Tonga Room 70th Anniversary

This Wednesday, September 23rd 2015, 7pm - Close
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tonga-room-70th-anniversary-tiki-chic-party-tickets-18159668056?aff=efbevent
https://www.facebook.com/events/420135054841186/

I'm sure the band will still be unmentionable, the food mediocre, and the drinks... well, Smuggler's Cove is only a mile away. But hey it's the Tonga Room.

The wahine and I'll be there, and I'll be in my usual t-shirt:

Anyone else going?

So that event was a COMPLETE FAIL!!

On 2015-09-23 23:41, TongaT wrote:
So that event was a COMPLETE FAIL!!

Ok, I'll bite. How was this event a "COMPLETE FAIL!!"?

It probably depended on your expectations.

Some crazy dude named Otto von Stroheim complimented my shirt, so I consider the night a win. :)

Sorry, if anybody on here went and enjoyed it then it was not a complete fail so I take that back......I would say though that an event that is scheduled to run until 1am and is so empty at 10:15 that employees are removing furniture is not the best.
I actually went in with really low expectations on most fronts.....I love the Tonga room but they do not hit the tiki mark most times so I was not expecting anything near the Bali hai anniversary or the Tahitian terrace events......I still wasn't expecting the class reunion DJ or dessert station being empty when I got there except for one item and to never be refilled before being taken down or the photo op station to be closed by 10:20.
And a gift bag does not have two items in it....what we got was a generic mug with a stamp and a bottle of rum in a bag.

I honestly expected it to be at least up to par with thanksgiving dinner or some of the other events the Tonga room has done.

On the positive note it was fun watching one drunk woman make her rounds trying to steal as much stuff as she could including silverware, and everybody's empty drink mugs, wrapping them up in napkins and putting them in her bag until she was caught by a waiter. Luckily there were so few people there we had a clear view of her everywhere she went so that kept us entertained while we listened to Michael Jackson's bad.

That's sad to hear. They've been getting a lot of good press lately in regards to their cocktails improving. That was always my biggest gripe with the place. It's too bad the turn out was low. I think that had more to do with the event being on a Wednesday night than anything else. I actually work in San Francisco (as does my wife who works within walking distance of the place), but even so it was a tall order for us to go out and party in the middle of the week after a long day at work. A lot of the local tikiphiles live outside of SF so I imagine it was even tougher for them. I know the date can't be helped since it is what it is, but maybe a Saturday night event would have been better attended. And a commemorative mug would have been an awesome draw. Maybe for the 75th?

There was a commemorative mug, but it wasn't anything special. I think a lot of the problem was the price. I had a hard time justifying $100+ per person for what I knew would amount to just another night of that band playing top 40 hits and mediocre food and drinks. I'd rather just go to Smuggler's Cove.

It wasn't even that band!! It sounds like most of you on here hate that band but I like it in a cheesy way.....this was worse.....the boat was dark and they had a DJ on an apple computer back by the kitchen door playing Michael Jackson and songs from footloose....it made no sense!!

And the mug....it wasn't just nothing special....it's actually kind of embarrassing to own.