Tiki Tom's on the Oakland Riviera, Oakland, CA (restaurant)

Name:Tiki Tom's on the Oakland Riviera
Type:restaurant
Street:300 29th Ave.
City:Oakland
State:CA
Zip:94601
country:USA
Phone:510-532-9205
Status:operational

Description:
I like this place so much I got married there [the marriage has some tiki backstory; our first date was at Forbidden Island, our wedding favors were from Tiki Farm, and we got wedding supplies at Firetiki]. Good food, especially the pork dishes [though I love the mahi mahi]. The drink selection is good, if not FI class. They cheat a bit with ordinary mixers, but they have a decent selection of rums and the bartenders know their stuff and are friendly and fast. Service, both food and bar, is consistently excellent. The atmosphere is fantastic; located on the water and under a bridge, Tiki Tom's has good views and a beach party vibe. The decor is more beach bar than classic tiki bar, but so am I so it works perfectly for me. The wall-to-wall surfboards on the ceiling complement the low to moderate TIPSY element. The Hawaiian bands on Fridays and Saturdays, and the all-day Hawaiian festival on third Sundays, are a ripping good time. They have other live music on various occasions and everything they've tried, from elevator style background music for meals to tear the roof off rock or blues jams, have been great. I've given the place just short of rave reviews on both critiki and yelp, and nothing has changed my mind since.

[ Edited by: chiwito 2009-08-03 14:53 ]

Well, the East Bay tiki bar scene is reduced by one tonight, but at least Tiki Tom's can boast the best pyrotechnics of any local tiki revival landmark. Who else had an exploding boat?

I drove past Tiki Tom's a few nights ago and it looked closed. Neighbors said it was closed last night as well. I've never seen that parking lot even close to full, so I won't be at all surprised if they find that this was an inside job for insurance money. One of the Yelp reviews even mentions a "drunken owner that disrespects it patrons." Several reviews also mention that Tiki Tom's had resorted to hosting parties for teenaged "thugs" with guns, requiring several visits by police.

Having been there myself a few months after it opened, in my opinion, the fire was the Tiki Gods' form of natural selection. Good riddance to bad tiki.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/baycitynews/a/2010/10/08/fire08.DTL&tsp=1

It wasn't great great or authentic tiki culture, and it certainly wasn't great classic drinks [tho' for the past few days, while doing my bartending school homework there each night, I tried to change that a bit], but it was a fantastic place to hang out and will be missed. The nonsense posts about teenage thugs from disgruntled neighbors can be ignored [drunken owner; well, that's a different story unfortunately]. Tiki Tom's never tried to be Forbidden Island, and I found good reasons to still be a semi-regular at FI, Conga, Smugglers', etc., but it was for most of its life a good waterfront restaurant. Besides, there is a lot to be said for a kid-friendly restaurant that also tries to be somewhat tiki.

RIP giant frog.

Sorry about Tiki Tom's, chiwito. As soon as I heard that it burned down, I thought of you, since that place is basically your hizzle.

Regardless of whether people think that Tiki Tom's was great, or thought that it sucked, one thing is for certain - it is a huge loss to have that building burn down, as it formerly hosted Pier 29, and was a great building! That's another little piece of history that's gone. And it would be a damn shame if the owner of Tiki Tom's burned it down because his business was failing.

On 2010-10-08 12:37, Mai Tai wrote:
Sorry about Tiki Tom's, chiwito.

Thanks, big guy. Those of us who loved the place appreciate the good thoughts. There is one upside. Tom and I have talked in the past about the fact that if he ever got out of the business, I would want to buy some of the decorations and fixtures. Ever since then, my wife has been very afraid that she'd get home some day and the frog would be on top of our garage. Meanwhile, my dogs are desolate at the loss of one of their favorite hangouts, but I promised them that they could get their tiki fix and waterview fix with more frequent trips to Forbidden Island and Sam's Chowder House. They're enthused about that.

I'm actually doing a story on Tiki Tom's (and Tiki culture in general) in Oakland, and you can't imagine how hard it is to find someone who actually knows Tom. Oakland has a really interesting mix of Tiki bars, and it would be great to get some perspective from people who used to go to the Tiki Tom's in Oakland. Chiwito, it would be great to hear what you have to say about it, or if anyone else has their two cents.

On 2010-10-21 15:27, Tiki_Teresa wrote:
I'm actually doing a story on Tiki Tom's (and Tiki culture in general) in Oakland, and you can't imagine how hard it is to find someone who actually knows Tom. Oakland has a really interesting mix of Tiki bars, and it would be great to get some perspective from people who used to go to the Tiki Tom's in Oakland. Chiwito, it would be great to hear what you have to say about it, or if anyone else has their two cents.

I have a fair amount of history at Teek's. My wife and I got married there last year, and I have been helping out at the bar there the past few months. I may also have been the very last person to drop by before the fire. I had been in the habit of stopping there each night after bartending class in SF to have dinner and do a bit of "homework". That Thursday I came by between 10:30 and 11, only to find the door closed because Tom hadn't paid his electric bill. I went and had dinner in Alameda and by the time I drove back that way it was fully engulfed. I'd be more than happy to talk with you about TT's contribution to the tiki scene in Oakland. My phone number is 510-301-6206 if you want to set up a conversation.

chiwito

I've been looking online for news about it (such as if the cause has been better determined, or if the owner has been located) and there's nuthin'. Nuthin' at all. Just one unverified source that said the frog had been deflated and moved a few days before.

Anybody got any verifiable news?

On 2010-11-03 19:15, mig wrote:
I've been looking online for news about it (such as if the cause has been better determined, or if the owner has been located) and there's nuthin'. Nuthin' at all. Just one unverified source that said the frog had been deflated and moved a few days before.

Anybody got any verifiable news?

Tom was never unlocated. He was in touch with the fire investigators the weekend after the fire. He is intermittently on the scene these days, while the cleanup crew hired by the insurance company clears the debris. We managed to salvage the large mosaic mural from the front of the building, which is now in my garage awaiting either Tom's next project or more progress on my always-soon-to-come home tiki/beach bar.

The investigators haven't determined exactly what caused the fire, but they seem to think that it started on the boat and spread to the building. I have heard one plausible theory as to what seems most likely, but not from anyone official.

The frog deflated when the electricity was cut off a few hours before the fire. I assume it was a total loss along with everything else in the building -- it certainly looked so when I saw it before the cleanup.

chiwito