Tiki Iniki, Kauai, HI (bar) (now open)

Tiki Iniki is a new restaurant/bar about to open next month, owned and operated by Todd and Michele Rundgren, (Yes that Todd Rundgren) in the heart of the Princeville Town Center on the north shore of Kauai. I had the privilege of attending a private launch party and the food was incredible, the cocktail menu unique and tasty and it wasn't even the full menu for either. The decor was designed and built by 3rd generation and legendary Tiki builder, Bamboo Ben. The place looks fantastic, with a rock lava waterfalls wall and attention to the smallest detail through out. There is even an "archway" ode to the Coco Palms, the legendary hotel on Kauai. Its a mid size place, seating for about 65, when including the Lanai. Not sure what music will be played when opened, while Todd did perform a few songs with a live band for the party, but sure it will be location appropriate. While the food is top notch, will be moderately priced (cocktails as well).

If you are the north shore of Kauai, starting next month... go check it out!

A few photos from the Festivities:

Todd and Michele: Michele serving Todd a big cocktail offering: Todd Performing: Michele and Me (Tikiboy): Michele with a friend, who made the mosaic table top!

On the T.I. twitter feed it says that as soon as the fire and health permits are obtained they will open up. Says "maybe" by the end of September.

I just checked their twitter feed again and saw this regarding the soft opening:

Open to public on 10/17!

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2013-12-02 20:55 ]

Just got back from the grand opening. Bamboo Ben did the usual amazing job, great Tipsy factor, rattan, puffer fish, float lights, tapa lights, and knick knacks. They have 3 tiki mugs with their logo that look like standard tiki farm mugs: Ku, Lono, and Rarotonga. The drinks are all fresh juices and syrups. It was opening night and the place was packed, so the bartenders need to work on consistency, but overall better than the syrupy sweet crap you generally get on the islands. The Mai Tai is trader Vic version, the Zombie is Don the Beachcomber 1950's version, they make a great Singapore sling variation, and dacquri.
Food is farm to table and was hit or miss, but again it was a packed opening night. Overall this is a welcome North Shore addition to the legendary Tahiti Nui for the tiki Ohana. It is obvious they Todd and Michelle are taking this endeavor seriously, and I expect the drinks and food to become more consistent. The staff and manager Madison were friendly and enthusiastic. I have some pics, that I will post when I get back to the mainland, but I assume you already saw the tiki mag article.

Some pics of opening night: sorry if the photos are wrong orientation, but you can get the idea.

Thanks for the update! Now I just have to wait 3 1/2 months to get there. Sounds like they'll be in top form by then.

I have friends who'll be there in a few weeks, though. I'll pass along their reaction if no one updates sooner.

Was it by invitation last night, or fully open to the public?

I believe Wednesday and Thursday were invite, Friday was the first totally open day.

Thursday was friends and Family, Friday was first day open to public.

On 2013-11-19 21:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
I have been paid in full now.

Everyone go enjoy Tiki Iniki.

aloha Tiki fans!!

---

Bamboo Ben
Custom Tropical Decor
I build Tiki Rooms for you! Just ask around :wink:
http://www.facebook.com/bambooben

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2013-12-05 11:03 ]

Well Ben, I stand by my friends & I say we boycott Tiki Iniki
bad word of mouth in the Tiki community is not a good way for a Tiki bar
to start-up & is not conducive to a long life span.

On 2013-10-26 00:21, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Well Ben, I stand by my friends & I say we boycott Tiki Iniki
bad word of mouth in the Tiki community is not a good way for a Tiki bar
to start-up & is not conducive to a long life span.

Right on ATP. I saw Ben's Shout message and thought maybe he was joking. I even asked as much. I will be in that area in February and was planning on stopping by but it looks like those plans have changed.

I knew Ben wasn't kidding. I was told by a friend that her brother, who was also working on the build, only recently was paid. Seems Michelle was in no hurry to pay for his work. I thought some odd funding was being done, sponsoring bar stools,drink names or something like that. And what ever happened to the $20 to $2,500 pledges to bring a Fish Tank Kings aquarium to the bar? Hopefully the folks who are actually managing Tiki Iniki can resolve the problems they have been saddled with and restore some good will to this project.

aloha, tikicoma

On 2013-11-19 21:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
I have been paid in full now.

Everyone go enjoy Tiki Iniki.

aloha Tiki fans!!

---

Bamboo Ben
Custom Tropical Decor
I build Tiki Rooms for you! Just ask around :wink:
http://www.facebook.com/bambooben

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2013-12-05 11:01 ]

Sorry to hear that Ben.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2013-11-04 16:06 ]

How disappointing. You obviously a lot of work into that job (it looks wonderful!), and now it will always be tainted with the memory of this. :(

I noticed that they promised payment in full by yesterday. Did that happen?

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-10-26 11:42 ]

Oh, this just blows. We'll also be there in February and have really been looking forward to seeing Ben's work and enjoying the bar. Really hope they get their act together and get this taken care of, for Ben's sake, imediately. Talk about bad mana...

[ Edited by: bamalamalu 2013-10-26 12:06 ]

I want to see it too.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2013-11-04 16:07 ]

Maybe people shouldn't be doing things that could affect Ben without his approval first. It would be unfortunate if some well-mean img tikiphiles caused a ruckus and made things even more difficult for Ben. I know everyone wants to see Ben get paid, but getting uninterested parties involved is a quick way to make things more difficult and get people angry.

How can it get any worse? They haven't paid him yet and it looks like a lawsuit is going to be the only alternative for Ben. A crying shame that things have to go this far.

Looks like their Facebook page is getting hit.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2013-11-04 16:08 ]

I am glad Ben received his payment and I look forward to visiting.

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2014-01-08 23:54 ]

I urge all of TC to join together & show our disapprovement for this kind of treatment
to a valued member and friend of our community (not to mention other workers whom have also not been paid for there services)
I would like to think we do have a higher sense of standards here on Tiki Central
I stand by Ben & hope all of you will too.

I'm happy to do whatever Ben would like. Ben, is there anything we can do to help?

Valerie and I will be in Hawaii next month and had planned on going here. We have decided to take Kauai off of our itinerary. The weather is better in Maui anyway. I hope this all works out to everyone's satisfaction. I would like to pay a visit to Tiki Iniki when I do get to Kauai, and to be able to recommend it to friends who will be going there in January.

Paul, I think you should go to Kauai and Tiki Iniki. Go ahead and run up a huge bar and food tab. When they present you the bill just tell them to deduct it off Bamboo Ben's last invoice and then pay Ben the cash directly.

Don’t cancel Kauai cuz of tiki inicki. There is such beauty on the north shore. Tahiti Nui in Hanalei is one of the coolest places to enjoy a tropical beverage in a stunning locale that I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2013-10-29 14:42 ]

I don't know if you've been there before, PiPhiRho, but I agree with nui 'umi 'umi - don't let Tiki Iniki's ethical failure ruin all of Kauai for you. While it'll be disappointing to have to miss the bar, Kauai is well worth it without them (I know people love Maui, but I'll choose Kauai any day.) Just drive past Iniki and give 'em the stink eye on your way to Tahiti Nui & elsewhere.

Hey Bama, Your post brought quite a chuckle to my wife and I.
We’ll be in Princeville nxt week and we’ll be giving Inicki the double stinkeye!
Cheers

That's the spirit!

I can't see why you can't visit the place, just don't spend any money. Use the bathroom, ask for some water and then take a heap of photographs and if they ask what you are doing, tell them you really like the work Ben did on the place and you wanted to see the place for yourself but you have no intention on putting any money in their pockets because of how they treated Ben.

swizzle has the right idea.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2013-11-04 16:09 ]

swizzle has the right idea.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2013-11-04 16:09 ]

Would not have gone to the opening night if I had known about Ben getting stiffed. Looks like I will be spending more time at the Tahiti Nui when I return to Kauai in July.

We could not do three islands, and visiting Tiki Iniki was, for me at least, a motivation for going to Kauai. But the delays in opening plus this helped me to be persuaded to go to Maui instead. I do hope to get to Kauai and will probably do it on the next trip, the status of Tiki Iniki notwithstanding.

Go and enjoy it. It is Ben's work and it should be enjoyed. You don't ask them if they pay the kitchen staff properly before you eat do you? Staying away could mean Ben never gets paid! How does not going help anything? It hurts the people working there for sure.

On 2013-10-31 09:29, Swanky wrote:
Go and enjoy it. It is Ben's work and it should be enjoyed. You don't ask them if they pay the kitchen staff properly before you eat do you? Staying away could mean Ben never gets paid! How does not going help anything? It hurts the people working there for sure.

Good point, Swanky. This is one reason I was suggesting we ask Ben what he'd prefer people do.

I am not going to give anyone a hard time for going to Tiki Iniki

But just for myself, I can't in good conscience support anyone
with such a lack of personal or business ethics, I would also hazard a guess
that it is only a matter of time before anyone working there now gets screwed over
in due time, But then again one could hope Michele Rundgren will chose to do the right thing
and all will be right in the Tiki world again, but until then I will not be supporting Tiki Iniki in anyway.

On 2013-11-19 21:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
I have been paid in full now.

Everyone go enjoy Tiki Iniki.

aloha Tiki fans!!

---

Bamboo Ben
Custom Tropical Decor
I build Tiki Rooms for you! Just ask around :wink:
http://www.facebook.com/bambooben

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2013-12-05 10:59 ]

Thanks for the update, Ben. I hope this is all cleared up soon and that you get all that you're financially due. We were so excited about this place, but this has just left a bad taste in our mouths. Hopefully by the time we get to Kauai in February this will all be an old, unfortunate memory.

Last time I saw Ben he said to go ahead and spend money so that they can pay him.
The drink's are expensive - 15 bucks a pop, ok mugs at @$20,but the pupu's are excellent at a very good price.
The decor has to be one of Ben's finest builds-just outstanding! Gotta go, Tahiti Nui calls.

Tahiti Nui getting little bit run down. Still, made two stops there today and gonna get there everyday between now and Sunday. No time for Inickii!

Just a second hand review; my friends just came back from a trip and tried Tiki Iniki about a week ago. They said it looked great, as expected, but they were a little disappointed with the drinks. They sat at the bar so were able to watch their drinks being made and were initially impressed - they said it looked like the bartenders were really taking care and doing everything right. But when they tasted them, they just weren't as good as expected. Not bad; just that they looked like they'd be a bunch better. On their visit, they thought the Zombie was better than the Mai Tai, but that nothing was as good as they'd get at Frankie's. They didn't eat there, so opinion on the food.

Just figured I'd pass it along since reviews are still fairly scant.

Hopefully the $15 a pop per drink will help get Ben taken care of soon!

I have been paid in full now.

Everyone go enjoy Tiki Iniki.

aloha Tiki fans!!

Bamboo Ben
Custom Tropical Decor
I build Tiki Rooms for you! Just ask around :wink:
http://www.facebook.com/bambooben

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2013-12-05 10:56 ]

Nice!

I hope the pressure we applied was helpful & glad to hear your kids
will get a pair of new shoes this year Ben!

But I am still not going to replace those Todd Rundgren L.P.s I burnt.

Oh dear. I just saw this post in a travel forum:

Tiki Iniki now has whats called Manic Mondays where they have $2 off mai tais, mojitos and Moscow Mules. They also play 80's music so for all you lovers of 80's music, rat up your hair and put your shoulder pads back in your shirts and try Tiki Iniki.

I have been paid in full now.