Da Big Kahuna - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

http://www.dabigkahuna.net/index.html

Lookin' 'round....found this website for "Da Big Kahuna" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Not exactly a "tiki" establishment in the purest sense, however, they do have a location in Hawaii and a hula show on Friday nights. Menu does have some Hawaii inspired items, including Huli Huli chicken, Mai Tai. Looks like they have a mug available in their giftshop. I didn't see it listed in "Locating Tiki". Anybody ever been here? I'm thinking about going, but it'll be a bit, cause I work Friday nights and I'd want to take in the hula show.

howlinowl

There is also one that is supposed to be opening in Jacksonville. Still waiting for someone to actually stop by and let everyone know what it is like. Personally, I'm in Ft. Lauderdale, I'm at the Mai Kai!

I can only comment on the one we have here in Jacksonville Beach. There are some VERY nice carved tikis inside which were made by a local Jacksonville Beach tiki carver who, as I recall, is also a member here on TC.

The drinks are made for folks who are used to "standard bar drinks" with a very thin connection to "real" tiki drinks, so there is lots of room for improvement there. They love to soak fruit in liquor for one of their signature drinks, but that, as well as their Mai Tai, is nothing to write home about. Bar staff was very helpful and friendly, but generally not at all knowledgeable about real cocktails.

The food is another story - you can actually get pretty good food here. I wouldn't call it the "pinnacle of dining" by any stretch, but their Moco Loco is one of my favorites and is pretty much the only thing that really pulls me in. Their pulled pork is also usually very good. Service has always been friendly.

I haven't been there in over a year ever since I tasted most of their cocktails and concluded that, to me, they were not worth buying and drinking. Are they better today? Probably not.

Conclusions: Decent food, disappointing cocktails, and often live music. A festive Hawaiian-themed (not Jimmy Buffett) beach-front place to hang out and have some fun.

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2018-02-27 10:04 ]

I have been to the one on Oahu and it is better than the Ft Lauderdale location, but not much. We were just at the Ft Lauderdale location just to check it out. It was a dance club. There was a girl in lingerie trying to get guys to take shots and a dj playing bad music. No tiki drinks are served there that I could see. I think they gave us a free round for checking it out and we stayed for 2 rounds. No cool decor or anything like that. There were some tikis but they seemed pretty generic. I would not recommend a road trip to this location.

My wife and I stayed at the hotel connected to the Waikiki location a couple years ago. They have some tiki drinks, but nothing great. We drank a fishbowl one night and I don't think we have ever been more hung over in our lives. It was a fun place to chill out though and drink a beer.

Thanks for the replies. I live two hours north of Lauderdale and have to admit....Mai Kai on the one hand, Big Kahuna on the other.... I may leave my house thinking "Big Kahuna" but arrive thinking "Mai Kai". Maybe I'll just make a day of it, skip the hula show and just do lunch an Kahuna (and pick up a mug or two) and then hit Mai Kai in the evening. I won't even have to call in "sick" as I'd be able to go anytime instead of a special trip on a Friday just for the hula show.

howlinowl

I would suggest starting at the Mai Kai for proper food, drinks and show. Once the liquor kicks in - head over to Big kahuna, do some shots hang, at the beach for a while and then, head over to Kreepytiki and end the night with some local tiki flavor (just beer, but a very cool place!).

Update - it looks like the entire restaurant chain has collapsed, even the restaurant in Waikiki has closed. Their web site is now a generic parking page.

Da Big Kahuna lives!.....well, at least the sign does.

Went to breakfast at the new Mulligan's on Singer Island, Florida today. Afterward I wandered the Ocean Mall there and noticed a familiar sign. Da Big Kahuna. I didn't bring my camera, so failed to grab a picture. I'll probably be having breakfast there again (an old friend of mine and I go to b-fast weekly, and I have a giftcard for Mulligan's) and will probably get a picture next week. Anyway, the sign is above a newly opened souvenir shop. I stopped by and asked if it was any relation to the old restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. The girl working was a hire and didn't think so. I imagine the sign was sold and repurposed for this..

Anyway, I'm posting this pic of the sign at Ft. Lauderdale, will post the new one next week for comparison purposes.

howlinowl

Nice find, howlinowl. Any idea about that tiki? I'm thinking the proprietor may have picked up the tiki at the same sale as well. (Here in Jacksonville they commissioned some very nice and very detailed carvings for the restaurant from a local carver.) My guess is they were so good that there is no way they would have been sold off, but instead kept by company managers to take home. But still, you never know if creditors locked the restaurants down and required all assets to have been sold.

I feel sorry for anyone to tries to take one of those carved tikis. They are super heavy and not easy to move around.

On 2018-02-27 10:01, AceExplorer wrote:

I feel sorry for anyone to tries to take one of those carved tikis. They are super heavy and not easy to move around.

The ones at Da Big Kahuna Waikiki were all that foam stuff. Not heavy at all.

On 2018-02-27 10:01, AceExplorer wrote:
Nice find, howlinowl. Any idea about that tiki? I'm thinking the proprietor may have picked up the tiki at the same sale as well. (Here in Jacksonville they commissioned some very nice and very detailed carvings for the restaurant from a local carver.) My guess is they were so good that there is no way they would have been sold off, but instead kept by company managers to take home. But still, you never know if creditors locked the restaurants down and required all assets to have been sold.

I feel sorry for anyone to tries to take one of those carved tikis. They are super heavy and not easy to move around.

I had taken a look around inside to see if anything else was there. Nothing found. It'll be at least another week before I'm back in the area to take a pic of the sign.... I was supposed to work this week, but things changed and I'm off until next week.

howlinowl

[ Edited by: howlinowl 2018-03-01 00:11 ]

As promised, photo of the souvenir shop on Singer Island, along again with the one from Lauderdale.

howlinowl