Atlanta is Dante's Down the Hatch. It doesn't get much more nautical than that! A ship right in the restaurant! My idea was to make my bar like the prow of a ship and everyone sits around the outside... Flash site. Can't post images.

[ Edited by: Swanky 2007-05-04 08:31 ]

That place is cool but it's to new looking.

On 2007-05-04 09:10, RevBambooBen wrote:
That place is cool but it's to new looking.

Nothing that a blowtorch couldn't fix. Or maybe a few wild parties to age it a few years?! Yeah, that place is pretty over the top. With the lights way down low and some creaking ship and crashing wave sounds piped in along with some faux rainstorms, it could be quite cool. Might have to pay that place a visit next time I'm in town. Thanks for the tip Swanky.

It was a consideration for Hukilau 2002, but, when Trader Vic's is right there... And it is in Buckhead.

That place is over the TOP, Swanky!

On 2007-05-04 10:36, Swanky wrote:... And it is in Buckhead.
Aaahhh, THAT's why I never went there!!

F

don't be forgettin' the pirate's house in savannah.

way nautical, no tiki.

good rum drinks.

skull mugs if you're lucky (i wasn't)

http://www.thepirateshouse.com/

On 2007-04-29 11:54, bigbrotiki wrote:
I just remembered a GREAT purely nautical place I visited when in Atlanta...arrgh, can't find the postcard I took, OR remember the name...Swanky, any Southerners, help!

Yessssss, DANTE'S, that was it, thanks Swank! I was quite impressed, there is not an un-themed corner in that place. Go check it out when in the area folks, they just don't make'em like that anymore.

Now that we are on a nautical roll, I'd like to reminisce about THE SEA in San Pedro, a giant shop that was the nautical equivalent to Oceanic Arts.

From the 1930s on, San Pedro's shipwrecking yards used to be a rich source of vintage nautical material for the builders and decorators of L.A. Tiki temples.

In the mid-90s, the Sea owners took over some of the Tikis from Danny Balsz's defunct "The Tikis" amusement park...only to close shop themselves a couple of years later:

You can see these two guys in Situ (and intact) on page 112 of the BOT.

Just a couple of blocks up from "The Sea" was the "Samoan Sea" apartment complex (still there?):

It had the classic nautical features of pylons and anchor chain fencing:

The place has only two Tiki guardians. We already saw this guy here on TC, in a post about slit drums

Heh.

My Mom worked at the Sea

for a while

before they closed.

No tiki spirit there. Pure slave drivers!

Skipper Kent's comes immediately to mind..

On 2007-05-04 13:49, Johnny Dollar wrote:
don't be forgettin' the pirate's house in savannah.

way nautical, no tiki.

good rum drinks.

skull mugs if you're lucky (i wasn't)

http://www.thepirateshouse.com/

And haunted as a motherf*cker, too! I spent my childohhod in Savannah!

Great post idea danny, I'll see what I got.
The sea is now a pet food store, but there is a place in wilmington that (seems like) it sells just as many shells in a much smaller building. I forget teh name t the moment...Fergusons? maybe? It's been there since the 1940's.

Samoan sea is still alive and kickin' and looks just like your pics, bigbro. Sabu took a bunch of pics in a thread about san pedro too.

Hey Diablo, here's a few images. They're light on the tiki/nautical fusion and I've included a few shots for inspirations of decor pieces. I have more, but I was uncertain if that was the type of pictures you wanted

the first two are of Ports o' call here in 'Pedro, back when it was cool. I unfortunately don't have any interior shots of what it looked like back in the heyday.

Tony's on the Redondo Beach pier is very nautical (their downstairs is great - with all kinds of float lamps - but I don't have pictures of it) Here's the entrance:

The islander in Gardena has some nautical emements to it:

Anchor chain:

Anchor:

Here's some samples of nautical doors and hatches:

Authentic pictures of "nautical" locations like vintage pictures of piers, docks, port towns, ships, ship yards/scrap yards and shipwrecks are great to get those ideas going too. But you already know that.
One of my favorite shipwreck images (pretty easily found on the internet):

I wish I could come accross something like this on my morning beach walks

and finally one more for good measure:

Let me know if you want more nautical pictures. give me a call if you want to come down 'pedro way

PS - the shell place in wilmington is called Ferguson's Marine Specialties. They've been in business since 1945.
http://www.fmsshells.com/

On 2007-05-04 20:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
My Mom worked at the "Sea" for a while...No tiki spirit there. Pure slave drivers!

Well, THAT was, historically speaking, and all romance aside, actually more the NAUTICAL spirit! :)

Here's a fine matchbook I found from a cool looking place in Oakland. One can only assume that it was nautical inside, being named after one of the finest (partially South Sea) writers and skippers there ever was:

Ohh yeah those are some nice ones guys. I have started my nauti tiki build out for my project. Speaking of nautical Jim, I have your stuff here. When we gonna hook up?

On 2007-05-08 14:13, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2007-05-04 20:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
My Mom worked at the "Sea" for a while...No tiki spirit there. Pure slave drivers!

Well, THAT was, historically speaking, and all romance aside, actually more the NAUTICAL spirit! :)

Here's a fine matchbook I found from a cool looking place in Oakland. One can only assume that it was nautical inside, being named after one of the finest (partially South Sea) writers and skippers there ever was:

Is that Yoshis Now?

Saw the Sax player for the Stones play there.

Danny,

Post working photos???

I got's a nautical coming up next week but will be out of town so pics will have to wait.

Great Stuff Peoples!

I'm visiting my parents at the moment, so I've finally managed to get some photo's of the best "nautical style" treatment for wood. If Witco brings exotic texture through burning, the nature version in the intricate carving of the shipworm.

The Bothy bar in Kirkwall, was fitted out in the mid eighties to resemble a "traditional" fisherman's bothy, (the effect has been ruined by a recent refurbishment, but enough of the original wood is still there)to achieve the effect the builders used wood recovered from hold of a sunken cargo vessel, that had been eaten on the surface by seaworms.

If I ever win the lottery, I will have a nautical room in my mansion and decorate it with several of these tentacle chandeliers:

Adam Wallacavage
Bisbiglio d'Amaranto
Mixed media, epoxy resin coated cast plaster with lamp parts
40"l x 40"w x 30"h
$10,000.00

More of his chandeliers can be seen at http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com/?method=Artist.ArtistDetail&ArtistID=EED2F4E9-115B-5562-AA8B85B721777481&GalleryID=82C33C59-3048-28EB-92DB386C8C733405

Fabulous tentacle chandeliers...hefty price...but they would indeed be a good addition to the nautical theme.

On 2007-04-28 14:22, TikiGardener wrote:
Is this the part of the Tonga Room you are referring to?

http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

With the exception of the Tonga Room, which nicely incorporates the Ship for dancing, I really don't care for it. Me, I'd rather see more Polynesian accents, more Tiki, more foliage, more anything else.

On 2007-05-08 20:37, RevBambooBen wrote:

On 2007-05-08 14:13, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2007-05-04 20:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
My Mom worked at the "Sea" for a while...No tiki spirit there. Pure slave drivers!

Well, THAT was, historically speaking, and all romance aside, actually more the NAUTICAL spirit! :)

Here's a fine matchbook I found from a cool looking place in Oakland. One can only assume that it was nautical inside, being named after one of the finest (partially South Sea) writers and skippers there ever was:

Is that Yoshis Now?

Saw the Sax player for the Stones play there.

Danny,

Post working photos???

I got's a nautical coming up next week but will be out of town so pics will have to wait.

Great Stuff Peoples!

That place is still there, and nope, it's not Yoshi's. It's now Scott's Seafood. (Yoshi's is across the street). My dad also remembers The Bow and Bell restaurant - he's not sure if it was the same building as this one or different. Evidently Joe Dimaggio was partner in one of these. I've been pumping my dad for East Bay tiki info, since he's pretty much an East Bay native - did a lot of running around on San Pablo avenue back in the day.

He remembers Trader Vic's, but doesn't remember much of the other stuff around there, tiki-wise. But he definitely remembers one of his favorite haunts on San Pablo, the It Club, which is right next to where the Cerrito Speakeasy movie theater is.

Here are a couple of more shots from Castaways;

At the Helm

Pirate Booty Boat

Great topic!! Nautical and Tiki Bars go hand in hand or CAN if they are done properly. I sure love seeing the connections in all the different pictures.

I know the Tonga Room has been noted but I wanted to share this early (Late 1940's) postcard when it was done like a large ship. It is a great view from behind the bar and you can see the Tiki Hut (in center) where the band played floating to the middle of the water.

I will skip the early/mid 1960's picture of the Tonga Room (oriental style theme) and show you the following great picture after it went to the more nautical look that it has to this day.

Oh, mug collectors, check out the three face bucket mugs being used on the tables on the left hand side! It's always cool to see pictures of the mugs in use!

The next picture is of a place someone had mentioned in this post earlier. It is a nice postcard that has a drawing of The Warehouse Restaurant in Marina Del Ray, California. I believe this picture is in Book Of Tiki as well. Not Tiki per say, but a cool looking place. They did have there own Barrel mugs available.

Keep em coming!!
TabooDan

Edited to bring back the large picture format.

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-05-14 16:45 ]

On 2008-01-06 16:35, Mai Tai wrote:

That place is still there, and nope, it's not Yoshi's. It's now Scott's Seafood.

Nice work Mai Tai!! There is a Scott's Seafood in Costa Mesa and it's delicious. Next time I'm up there let's go. It's kinda pricey so you can treat!

Thanks in advance. :lol: