Tiki Tuesday @ SAM'S Cancelled :(

WOOOOHOOOO! It's Tiki Tuesday Time at Sam's Seafood

What: Mai Tai One On Tuesdays
Where: Sam's Seafood
What: $5 Mai Tai's, Beer Specials, and 1/2 price pupus(appetizers)all Night Long & Live Entertainment starting at 7pm

We hope to see everyone from TC at Sam's :)

Sam's Seafood Restaurant "The Last Tiki Temple in the O.C."
16278 South Pacific Coast Hwy
Huntington Beach, California 92649
562-592-1321

[ Edited by: WooHooWahine 2007-11-04 06:02 ]

[ Edited by: WooHooWahine 2007-11-12 21:24 ]

Sounds great! Count me in. Unfortunately, Tsunami Shanna will not be able to attend this one. The mac and spam is really sounding tasty to me. You'll find me bellied up at the bar! Hope to see everyone there.

Mahalo,
Tkitatt

[ Edited by: Tikitatt 2007-11-04 18:59 ]

What time?

NEWSFLASH: There will be LIVE entertainment and food specials too! The Smokin Menehunes will be performing. WooHoo! :)

Great! I will definitely be there! (I need to get another Tiki Mug!)

The Smokin' Menehunes were awesome Saturday night! Look forward to hearing them play again! Mahalo!

Aloha Kakou:

Just a short note to let you know that Sam's Seafood in Sunset Beach is
up
and running again. They have started hula luaus on the weekends, and
beginning this Tuesday and every Tuesday thereafter, 'Tiki Tuesdays'
featuring The Smokin' Menehunes.

The polynesian atmosphere is as wonderful as ever, and my friend Demi
Stevens, formerly of Ma'kai Lounge in Santa Monica, has put together a
team
of beautiful and friendly workers that continues Sam's ambiance of
aloha.

The Smokin' Menehunes (Mick, Kila, and Palika) will be performing every

Tuesday from 7 to 9:30 pm. Look forward to seeing you Tuesdays.

Mahalo,
Pat Palika Enos
http://www.myspace.com/thesmokinmenehunes

Well put, woohoo. Demi ROCKS and I think she has a great eye for escapist atmosphere - sams is really looking BEAUTIFUL

I'm going to de me darndest to be there tomorrow night (I missed the SM and you on Saturday - I go there too late!)

what time are people gonna get there?
4 5 6 7?

bueler bueler?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Maybe Lion hasn't missed all the summer events after all!

< ||
=:—>
< ||

OK, so I'm figurin' The Smokin Menehunes begin at 7 PM, let's shake up the Mai Tai's anytime after 6.

Anyone else?

SoccerTiki and I will be there at 6:30 :) WooooHooooo! Looking forward to another fun night at Sam's :)

Looking forward to it!

I'll be the one... well actually, see previous message for my picture...

;—>

I'm looking at around an 8:30 arrival

see ya there!

What are the chances: multiple each server crashes and family emergencies all at the same time!

I'll be a bit delayed this evening, as this cat was up most of last night, and a good chunk of today was consumed with family crisis;

However, as a result of today's upsets, Tiki Lion gets to paddle his outrigger down to Oasis VII next week (my first!) for late Friday eve through Sunday afternoon!
And next Friday's my Birthday!!!
I'm positively Cheshire about it all!

Except I'm almost falling on my nose right now from exhaustion...

OK, to be more realistic about this, I'm not safe to drive right now, so I'm not going to make it tonight, and next week I'm already booked.

Let's see, how can I support my buddies WooHooWahine, SockerTiki, Tikitatt, Tiki-Rabbit, bigtikidude, and Polynesiac to get to Sam's on Tuesday in two weeks?

The aforementioned sextuplet: lemme know in this thread how to recognize you before 5 PM Tuesday 7/21/7 and I'll buy you a Mai Tai at Sam's that evening!
I'll get there sometime between 6 and 7 PM on 7/21/7 (two weeks from tonight).

Be there or... well you know the rest.

[ Edited by: Tiki Lion 2007-08-07 18:45 ]

good times last night, but it cost me quite a few bones to go there.
I am so broke now..
:(

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2007-08-07 18:28, Tiki Lion wrote:

Let's see, how can I support my buddies WooHooWahine, SockerTiki, Tikitatt, Tiki-Rabbit, bigtikidude, and Polynesiac to get to Sam's on Tuesday in two weeks?

The aforementioned sextuplet: lemme know in this thread how to recognize you before 5 PM Tuesday 7/21/7 and I'll buy you a Mai Tai at Sam's that evening!
I'll get there sometime between 6 and 7 PM on 7/21/7 (two weeks from tonight).

Be there or... well you know the rest.

WoooHooo! SoccerTiki and I will be there :)

Cool beans.

Let me know in this thread how to recognize you!

WOOHOO! Sam's is Back and so is its Aloha Spirit, Thanks to The Smokin Menehunes

Whalerider, The Sperm Whale, TikiTena, & Big Tiki Dude(Tiki-Rabbit way in the Back)

WooHooWahine & TikiTatt

Riptide, Bong, Whalerider, & The Sperm Whale

The $5 Mai Tais were Tiki-rrrific!!

Crazy Al unwrapping SoccerTiki's Newest Treasure


Everybody Dance Now.....




Crazy Al joined in on the coconuts

Bong

We are all looking forward to next Tuesday!!!

[ Edited by: WooHooWahine 2007-08-08 20:21 ]

What a great time at Sam's last night. WooHoo thanks for posting the pics. It is always crazy to look back at an event and see things you don't remember doing.

It was cool to meet some new TCers out there. Tikitatt, Mahalo for the medicine.

Excellent WooHooWahine, thank you very much; that leaves only Polynesiac.

Polynesiac, you have 303 hours and ten minutes!

Great to see everyone! Thanks for coming! Unfortunately, I could not stay and had to jet the moment we stopped playing, (due to the fact that I work the early shift the next morning, and was slightly injured that night). Great to have C-Al up there with us again....(always makes me happy to see and hear him play) and especially cool to see Big Tiki Dude, RT, Woohoo, Soccer and all the rest! I really enjoyed the 4 Marshall Island dancers-they were very professional, despite being so young!! I'll tell you what, the Smoking Menehunes always pulls in great dancers from the islands...must be the polynesian sound we make!!

Soccertiki, I will work on that smile! (hard to that night, as Palika and Tikibong tried to beat me up in the parking lot just prior to our performance...if you look really close, you can see that my face swelled up, and I was bleeding from the ear..kind of put me in a bad mood. Oh well, I am bring some friends next time, (Including my brother, Steve Vigor, who is a professional MMA fighter)so it won't be two against just one)

Hey everyone,

I really had an awesome time. The drinks were really awesome as well as the service being awesome. Overall the entire evening was just awesome!

Mahalo,
Tikitatt

Aloha Kakou:

The Smokin' Menehunes have been designated the house band for Sam's
Seafood
in Sunset Beach, and will be performing for special events held at the
restaurant. Our next performance there is scheduled for Thursday
evening,
August 16th.

The 'Tiki Tuesdays' venue will continue with various entertainment.

Just a short note to keep you all informed.

Mahalo and a hui hou!
Palika

"Various entertainment?"
?
?
So the 21st could turn out to be slam-dancing, beer-spitting, punk-hop?
?
?
!!!
?
@#$%&@%$#!!!!!!!
??
?
OK gang, we continue undaunted... but this may call for more Mai Tai's...

Everyone needs to go in on Tuesdays and ask where The Smokin Menehune's are :)

maybe Martini Kings?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Hey, I'm not that fussy... (all those who know me better: please, just let me have the moment...)

But I do think a backup plan is a good idea.

Like more Mai Tai's.

I'm in favor of voting to keep Sam's on the Tiki Up with our presence, as regular as possible.

Like I said, 08/21/07: I'll start the flow for the faithful.

And please, someone, let Polynesiac know the clock's still ticking...

[ Edited by: Tiki Lion 2007-08-11 01:35 ]

This is the danger for our scene, my band or any other tiki band for that matter:

You have this historic polynesian-American restaraunt. Ambience galore. Looks exactly like the Tahitian Terrace at Disneyland, actually even better...but then you go in the bar, which is an awesome Tiki bar, and lo and behold.....get to hear Usher and Beyonce and R. Kelly playing. And that's where a majority of the customers are gathered.

I just don't get it. Would it be that much extra effort to play some Martin Denny over the sound system? Did customers complain "Hey, I came in here looking for a drink, and was turned off by the sound of Vibes and birdcalls...please put some lame hip hop back on or I will leave"

I am sure there are people on this board (me included) that would gladly supply the owners of Sam's with a nice sampler CD. After all, most of us are well stocked with music for our own tiki bars!!

It's a tiki bar. You can get hip hop right down the street at your local sports bar, of which there are 22,000 just in orange county (at last count.) How about something unique for a change.

On 2007-08-11 07:47, lucas vigor wrote:
This is the danger for our scene, my band or any other tiki band for that matter:

You have this historic polynesian-American restaraunt. Ambience galore. Looks exactly like the Tahitian Terrace at Disneyland, actually even better...but then you go in the bar, which is an awesome Tiki bar, and lo and behold.....get to hear Usher and Beyonce and R. Kelly playing. And that's where a majority of the customers are gathered.

I just don't get it. Would it be that much extra effort to play some Martin Denny over the sound system? Did customers complain "Hey, I came in here looking for a drink, and was turned off by the sound of Vibes and birdcalls...please put some lame hip hop back on or I will leave"

I am sure there are people on this board (me included) that would gladly supply the owners of Sam's with a nice sampler CD. After all, most of us are well stocked with music for our own tiki bars!!

It's a tiki bar. You can get hip hop right down the street at your local sports bar, of which there are 22,000 just in orange county (at last count.) How about something unique for a change.

Here hear ! I need to send Sam's a Tikiyaki Orchestra CD.

On 2007-08-11 10:26, tikiyaki wrote:
Here hear ! I need to send Sam's a Tikiyaki Orchestra CD.

Tikiyaki-
I gave them your CD and they couldn't get it to play!?! They run their sound system off an apple computer.

For what it's worth Demi- The Royal Hawaiian (formally in Laguna Beach) used to play hawaiian/exotica music until about 9:30pm then crank it up the rest of the night. It was great for ambiance for the dinner and tiki crowd and then it was great for the drinking crowd you're targeting.
And they were packed every weekend!!! Don't get me wrong! We like the party music too! But hearing the same songs over and over puts you in a trance and makes you want to head out the door.

Can't we wait another few weeks before we start complaining about Sam's?
Isn't it enough right now that it's back?
And that they have mugs?
And decent food?

Trust me no one loves to complain more than me* but every other post is a complaint -
"It's back but it's not exactly the same."
"The drinks suck!"
"I don't like pastel mugs"
"The music sucks"
"The food is too expensive"

If you don't like the music wear your iPod (But don't try to put any of Tikiyaki Orchestra's Ginormous files into it) and if you don't like the drinks get a head start at home. I'm sure we all can make better ones at home. In fact if you have the music and you can make better drinks... Just stay home.

I don't mind the place the way it is and I'm happy that it's back with owners that seem to be trying. When I was there last weekend the Hip Hop didn't start until after 10 and that was fine with me. Just give the place a minute to find out what works and then constructive criticism would be fine and probably welcomed but has it even been 6 weeks yet?

*I honestly love to complain.

On 2007-08-11 13:40, Bora Boris wrote:
.......Trust me no one loves to complain more than me* ...
... Just stay home........*I honestly love to complain.

Don't you ever stop complaining??? Sheeesh! Stop bye and I'll buy you a Mai-Tai!

I hated the tv's with sports on them in the Bar at Sam's , thought that was just the worst thing ever.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Mine must be a minority opinion in wanting tiki music in a tiki bar. Silly me.

Bring on the hip hop. I am having such a hard time finding it anywhere these days.

That last was directed at "Bora Boris" by the way.

All these things, TV in the bar, hip hop on the sound systemn are easy and quick fixes, you know? I am not saying Sam's needs to remove 3 walls and widen a door. Just get rid of the hip hop. Turn the TV off.

The problem is with those customers who say they are "bored" by Tiki. Perhaps they should find a non-tiki bar. After all, the huge A-frame out front might be a tip off that this is not a Dave and Busters.

I 100% agree with you Lucas but at the moment I'm just gonna be happy that it's not a construction site or a parking lot.

...........Hi everyone. Ive been reading this thread & can absolutely relate. Thats one reason the Agents try to mix it up a bit in the music dept. Pure "Tiki" gigs dont come around every week. I really like the idea of relaxing island music until 9ish, then more "popular" [what ever!*^?] music after that. I hope they come up w/a plan for this place that everyone can live with. The place is just amazing!.........Remy

KIDS!!!

"Aaaak Sehhhhn Tyoo Ate the Positive, Dihhhh Mihhhh Nyoo Ate the Negative..."

Gang, this here Cosa Nostra ("our thing") is about a positive passion; can you be OK that it's not everyone else's?

Enthusiasm for our friends' efforts will inspire more, whining will just make bitchy, not bitchin'.

Think about it, then try it: positive really works!

(Daddy will stop lecturing now.)

Yeah, but these are positive suggestions, and don't require much effort to implement. The TV, for example: We used to play at the Catalina fish kitchen, and the guy was running surf movies and videos on all the TV screens. I thought that was cool, and extremely appropriate, and really was not that cost prohibitive.

It's the Jimmy Buffetization of america that really bothers me, I guess. The need to pasteurize, distill and modernize everything. During the 50/s/60/s, when Tiki was at it's most popular, Americans really dug "themed" parties and themed restaraunts. it was a fantasy, a form of escapism, and while never culturally or historically accurate, it still served the purpose of transporting people to another time and place.

What is more fun the sipping a mai tai, enjoying a whole mess of bamboo and tapa cloth, and listening to exotica, lounge or even surf??

I just feel there are enough TGI Fridays and sports bars to cater to those people who don't care about ambience.

Because if that's the way things are, why are they not playing Gustav Mahler at the Viper room? Fair is fair!

On 2007-08-12 10:54, Bora Boris wrote:
I 100% agree with you Lucas but at the moment I'm just gonna be happy that it's not a construction site or a parking lot.

I can see that, of course. I just feel things could be made better without losing customers because the place is known for an authentic Tiki/Poly pop style, and not catering to modern tastes, (which IMHO are bland and boring.)

LV, I don't necessarily disagree with your point (this is Tiki Central right? You're already preachin' to the choir...), but say you're Sam ("OK: 'You're Sam!'"), and you're reading this thread (we have it on good authority that the Sam's do):

"Ouch! Look at everything I'm getting wrong!
"OK you Tiki folks, I give up - maybe the parking lots and condos are a better way to go...

So how about instead:
"Hey Sam, I had a really great time at your place the other night!" (you already said this - it was nice!)
"I'm not sure how often I can visit, 'cause a lot of the drink prices are beyond my pay grade, but on the other hand, that Tuesday 5$ Mai Tai thing exactly hits the spot! Can we do more of that?
"I would really dig some surfing movies on those surround-vid TV's of yours!
"What can we do to set that up?
"And the Smokin' Menehune's: way to go lining them up for your House Band!
"Since the whole Tiki thing is gettin' so popular, and what with those new Tiki drink specials, what other Tiki bands can we set up?

So maybe anyone who goes into the service business should be able to take whatever criticism comes their way; but hey, service is often really painful, even when willing.
Any one of us who has done service knows how that negative feedback stuff hurts deep; do we really need to act out the old primitive repetition thing when inspiration works so much better?
Do we want a happy host, or a grizzled cynic looking back at us over the bar?

"You can dissolve darn near as much of anything in honey as in vomit, but people will crave the honey and remember the sweet amendments." (grammar school cooking teacher)

Are we communicating here, or just debating?
I usually make a point of avoiding liti-'gators... except barbecue'd or in stew...

Not debating. I doubt anyone who posts on this board prefers hearing Beyonce to Arthur Lyman, when it comes to what you like to listen to in a tiki bar. But facts are, we have to do everything we can to keep Tiki going, and not just in a peripheral way.

I can only speak for myself, when I see old Tiki motels that once had swinging 60's chicks with beehive haircuts lounging by the pool now turned into low-rent crystal meth hotels. It just makes me sad, and if I only had the money, I promise I would buy and renovate a Tiki restaraunt or club (using people like Bamboo Ben and the other fine artists on this board and in this community)-and then I would keep it Tiki. I would not feel the need to dumb it down for the masses. I would let the style stand on it's own, knowing I had something different then all the other bland corporate entities out there. Turning everything into a home association approved world where we have to stay current or die, is against everything I believe in.

The fact that there are succesful CD series like ultra lounge, or succesful artists like Shag, proves that there is indeed a market for this stuff. I guess.

Maybe I am wrong. I hope I am not!

As to adopting and liking other styles, I am no purist. I have played in every kind of band possible, from Alt-rock to prog rock to bebop to funk/disco. In fact, tiki and lounge music is not even my favorite style (heresy!) but I like it, am knowledgeable about it, have many CDs in the genre, and can and will play it in a band.

Sams seafood is a beautiful thing. I am damn glad it is not a condo or parking lot yet, but I can only imagine part of the reason there is even a chance it might close, is due to changing public tastes, and pandering to them.

Lucas, please accept my apologies: I took after you like a hyena after a noble Lion, and you don't deserve it.
I totally misread your meaning and the context in which you have been posting.
A kind sister gently tugged my whiskers and redirected my nose to review the thread.

I do stand by the "positive reinforcement" thing, but as one of The Smoking Menehunes yourself you deserve my thanks, not the verbal lashing I delivered.
I'm sorry for addressing you that way, and would like to offer my friendship instead of the barely-disguised bile I delivered.

So who's on the roll call for Tues the 14th?? I heard some are going to Bahooka? I think it would be fun if we could cash in on this Tiki Tuesday's thing at Sam's & do Bahooka on another night. The more the merrier :) Just a thought??

On 2007-08-13 00:03, Tiki Lion wrote:
Lucas, please accept my apologies: I took after you like a hyena after a noble Lion, and you don't deserve it.
I totally misread your meaning and the context in which you have been posting.
A kind sister gently tugged my whiskers and redirected my nose to review the thread.

I do stand by the "positive reinforcement" thing, but as one of The Smoking Menehunes yourself you deserve my thanks, not the verbal lashing I delivered.
I'm sorry for addressing you that way, and would like to offer my friendship instead of the barely-disguised bile I delivered.

I actually did not take it in any bad way. I have pretty strong opinions. But we are just talking here, ya know? I really love Tiki. It's something I remember from my early childhood, when things were different, music was better, life seemed better (except for Vietnam, segregation/racism, ect)and I guess a sign of a person turning into an old fogey is when you wake up one morning and realize: "If I have to hear one more 'smooth jam' from 92 THE BEAT, I am going to scream!!!!!!"

One thing I really like about the new Sam's is that the people who are working (With the exception of one extremely sullen and agressive bartender who was smashing dry ice with a hammer at the bar, completely disregarding the safety of the people drinking )are all very nice. The manager, Demi, is super cool, and the waitresses are all tops! I see them interacting very nicely with the customers. That's a good thing. Plus, for some reason, they are all very easy on the eyes. I say forget the hip hop. Just keep the place well-stocked with cute waitresses like that, and you won't need any stinkin R. Kelly!!

So, after all that.
who is playing at Sam's this Tuesday.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

snip

"...I guess a sign of a person turning into an old fogey is when you wake up one morning and realize: "If I have to hear one more 'smooth jam' from 92 THE BEAT, I am going to scream!!!!!!"

snip

Yah!

Thanks Lucas; back on track here.

New drink suggestion for all us fogies: Orgeat, Fresh Lime Juice, Cointreau, J. Wray and Nephew of a certain age; shake with ice, pour into glass (no straining now, remember?);

And a float of Geritol.

Photo ID and recent colonoscopy report (really, we don't want to see the pictures!) required to prove eligibility...

We'll call it the Fogey Mai Tai, or perhaps the Fo Tai?
(hey, maybe after my birthday this Friday... or not? No. I think I'll stick with plan "A:" the Tuesday $5 Mai Tai's, made Sam's own way.)

See y'all at the Oasis, then at Sam's on the 21st!

OK AGAIN...So who's on the roll call for Tues the 14th?? I heard some are going to Bahooka? I think it would be fun if we could cash in on this Tiki Tuesday's thing at Sam's & do Bahooka on another night. I am told we have quite a few OUT of TOWN people coming in for TO so it would be great to all be at SAM'S.....The more the merrier :) input???

On 2007-08-13 10:52, Tiki Lion wrote:
snip

"...I guess a sign of a person turning into an old fogey is when you wake up one morning and realize: "If I have to hear one more 'smooth jam' from 92 THE BEAT, I am going to scream!!!!!!"

snip

Yah!

Thanks Lucas; back on track here.

New drink suggestion for all us fogies: Orgeat, Fresh Lime Juice, Cointreau, J. Wray and Nephew of a certain age; shake with ice, pour into glass (no straining now, remember?);

And a float of Geritol.

Photo ID and recent colonoscopy report (really, we don't want to see the pictures!) required to prove eligibility...

We'll call it the Fogey Mai Tai, or perhaps the Fo Tai?
(hey, maybe after my birthday this Friday... or not? No. I think I'll stick with plan "A:" the Tuesday $5 Mai Tai's, made Sam's own way.)

See y'all at the Oasis, then at Sam's on the 21st!

Oh man, don't get me started on colonoscopies!!! I see one in my future! (I already had the cystoscopy-horrible, barbaric, medieval torture)

Regardless, after reading these posts again, I came to the conclusion that most people are right, and I should be thankful that there even is a Sam's, because it could easily be another starbucks or jamba juice. It's well run-there is hope. Perhaps it will last a long, long time. I always feel happy when I am there, and I guess I will just have to mentally tune out the hip-hop music. Perhaps some stealthy tikiphile will sneak in an esquivel or Les baxter song here and there.