Which Bars Have Tiki Torches?

In Santa Barbara, Chuck's of Hawaii has tiki torches outside. In San Diego, Humphrey's Half-Moon Inn has tiki torches, although their versions are gas. I believe Drift in Scottsdale also does, although the tiki drinks have affected my memory.

However, do any other establishments still offer such homage to the tiki gods?

Is there a fire code regulation or the omnipresent threat of litigation if anyone gets burned?

[ Edited by: christiki295 2007-05-07 00:24 ]

It is rumored that Kon Tiki's gas powered torches will be relit at some point.

In San Diego, the upscale Hawaiian-based Roy's has torches outside, gas, but nobody ever notices them. I think the coolest is the restaurant Yokozuna, a Guam Tiki-ized place in Chula Vista (south of San Diego) that has lots of Tiki carvings and a cut-down Tiki torch on every table!

Which is a tikiriffic idea for home bar decor - just cut a torch 4-5" from the bottom of the fuel container, make a bamboo base from the rest, use it for a tabletop light. Works great.

99% of all Tiki Temples used to have working Tiki torches. Now, of the few that remain, maybe 2% have. I believe that of all the places that I surveyed in the 90s that had torches visible, Trader Mort's was the ONLY one that actually had the torch burning. Factors for letting the flame of Tiki die were COST of gas, age of equipment, basic disinterest of owners, and to some degree, the fire code, too.

After the BOT came out, some people were surprised that no Tiki establishments would serve their drinks in Tiki mugs--as if Tiki had never died. How soon we forget. The mug situation has SLOWLY improved. But we have to remember that OUR revival often is not "their" revival, still.

not tiki per se, but i recall the beaches on waikiki having a fair amount of the conical gas-type torches rockin'.

On 2007-05-07 07:18, Johnny Dollar wrote:
not tiki per se, but i recall the beaches on waikiki having a fair amount of the conical gas-type torches rockin'.

Definitely. Also, Tiki's keeps the tiki torches blazing.

On 2007-05-07 07:04, Cammo wrote:
In San Diego, the upscale Hawaiian-based Roy's has torches outside, gas, but nobody ever notices them. I think the coolest is the restaurant Yokozuna, a Guam Tiki-ized place in Chula Vista (south of San Diego) that has lots of Tiki carvings and a cut-down Tiki torch on every table!

Nice post, Cammo. I didn't know of that place.

I recall asking the Mai Kai family about the torches once and they said something like "you should see our gas and water bill alone!"

There is a tapas restaurant here in town that has torches on the sides of the restaurant.

Although long tiki free outside the Canoes Restaurant at the Ilikai hotel on Oahu there has been a torch lighting ceremony at sunset that has been going on for 40 years that starts with a blowing of a conch shell followed by them being lit individually. Nice place for a cocktail but bring you own Ku

The area around Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room has live flame tiki torches burning bright.

And as someone else has already mentioned...tons of spots in Hawaii still have them, especially in pubic areas around Waikiki. Many resort hotels throughout the islands there have tiki torch lighting ceremonies every evening. For anyone not familiar with those, it usually involves one or more young shirtless Hawaiian locals running from torch to torch lighting each with a hand-held torch that he carries and twirls...while another person usually is standing somewhere blowing on a conch shell to signal the end of daytime.

Some of these ceremonies include entertainment before and/or after the torch lightings.

One of the most elaborate and spectacular of these was the tiki torch lighting ceremony that used to be held at the old Coco Palms resort on Kauai (this was the hotel where much of Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" was filmed, including the famous "Hawaiian Wedding Song" scenes). The entire Coco Palms resort was laced with hundreds of tiki torches lining several canals that wove throughout the property. They had an elaborate ceremony with entertainment culminated by several "runners" lighting all the torches. Not only was the sheer number of torches burning in the night something spectacular to see...but their reflection in the waters of the canals, very dramatically added to the effect.

That and much of the rest of the Coco Palms, remains some of my most vivid memories of Hawaii in my youth.

Personally, I think the best still running today, are the ceremonies that run along the shoreline and cliffs of a few resorts hotels. The Sheraton Maui used to do one atop Black Rock (assume they still do). And my favorite...the Napili Kai's on Napili Bay on Maui, come to mind.

IMHO, tiki torches blazing in the night are one of the main bits of romanticism associated with the Poly-pop culture. To me they sort of represent the promise of something wild and primitive to come. I love 'em.

All of the very early published references to them that I've found, refer to them as just "Torches" or "Torch Lighting Cememony"...without the "Tiki" in there. At some point I assume...the use of the term "Tiki Torches" became a popular name for them. I was first exposed to that name by the retail "Tiki Torch" boxed sets that were sold in stores for backyard luaus and such, sometime in the 60's. But I notice that much of the time in Hawaii still...they don't use the term "Tiki Torches" and refer to them as just "Torches."

Edited to Add: Ooops! I was working on my post on-and-off before naugatiki made their post preceding mine. Sorry about the duplication of some info. :)

[ Edited by: PremEx 2007-05-07 08:59 ]

There are some code issues with them, at least in northern california. I tried to talk TV Palo Alto into them many years ago, but the city wouldn't have it. Too wasteful of gas was the verdict.

In Albany however, there are burning gas torches on the tiki patio of Club Mallard.

Tiki-Ti New Year's Eve 2006.

I understand they light the torches on New Year's Eve and every 5th anniversary.

That is awesome! I had heard about this, but never seen it with my own eyes: Ti Torches aflame!

When I wrote:

99% of all Tiki Temples used to have working Tiki torches. Now, of the few that remain, maybe 2% have.

I thought we were talking about Polynesian Pop Tiki bars, i.e. mainland places. Of course they still got them going in Hawaii, that's where they came from. That's like saying they still have Hawaiians in Hawaii. :)

How much of the reluctance to use torches today is a knee-jerk reaction about the danger, along the lines of folks fearing thatch even if it's been fire-treated?

On 2007-05-07 12:08, Humuhumu wrote:
How much of the reluctance to use torches today is a knee-jerk reaction about the danger, along the lines of folks fearing thatch even if it's been fire-treated?

Definitely. But real or imagined danger?
The "getting sued" litigation mania and subsequent paranoia that poisoned the happy-go-lucky attitude of Americans beginning in the 70s was a major factor in the devolution of Tiki. As another example for that fact, chest-high black rod iron fences around swimming pools just do not convey the sense of tropical laissez-faire as well as the open spaces did.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-05-07 12:51 ]

On 2007-05-07 12:08, Humuhumu wrote:
How much of the reluctance to use torches today is a knee-jerk reaction about the danger, along the lines of folks fearing thatch even if it's been fire-treated?

This sort of thing is annoying. A trick we found accidentally at Hale Tiki, is that the fire codes guy can inspect your property very early, like before you put anything on the walls. The guy was very iffy about the stuff on the walls and thatch and said, "You should have called me before you put this stuff in and I would have signed off no problem." It's stuff on the walls like wallpaper and table clothes. It's in every bar.

But I was told the bar owner here in town with the torches didn't get permission, he just did it. Been burning for years now just fine.

The Trade Wind's 1964

But if you think tiki torches are rare, how often do you see this these days?

On 2007-05-07 11:26, TikiSan wrote:

Tiki-Ti New Year's Eve 2006.

I understand they light the torches on New Year's Eve and every 5th anniversary.

ah Good times, Tiki Ti on New Years eve. Thats what I'm talking about.
thanks for posting that San, I was just going to Mention the Tiki Ti, but you beat me to it. I have been there 30 times or so, but it was very cool to see the torches lit.

Have to make that a regular thing, TC memebers to invade Tiki Ti on New Years
the Bozo non Tiki crowd was high that night.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2007-05-07 14:27 ]

Technically, as far as I can tell, none of these places have "tiki torches" :)

In order to call it a "tiki torch" it must be manufactured by Lamplight Farms and I don't think that any of the torches shown above were made by them.

http://www.lamplightfarms.com/copyright.html

Tiki® and “Tiki Torch” are registered trademarks owned by Lamplight Farms, Inc. and are registered at the United State Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark “Tiki Torch” was registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1956 as Reg. No. 639,032 and has been in continual use since 1956. Over time, Lamplight Farms has obtained a family of “Tiki” trademark registrations for a variety of outdoor lamp and torch related products, including but not limited to Reg. Nos. 2,113,834; 2,161,487; and 2,990,350. The Tiki® trademark identifies Tiki® as a brand name which may only be used to designate products manufactured or licensed by Lamplight Farms, Inc. Lamplight Farms will enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law.

Dang! I guess that's it then, folks, the whole Tiki revival will have to close shop.

On 2007-05-07 12:21, bigbrotiki wrote:

As another example for that fact, chest-high black rod iron fences around swimming pools just do not convey the sense of tropical laissez-faire as well as the open spaces did.

Well, we know how you and your "little bro" deal with such fences when encountered. :wink:

Ah PremEx.....thanks for the memories. I stayed at the CoCo Palms many years ago and saw that fabulous tiki torch lighting ceremony. That was a great hotel and the grounds were so beautiful. It is so sad to see it in its current condition. Anyway...loved the guys running around lighting the torches, very exciting. :)

[i]On 2007-05-07 13:26, Ojaitimo wrote:

But if you think tiki torches are rare, how often do you see this these days?

           ![](https://tikicentral.com/uploads/5344/463f8919.jpg)  

All too rare; however, I see something like every summer at one of the luaus listed at alohaworld:

http://alohaworld.com/cgi-bin/suite/calendar/calendar.cgi

Although beach-front, not tiki, Bob's Paradise Cove in Malibu does offer tiki torches:
http://www.paradisecovemalibu.com/beachcafe/photos.htm

Tiki's in Waikiki also has tiki torches.

In reference to the Torches at Tiki Ti being lit only on New Years and their anniversary date.

I also saw them lit recently on The Sat. Nite before Halloween for the Costume contest night.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Funny thing, Thatch still doesn't have a sign, except for the old "Gordon" carved tiki bar. The landlord doesn't like my sign ideas, but has no qualms about gas torches, expect to see them soon.
Robert

On 2007-05-07 14:26, bigtikidude wrote:

On 2007-05-07 11:26, TikiSan wrote:

Tiki-Ti New Year's Eve 2006.

I understand they light the torches on New Year's Eve and every 5th anniversary.

ah Good times, Tiki Ti on New Years eve. Thats what I'm talking about.
thanks for posting that San, I was just going to Mention the Tiki Ti, but you beat me to it. I have been there 30 times or so, but it was very cool to see the torches lit.

Have to make that a regular thing, TC memebers to invade Tiki Ti on New Years
the Bozo non Tiki crowd was high that night.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2007-05-07 14:27 ]

Is this an annual event, i.e. will the tiki torches will be light for New Years Eve 2007?

I would say the best thing to do is go on Fri Dec 28th with and ask, or try to e-mail or call them and ask.

I will not be going on New Years this year if they are open.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Does Bahooka's or Damon's have tiki torches from the days of yore?
It is not clear from these photos of Bahooka's:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=5021&forum=2&start=60

What about the Bali Hai in San Diego, maybe off to the side?

[ Edited by: christiki295 2007-12-03 19:02 ]

OK, this is silly, but I momentarily forgot about Critiki, which is definitive on such issues.

Bahooka's: No tiki torches in sight:
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/pictures.cgi?loc_id=145

Oceanic as it may be vs tiki, the warehouse in marina del rey has torches to go along with their tiki mugs!. I have been going there for 25 years and only noticed the lit torches sunday afternoon...maybe they just started lighting them or I am usually too "lit" to notice!.

On 2007-12-04 19:39, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
Oceanic as it may be vs tiki, the warehouse in marina del rey has torches to go along with their tiki mugs!. I have been going there for 25 years and only noticed the lit torches sunday afternoon...maybe they just started lighting them or I am usually too "lit" to notice!.

Are the Tiki torches in front or on the marina side?
Only Sundays?

Many of the Hotels along Ali'i Drive in Kona have Tiki Torches...especially Don the Beachcombers at the Royal Kona, and The King Kam....Waikiki is Tiki Torch heaven. There's nothing better than seeing a bunch of Tiki Torches burning along the oceanfront in Hawaii....If there is a Heaven, it probably looks alot like Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki in the evening. :)

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-01-22 09:32 ]

Also, there are plenty of Tiki torches on Lewevers street, where the Holokai is located, as well as at the Royal Hawaiian (where the Matson Lines Tiki art show is located).

The Hawaiian Islands don't count, they always had and always will have plenty Tiki torches, it's a tourist icon. The mainland phased them out when Tiki culture waned: Why deal with the gas costs and fire code when there are no customers anyway?...which makes them so rare and notable here nowadays.

Actually, come to think of it, the islands always used lots of Tiki torches, and very few Tikis, while the mainland had lots of Tikis, and quite a few torches, too. For the Hawaiian establishments, torches are as atmospheric as Tikis but not as difficult p.c.-wise. :)

On 2008-01-23 14:49, bigbrotiki wrote:
The Hawaiian Islands don't count, they always had and always will have plenty Tiki torches, it's a tourist icon. The mainland phased them out when Tiki culture waned: Why deal with the gas costs and fire code when there are no customers anyway?...which makes them so rare and notable here nowadays.

Actually, come to think of it, the islands always used lots of Tiki torches, and very few Tikis, while the mainland had lots of Tikis, and quite a few torches, too. For the Hawaiian establishments, torches are as atmospheric as Tikis but not as difficult p.c.-wise. :)

Sven, you'd be surprised how many Tikis you see when you are ain certain parts of the island...Waikiki especially, and definitely KONA. LOTS of tiki in those 2 places.

On the other hand, Hilo (on the Big island) has little or no Tikis OR Tiki torches.....coincidentally, there's alot more people with Hawaiian ancestry living there...ie: less haoles.

Oh good, have not been there for a couple of years. As a matter of fact, some of our TC "resident artists" are contributing:

For Immediate Release:

World prominent Australian Idol carver Marcus Thorn fulfills personal dream to carve in Hawaii.

World renowned Australian Idol carver Marcus Thorn is carving in Hawaii after just completing prestigious Mooneyes invitational show in Tokyo, Japan.
Thorn prominent in what is described as “Tiki “ or “ Hot Rod “ circles wanted to explore traditional Polynesian carving style and Hawaii seemed the right place to go for inspiration. “I admire the art of the early carvers’. The piece I am working on is based on old and new references; it is in the Marquesan style.

In preparation for Marcus’ arrival Karen Maguire of Maguire Interiors located a tree slated for removal and had a 12’ section delivered to her Wailupe Circle driveway. Although the neighbors were accustomed to seeing large sculptures come and go her family thought possibly a 12’ log might be too large for her first time carving project.
So did the carver. Although nicknamed the human termite Thorn said “I never ever thought I’d complete a project this large in this amount of time, I just didn’t think it could be done”.

“I am astounded by Marcus ability to think 3 dimensionally; he has executed a beautifully complex and perfectly proportioned piece. The results are beyond my expectations -I just can’t believe it.” Maguire

Marcus second major project while in the Islands is to restore a 6ft pair of 1950’s Hawaiian style idol carvings purchased with other vintage carvings from Maguire Interiors by Nordstrom for their flagship Hawaii location at Ala Moana opening in March.

Karen’s Wailupe neighbors stop by everyday to see the progress, and her family has come around a bit too.

On 2008-01-23 14:49, bigbrotiki wrote:
The Hawaiian Islands don't count, they always had and always will have plenty Tiki torches, it's a tourist icon. The mainland phased them out when Tiki culture waned: Why deal with the gas costs and fire code when there are no customers anyway?...which makes them so rare and notable here nowadays.

But isn't that what Polynesian Pop is all about? True, it is difficult to emulate a South Seas paradise when one is in Hawaii - as such would be the baseline. Nevertheless, given the one time lack of Tiki bars in Hawaii - lamented in the TRT and TRT II, Hawaii should get credit for maintaining their Tiki torches.

After all, it would not take much more than a civic vision for Santa Monica's Ocean Blvd., or Santa Barbara's State Street to have them as well considering both also are warm weather tourist destinations.

Polynesian pop is MAINLY about the embellishment and liberal re-interpretation of Polynesian culture (from the islands) on and by the MAINLAND (to such a degree that became an art form in its own right). To explain and establish that fact I left almost all reference to island-made Poly pop out of the BOT.
After having done so, I included SOME cases of Island Poly pop in Tiki Modern, but only mid-century modern, mainland influenced cases. Just like Don The Beachcomber and Trader Vic, or the imported Tikis form Oceanic Arts, the mainlanders created more heavily stylized Polynesian pop than the islanders in Hawaii.

All the other stuff like Tiki torches are "Hawaiiana", tourist and local pop culture, and can thus be taken for granted to a certain degree. It is just not that intereesting to me, concept-wise. To note that there are Tiki torches in Hawaii is like saying "Oh, there are Hula dancers in Hawaii."

THERE ARE HULA DANCERS IN HAWAII??!!!

Aw crap. Why doesn't anybody ever tell GROG these things? GROG would have gone to Hawaii YEARS ago!

On 2008-01-27 10:51, bigbrotiki wrote:

All the other stuff like Tiki torches are "Hawaiiana", tourist and local pop culture, and can thus be taken for granted to a certain degree. It is just not that intereesting to me, concept-wise. To note that there are Tiki torches in Hawaii is like saying "Oh, there are Hula dancers in Hawaii."

I hope so, but after seeing how many Tikis there are at the Hawaiiana Hotel - possibly Waikiki's oldest, but how few there are at the Royal Hawaiian (just one) and none at the other hotels in Waikiki, I am not sure we can even take Tiki torches for granted. While they are in abundance in Waikiki, they are much less apparent on the other islands (certain hotel grounds notwithstanding).

On 2008-01-21 23:05, christiki295 wrote:

On 2007-12-04 19:39, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
Oceanic as it may be vs tiki, the warehouse in marina del rey has torches to go along with their tiki mugs!. I have been going there for 25 years and only noticed the lit torches sunday afternoon...maybe they just started lighting them or I am usually too "lit" to notice!.

Are the Tiki torches in front or on the marina side?
Only Sundays?

Looks like they're lit every night, I was there last night (Friday) and they were ablaze.

They are on the front side of the restaurant.

On 2008-01-27 11:03, GROG wrote:
THERE ARE HULA DANCERS IN HAWAII??!!!

Aw crap. Why doesn't anybody ever tell GROG these things? GROG would have gone to Hawaii YEARS ago!

GROG! You're PRICELESS!!!

That's priceless in 'dollars', 'pound sterling', and I believe, in 'euros' too!

Trader Jim - Make mine another GROG!

The tiki torches in front of the lagoon at the Wharehouse are fantastic!
They totally took me back to Keoki's at Poipu Beach, Kaua'i.

On 2007-05-07 07:04, Cammo wrote:

Which is a tikiriffic idea for home bar decor - just cut a torch 4-5" from the bottom of the fuel container, make a bamboo base from the rest, use it for a tabletop light. Works great.

Indeed, however I once had an indoor Tiki bar with precisely this idea on either side of the bar. During one party though several long-haired types nearly became torches themselves. I soon converted them to electric!

This local watering hole still has a few....