Tiki Bar Rankings, Ratings, Lists & Articles on the Web

Here is a light fluff piece on "top" Tiki Bars from yahoo
have fun....

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/live-the-luau-life-top-c1407378665725.html

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2014-08-11 11:31 ]

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - added some keywords to the title - 2015-10-26 16:22 ]

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2015-10-26 17:52 ]

Several articles about tiki came out this week. I'll post some links later when I can find them again. Different writers have vastly different opinions and ratings. And they seem to love to declare tiki either dead or very alive. It's like they're writing and hoping to take credit for calling the current upswing or downturn with tiki, whatever their point of view may be.

Feel free to post them here if you like.

Ok, here ya go, two tiki articles from Thrillist, one of which is very recent - 6 days ago.

8/5/2014 - The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again, and Fall Again) of NYC's Tiki Scene
http://www.thrillist.com/drink/new-york/nyc-tiki-scene-is-it-dead-deep-dive

Embedded in that article is another article on "best tiki bars in America."

1/19/2014 - These are the 17 Best Tiki Bars in America
http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/best-tiki-bars-in-america-thrillist-nation

Thanks for the post Ace. Just felt an overall un-Tiki vibe on the 1st NYC scene article :(

Thortiki, I had the same sort of feeling about that article. And when you read the "17 best tiki bars" article you'll get even more of an uneasy feeling. The writer actually put the "tiki" bar in Islamorada on that list. That made it clear to me that the writer does not really get what tiki is, is not, has been, or should be.

'The writer actually put the "tiki" bar in Islamorada on that list. That made it clear to me that the writer does not really get what tiki is, is not, has been, or should be.'

I just spent some time in Islamorada (in part to check out this 'world famous tiki bar'...) and can vouch that this place has absolutely no right being on any list of tiki anything whatsoever. We left without even looking at a menu. Just wrong!

I agree, tikitabby, thanks for the follow-up. When I was there three years ago, driving home from Key West, we stopped out of curiosity and looked around all over the property and took photos. We decided to have dinner and drinks there before making the drive back home. It was a very pleasant location (hey, it's THE KEYS) but the place just had too much of that "college drunkfest" and Jimmy Buffettish vibe through and through. While we had a nice time, it was a disappointing crapfest from the standpoint of real tiki.

I will rename this thread to accommodate the other articles posted
it is interesting how slapdash some of these web journalist can be.

After reading that it would seem New York City was the center of the Tiki Revival
Though I would say "Donald Trump" is most un-Tiki....

Err... mentioning Hawaii as "the 49th state" seems like a pretty major gaffe to me.

I have to say, it's good to see media attention pointed at deserving bars, and the goal to educate the general masses about what Tiki is is certainly noble... but there's been some seriously shoddy "journalism" goin' with this stuff, and watching "Tiki" become a trendy
hipster buzzword is a tad disturbing.

Maybe I just strongly dislike the kind of "hey bro" patronizing tone of Thrillist in general.

But at least we ought to get some decent drinks out of it...

--Pete

Yeah, I agree. And as others have pointed out before, the publicity does raise awareness of tiki to folks who previously may not have understood how much fun and how cool it really is. On top of that, for all the shallow pop culture crap that is out there nowadays, the public does still generally tend to latch onto the good stuff when they see it. And there is quite a bit of tiki good stuff out there to be discovered.

hell, I thought everybody knew the Tiki Bar at Holiday Isle/Islamorada is "Flori-tiki" through-and-through.

they did invent the Rum Runner though...

I knew that Porpoise, and drove right past :wink:

Too bad about NY. I guess tiki is dead there. Maybe someone can open the Concrete Rum Jungle with cement tikis and they could serve Cosmopolitans.

Seriously though, I wish I had the chance to go to PKNY! I hear it was really great and the drinks were great too! I missed out...

I'll have to double-check my photos, but I seem to recall that they have actual carved tikis on the property, but that's because they are trying to "look" fun and festive in the same way that Party City has fun and festive looking tiki ephemera.

So if they do have carvings, then I think they would be at least one notch above Florida Tiki. There are numerous thatch-covered beer patios here in Florida which don't have any tikis and still call themselves a tiki bar.

I'll see if I can find my photos tonight.

On 2014-08-11 13:15, lunavideogames wrote:
Seriously though, I wish I had the chance to go to PKNY! I hear it was really great and the drinks were great too! I missed out...

PKNY came to the Hukilau two years ago and they ROCKED! Hand-carved ice blocks in each drink, awesome hollowed-out pineapples, and all was FREE to attendees. They exceeded all of our expectations and spent a small fortune. I got a couple of their business cards and display them in one of my liquor cabinets.

'So if they do have carvings, then I think they would be at least one notch above Florida Tiki. There are numerous thatch-covered beer patios here in Florida which don't have any tikis and still call themselves a tiki bar.'

Here's a photo I took this past June - I think in spite of the carved tikis it's still not there. The location is stunning - so why all the big screen tvs? Re: Florida tiki - an interesting thing happened when we were staying in Key Largo. The woman at the resort said we could find cold water in the fridge underneath the 'tiki' by the pool. We went to the pool, no tiki. But there was a fridge underneath a larged thatched roof. So is this what a 'tiki' means in much of Florida? It might explain things.

On 2014-08-11 13:46, tikitabby wrote:
So is this what a 'tiki' means in much of Florida? It might explain things.

Yes, unfortunately, that's what we have come to know as "Florida Tiki" - a thatched roof automatically means "tiki." But then it's also bad if tikis are painted wild colors - that's "Disney tiki." For example, Cocoa Palms Resort in Cocoa Beach ended up painting most, if not all, of their nice Mai Tiki carvings.

On 2014-08-11 13:46, tikitabby wrote:
So is this what a 'tiki' means in much of Florida? It might explain things.

yes, a "tiki" means a bamboo bar/hut with a thatched roof. it also implies said bar/hut will be partially or completely open-sided, will be in view of a body of water, and will have tropical drinks with umbrellas in them. aka, a beach bar...

It would be more technically accurate to call them "chickee bars" and if they went with that, I would give them a pass, but few people in the state of Florida know anything about the Seminoles outside of the football team and casinos. And forget about the Miccosukees or the Calusas!

On 2014-08-11 13:52, AceExplorer wrote:

• a thatched roof automatically means "tiki."

That's so funny. I travelled down through the Keys after The Hukilau and my partner and i both came to the same conclusion, especially after stopping at the 'tiki' bar at Islamorada where we too, also didn't even bother looking at the menu.

On 2014-08-11 14:26, TikiHardBop wrote:
It would be more technically accurate to call them "chickee bars" and if they went with that, I would give them a pass, but few people in the state of Florida know anything about the Seminoles outside of the football team and casinos. And forget about the Miccosukees or the Calusas!

or the Timucuan and Tocobaga!

you're right- they are chickee huts. wonder how the vocab got transposed decades ago...

[ Edited by: thePorpoise 2014-08-11 14:35 ]

I wouldn't write off NYC as long as Brian Miller is still around. A few recent articles:
http://nypost.com/2014/08/16/pirate-bartender-is-bringing-tiki-back-one-cocktail-at-a-time/
http://gothamist.com/2014/08/16/a_bartending_pirate_plans_to_save_n.php

And I'm told there are plenty of non-Tiki joints around Gotham to get a great tropical drink or two. It's still perhaps the best bar town in the world.

I wholeheartedly agree that Florida's odd way of classifying a "tiki bar" can be infuriating. Especially when it's a story written by a writer at the newspaper that I work for. Get ready to slap yourself in the head:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/entertainment/on-the-eve-of-rivieras-tiki-closing-here-are-some-/ngXbR/

I responded to the writer with this e-mail:

Cute article, but you must know that Florida's idea of a tiki bar is wacky, and totally at odds with the rest of the world. Real tiki bars aren't dives, they're not huts on the water, and they definitely don't play Jimmy Buffett. I don't know what you should call those places (tropical dive bar?), but they're not Tiki. Check out The Mai-Kai some time. It blows everything else in Florida out of the water.

it pains me to see my fellow floridians jumping on the bandwagon of disparaging the sunshine state. it's like some of you are so worried about impressing other people in the genre or appearing to them to be part of the "enlightened crowd" that you'll join them in casting stones at your own home. I grew up here, and I am a very proud floridian.

the mai kai is here, and some of the best tiki artists in the country live here. that's where it starts for me.

bottom line, if you don't like it, do something about it. florida is coming up, and I'm going to be a part of that. if you'd rather sit on the sidelines and shit on everything so you can retain your membership with the "cool kids club"... do all of us here a favor and move out west. have a nice day. :)

[ Edited by: pjc5150 2014-08-19 14:26 ]

I don't think any of the posters have anything against Florida per se, just the wanton cluelessness that seems to be rampant in this state. And I have earned the right to say that by living a full half century in this state, most of it within 3 blocks of where I was born. And nobody can accuse me, or any of the posters, of not helping things. We are all serious cheerleaders for the cause.

I honestly don't see anybody disparaging Florida here. After all you have the Mecca of tiki temples in the Mai Kai!

No offense to my adopted home state. I've been here since '75 and I'm not regretting my parents' decision. My intention was to highlight the longstanding conundrum we have here in this land 'o plenty in which the term "Tiki" is so misunderstood. Some 99.9% of the population couldn't care less. But I must quote from "Tiki Road Trip" ...

"The Sunshine State has 1,300 miles of coastline, and 800 of those miles are beach. Exploring the vacationland along this lengthy coast, the excitable Tiki hunter will spot something labeled as a Tiki bar approximately every 1.23612 miles. That's about 1,053 Tiki bars in Florida ... Don't get too excited, however, since the vast, vast majority of these pretenders ... are not precisely what most Tiki worshippers have in mind."

"Floridians have quite a different definition of a "Tiki bar" than the rest of the country seems to. As far as they're concerned, any open-air bar with a thatched roof near the water is a Tiki bar. ... I am sure that these "Florida-style" Tiki bars are a lot of fun and that plenty of people are having a great time at them as you read this. ... Perhaps The Mai-Kai sucked up all of Florida's available Tiki mana, leaving nothing left for the other bars to share."

I don't take any of this as seriously as Mr. Titelbaum. It's just one of those many quirks that we learn to live with as Tikiphiles in perhaps the quirkiest state in the union. It doesn't hurt to laugh at ourselves from time to time. Now, pass me a Corona and crank up the Jimmy Buffett :>)

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2014-08-20 02:03 ]

Criticism is not a bad thing, it is a way to get to the core problems or issues
with the hope it leads to improvement or very least some level of enlightenment.

Can remember the time not too long ago that the sunshine state was disparaging the
Mai Kai.
The state officials were on the Mai Kai then the reviews online were not so good, lots
of these bad reviews were from people that live in Florida if you go and look at them.

When I used to say I went to the Kahiki here in town or would tell people to
go to the Kahiki I would get "I heard the food sucked"
BUT once the Kahiki was going to close everybody now loves the Kahiki, even
the people who sold the Kahiki to be torn down LOOVEES the Kahiki and are sad to see it go.

I used to love Columbus, but they fell into this get rid of all this old stuff and revitalize
our town mode, lots of these folks were from out of town and had no love for any of Columbus
truly great places.
Well the town I loved was not so great anymore, and I'm not so blind not to say it.

Looks more like Florida has lost it's love for what we call true tiki but
then so has lots o places like Hawaii.
Don't know how well the Mai Kai would be doing if it were not for the huge shot
in the arm that the Hukilau and true tiki folks have given it.

It's good to root for your town and help spread the word help fix ect, I did it here at Tropical Bistro and it fell on deaf ears.
To me the old spots with a history are the best so maybe the problem is me.

But then the Bistros spot has a new "revitalized" brew pub that will be out in a few years.

I'm not sure you can say that folks in Florida have lost their love for tiki, they just don't know exactly what tiki is. Like college kids that are introduced to drinking via Jager Bombs and pink concoctions served out of a garbage can, there is a pretty steep learning curve involved. Like mentioned before, most people think of tiki as Jimmy Buffet and neon-colored drinks. Once you take time to show them what it's really about, most people get on board pretty quickly.

For example, I had a couple who were all into the Jimmy Buffet-as-tiki thing until I explained to them my whole theory about tiki and finding the "chi" of things. Next thing you know, at the next tiki party, they have leis for everyone -- flown in from Hawaii. Talk about getting it!

I think people are coming around, at least down here in South Florida. Especially in the cocktail scene. Rum is certainly on the upswing. The Miami Rum Fest gets bigger every year, and more and more craft cocktail bars are popping up with rum and Tiki cocktails. I just wrote a story on my blog about the "Summer of Rum" and all the bars featuring special cocktails and tastings. Awareness of Poly Pop on a larger scale is a tougher nut to crack, but having The Mai-Kai still around and thriving certainly helps. We have a chance to hook the younger folks if we maintain a dedication to quality when it comes to drinks, artwork, decor, etc.

For many reasons, Florida will always have a huge segment of the population that's perfectly happy with a lackadaisical approach to "tropical themed" establishments, and there's nothing wrong with that. We're a lot closer to the Caribbean than the South Pacific, after all. My only problem is simply with the semantics. I wish I could tell people I work with that I'm into Tiki bars and not have them think that I enjoy hanging out in dives and drinking cheap beer.

Small story on unconventional Tiki mugs on Liquor.com

7 of the Craziest Tiki Vessels You Can Buy
http://liquor.com/slideshows/crazy-tiki-glasses/8/#7kzw26XEDUT5kZ58.97

ATP, very interesting. Unless I'm missing something, with the exception of slide #1, the rest of those featured mugs aren't tiki at all, they're just themed ceramic-ware. The treasure chest is kinda cool though, but dang hard to store in your bar, and holy carp, available in a five-liter size? Wow...

Ace, I am sure we could have suggested a few more.

On 2015-03-23 14:54, AceExplorer wrote:
ATP, very interesting. Unless I'm missing something, with the exception of slide #1, the rest of those featured mugs aren't tiki at all, they're just themed ceramic-ware. The treasure chest is kinda cool though, but dang hard to store in your bar, and holy carp, available in a five-liter size? Wow...

Well, those kinda mugs get used in bars that are called "Tiki Bars" and don't have any Tiki in them, so it all fits. It is some sort of alternate Tiki universe that the craft cocktail media has created for themselves. In the near future, some new cocktailian will pick up a real Tiki mug and exclaim "What the hell is THIS !!?"

That mug shelf is, by the way, the collection of Moritz R., painter of the Book of Tiki cover :)

Here's a blast from the past!

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/16/home/hm-tiki16

Tiki's Hollywood Origins and the Woman Behind It All -- it talks a lot about Sunny Sund, Don Beach's ex-wife. And it links back to these forums, where I found the Saturday Evening Post article. http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/03/tiki-history-hollywood-cocktails-food-sunny-sund.html

Well Katherine, so you are the author of that article and you're with KCET.org
I hope we can help with any info you need in the future and
welcome to Tiki Central, you sure came to the right place for all things Tiki!

Katherine, I enjoyed your article as well as the other references listed.

Just saw this, it's 10:00 pm, and out of fairness, I am not gonna read it tonite. But there are two things I already like:

1.) She listened to Bosko. more people should do that.

2.) ..and then she actually wrote these words: "But tiki was, and still can be, so much more than kitsch."

Whooa! That from a journalist !? Is there hope in this world? :wink:

On 2015-03-24 18:56, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Well Katherine, so you are the author of that article and you're with KCET.org
I hope we can help with any info you need in the future and
welcome to Tiki Central, you sure came to the right place for all things Tiki!

Thanks for the welcome -- this board is definitely an excellent resource!

On 2015-03-24 19:51, MaukaHale wrote:
Katherine, I enjoyed your article as well as the other references listed.

Thank you so much!

I enjoyed the article, but I take exception to this statement...

KatherineSpiers wrote:
It survives thanks to innumerable people who just enjoy a powerful drink and a pupu platter.

I don't think that's a fair or accurate generalization of tiki enthusiasts. Or I'll state it in a personal way, it does not describe me. I'm fine with cocktails, and pupu platters for that matter, but it's hardly why I'm here.

There is also a typo...

KatherineSpiers wrote:
Which, as we know, it also when tiki was at its cultural height.

I'm guessing "it" was supposed to have been "is". The above is also not a complete sentence.

Katherine, Thank YOU for the article, definitely sympathetic to the cause. Keep in mind the Saturday Evening Post article tells the story from Sunny's view only - Donn was in Hawaii and wasn't asked :)

And you might not be aware of this, but there is a current phenomenon discussed here (and other Tiki sites) wherein Tiki is primarily considered a cocktail genre, not an art and design genre. This should be no surprise when the articles are written for sites called "serious eats","eater" and "imbibe" - like this "Tiki 101": http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2014/03/tiki-cocktail-history-basics-of-tiki-drinks-essential-ingredients.html
...which, if it would simply be called "Tiki COCKTAIL 101" would be so much more concise.

I appreciate your well-intentioned effort to elevate Tiki above the "kitschy" ghetto that the media has condemned it to, yet it still seems that Tiki can only be talked about in an intelligent, respectable manner when discussing craft cocktails - the rest is still kitsch. One wonders though: Won't any of these new cocktailian scribes for whom Tiki is all about cocktails at some point ask themselves: "WHY is all this named "TIKI"?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2015-03-25 15:15 ]

Katherine, maybe you can convince the Grand Poobahs at KCET to do a segment on Tiki, kind of like a California's Gold type of episode. That will be Amaayyzing!

Sven, I know whenever myself or The Straw Hat Barmen do anything associated with tiki drinks, we make sure to try to place them in context with the rest of tiki culture and history -- probably too much so at times! "We have to go all the way back to the Civil War!"

I'll be on the radio today, about 12:20 PST, talking about tiki history. It's on 89.9 in LA; here's the site where it'll stream and be archived. http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand

Sweet, I love KCRW. I'll tune in.