Any Tiki places in Sacramento area?

Aloha!

Do you guys know of any tiki bars or other tiki places in the Sacramento/Roseville area? I'm headed up to see Tiki Bun soon and we want to check out the local tiki. All I know of is Swanbergs for tiki shopping. Anyone else know of anything in that area?

Mahalo!

Tacky

Tacky,
As a frequent traveler to the Roseville/Rocklin area of Sacramento, I can tell that there's no tiki there, sorry. Even former Sacto resident TikiVixen can confirm this. Here's a previous post that might give you some info.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2378&forum=1

Where's Swanbergs? I go to Sacramento quite often (mmmmm.....Eastern Empire) and I've never heard of it.

--cyn

Pop, thanks for digging up that link! I did go on a bit, didn't I? :)

But yes, the Eastern Empire rules!!! I have tried numerous Suffering Bastards elsewhere and still like theirs the best. And it is POTENT. And large. And not expensive. Good combo, eh? ONE had me in giggle-fits. Like I said, Howe at Fair Oaks, in the mall, next to Safeway.

Swanberg's is still, I think, out on Freeport, on the edge of midtown. They have some great shirts and so forth, though I always found them a mite grouchy. Let us know what you think!

Truly, the only thing I really miss about Sacto is the Empire, though--glad you've been there, Cyn!

Swanberg's is on 2102 2nd Ave near Freeport and Broadway. I've lived in the Sacramento area (Roseville to be exact) on and off for the last 30 years and I can attest to the lack of anything even remotely tiki. I'm just thankful that San Francisco is 90 minutes away, Monterey is 3 hours away and a Southwest flight to Palm Springs, L.A. or Vegas is just a couple of bucks away. The Hukilau is a midtown restaurant and bar that was developed by a couple of local guys who are responsible for most of the trendy/yuppie/overpriced hangouts in town and I definitely would not recommend it. I've never been to the Eastern Empire but I believe I'll check it out this weekend.

Aloha Tacky and QuartertoThree--

Just curious if either of you ever made it by the Eastern Empire and Swanberg's, and if perchance you found anything else of interest?

I still want to get a look at "Tahiti" up by 99 if I ever get out that way again...probably nothing of interest left but they DID have matchbooks w/tikis long ago...

--Lisa

I'm going to try to hit Swanberg's this Saturday.

--cindy

I'm going to be in the Sacto area this week and will see how many of these joints I can get to.

-martin

Other non-tiki places to check out:

Pancake Circus, 2101 Broadway - eat breakfast with a clown!

http://www.digitalcity.com/sacramento/entertainment/venue.adp?vid=170821

I like the Tower Cafe - in front of the beautiful Tower theatre at 1518 Broadway. Consistently good food.

http://www.digitalcity.com/sacramento/entertainment/venue.adp?vid=82660

Best bar: The Back Door Lounge in Old Sac - 1112 Firehouse Alley. A taste of Vegas in Sac-a-tomatoes.

http://www.digitalcity.com/sacramento/entertainment/venue.adp?vid=31963

Li'l Joe's Steaks - 1710 Del Paso Blvd. - great neon sign and a trip back in time. Cheap steaks that have lots of gristle. In a somewhat seedy area - at least drive by it at night.

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-05-31/foodpick.asp

Pic of sign:

http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/california/nocal/nocaleats/nocalneoneats/index2.htm

I love the California Railroad Museum in Old Sac but I'm a train nut.

If you're in the Sacramento area and in need of a couple tikis, there is a Hot Topic in the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights that has been stocking all of the Chiki Tikis and 4 of the Tiki Farm tikis. I've stopped by Hot Topic in Stockton, Fresno and Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento and they had nothing but I have had success at Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights. I'm heading up to Reno next weekend so I'll be checking out Trader Dick's again.

I'd second the Jab's vote for Pancake Circus...one of the few things I miss in Sacrademento.

Just a few blocks from Pancake Circus, Zelda's Pizza on 21st is a fabulous dive (don't have meat dishes if you can help it though, at least not without lots of alcohol for sterilization purposes). It is as unchanged since the 50's as a place can actually be--they still have dial phones, for example.

All of that area along Del Paso by Little Joe's is fun. There's a vintage ice rink, ice supply store (which seemed OPEN last time I drove by?!), bowling alley, and a couple of dive bars with great signage. Unfortunately the ice rink and bowling alley are kaput, but they still look incredibly evocative.

I hear from my ex in Sac that there's a great Dean Martin-esque entertainer working weekend nights at the Back Door these days. You might want to check him out...very enthusiastic reviews, apparently.

--Lisa

I didn't get to the Eastern Empire, but did make it to Swanberg's on Sunday. SHAG shirts are 25% off, so I grabbed one. I also found a vintage sundress muumuu. Bought a tiki-replica of one in the Bishop Museum. Also bought a Trader Vic's squatting tiki by Tiki Farm. I donated a tiki bar sign I bought there to Tiki Bun's home bar-she was thrilled! I alos got a tiki party hat-crazy metallic green cardstock type hat with a cool tiki and tissue paper. Totally nutty.

At Swanberg's for Women (next door) I got a little zippered vinyl case that is yellow with a 3D type hula dancer on it that seems to hula when you tip the case back and forth.

At Wishing Well, a party store in the Sac area, I found lots of little tiki treasures, including tiki candles, picks, plastic wall tikis like the ones on Martin's bar, glass floats, tiki chip bowl, etc.

At Mervyn's (yes, Mervyn's!) I bought a pineapple candle (a large glass pineapple filled with a yellow candle), acrylic tiki mugs, a plastic bamboo cup, tablecloth weights with tikis and Hawaiian stuff, and acrylic bamboo stemmed goblets. Oh, and a Hawaiin print bathing suit....

It was a pretty good tiki weekend...

:drink:

Tacky Tiki

~Pancake Circus is great-met a patron who has been going there since the 50's and says the place hasn't changed a bit! Fantastic Googie architecture!

I made it to Sacramento yesterday and ate lunch at Pancake Circus. You guys weren't kidding -- they have done NOTHING to update the place since it was built (except for maybe new carpet). Sac is one of the last places I'd expect to see original untouched Googie.

I ordered the apple pancakes, and received a big plate stacked with four fluffy flapjacks topped with warm baked apple slices, topped by half a can of whipped cream. Oh. My. God. YUM. My companions were equally impressed by their omelets.

We then headed down the street to Swanberg's, where I picked up a few Tiki Farm mugs. They have a huge selection of Hawaiian shirts and other loungewear, and lots of Hawaiian CDs.

Y'all should check out both of these places the next time you're in Sacramento.

--cindy

Well, I was in Sacto a few weeks ago and I just about missed it all as I was too damn busy. (Damn work- always in the way.) I did go to the Blues club downtown that was mentioned in one of these threads. Great place.

And I checked out Tahiti and can confirm that there is nothing but the empty shell of former greatness.

-martin

Next time you get to Sacto, do try to get to the Backdoor lounge in Old Town. They have a lounge singer named Rudy Valentine who is a hoot if you're there with a group. Sit at the piano bar if you can. The ambiance is very red leatherette, velvet and wrought iron. No food, so get there early and kick off your evening, or get there late for a nightcap. Last time we were in town my friends and I had a blast there.

The Back Door is great - a must visit!

Another great bar/restaurant is Foster's Bighorn in Rio Vista. More taxidermy in one place than you'll ever see, outside of a museum! The whole drive from the Bay Area to Sacramento along the old delta highway is a treat. Take 80 East to hwy. 12 East (exit just past Cordelia Junction) to hwy. 160 North. Or take 160 North from Antioch all the way (but don't froget to take the short detour to Rio Vista). You'll feel like you're in the deep south driving the winding road along the riverside. The old towns like Locke are filled with old ramshackle buildings and authentic Chinese establishments that have been there for almost 150 years. The drive is the next best thing to a riverboat cruise.

Jab, have you done the Isleton crawdad festival? It's almost intolerably crowded these days, but it's the closest to a deep-south stree party you can get on the west coast. Often great music (especially Zydeco) and very good, hard-to-find food like gator ribs. I love the rusty old buildings and the delta, like rural Louisianna.

On 2003-04-11 17:13, TikiMaxton wrote:
Jab, have you done the Isleton crawdad festival? It's almost intolerably crowded these days, but it's the closest to a deep-south stree party you can get on the west coast.

No, mainly because I heard its so crowded now that you can barely move, and there's huge lines for food. Not my idea of fun. I think I missed the boat on that one.

But I've always wanted to go to a real crawfish boil in the Louisiana bayou with cajun music and all. You should throw one at Castaway Cove someday! You could simply pretend your backyard vegetation is Kudzu and feel like you're in the south! I heard they have great crawfish in the Pacific Northwest too.

Not a bad idea, jab! Maggie and I have even taken Zydeco dance lessons. There are several Zydeco bands in the NW, naybe I could get one cheap. Could do it in August or Sept. when the weather's characteristically hot and muggy. Maybe rent a dance floor, and find a place that sells gator as well as crawfish... hmmm...

bump... gonna be there this weekend. Anything still there worth seeing?

There are lots of tiki collectors in the areas around Sacramento. If you are interested in seeing collections and meeting tikiphilles just ask to hook up. Send me a message if you would like to tour our collection this weekend. We have four rooms of tikis. You can get an idea of what's in our home on http://www.claytikis.com just look under "A Serious Hobby" section for a few views of the jungle room. We are located 16 miles south of Sacramento in Elk Grove.Good Luck on your search, Wendy

Sadly...there are no Tiki Restaurants or Tiki Bars in Sac...it is painful. :(

Luckily we have wonderful Sacto Ohana. We bounce around between our Homes to gawk at collections (like Wendy said) or suck down a cocktail from our friend's well-stocked cupboards.

Swanbergs still exists in the city and is worth a visit...in fact we are opening our Sacto homes for a 2-day lounge crawl in honor of Swanbergs in September...watch for updates on our SwanTiki thread...we will have more info to post this weekend.

Depending on if you are driving up or want to travel within two hours are some tiki establishments. There is Minnies, the old Tropics Motel and the adjacent Tiki Bar in Modesto, all within a few miles of each other on McHenry Ave.

There is Trader Dicks in Reno at John Ascuaga's Hotel.

Of course you have the Bay Area: Trader Vic's in Emeryville and Palo Alto, Tonga Room in SF, Forbidden Island in Alameda and the Kona Club and Conga Lounge in Oakland.

In Roseville, there is a place called Paradise Grill. Middle of the road place.

You can also check out this thread for information on Sacramento:

This link might help:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=21737&forum=5&80

PM us if you are around and definitely make it over to Dan and Wendy's!

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-08-21 08:27 ]

On 2008-08-20 20:40, danlovestikis wrote:
Send me a message if you would like to tour our collection this weekend. We have four rooms of tikis. , Wendy

You would have to be crazy not to take up this offer. I knew you had a ton of the best tiki mugs Wendy but you must have added more photos of your Jungle room and it is unbelievable. If I had a teleport device, I'd be at your house right now, over Tiki Oasis any day.

amen teakey. the jungle room is amazing. and i know dan and wendy have some new gecko's worth the trip alone!

On 2008-08-21 12:23, kingstiedye wrote:
amen teakey. the jungle room is amazing. and i know dan and wendy have some new gecko's worth the trip alone!

Bullet,

You have a pretty nice collection there yourself, definitely worth a look as well!

PTD

Holy Smokes danlovestikis! The slide show was awe-inspiring. I'm actually only there for a day for some shenanigans with my in-laws and then back down to L.A. I was thinking more of a place to pop in quickly while running errands (like Swanberg's), but I would certainly like to stop by when I'm up there longer. Thanks for the info everyone.

Sorry to miss you this trip. The Sacramento Ohana is just the very best, when in need of a hug just stop on by. Wendy

TeaKey thanks for the fun remarks, where is the Star Trek transporter when you need one.

Here are the Gecko treasures that Kingtiesdye mentioned._________________

Here is Dan pulling out mugs so he's able to fit the Gecko's into the collection.
This is the tiki hut within the jungle room.

He loves tiki arraigning and working each shelf into a work of art.

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2008-08-21 17:00 ]

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2008-08-21 17:01 ]

We sure would love to see you if you are in town for a longer visit. If you stop by Swanbergs, pop in next door at Ragdoll Vintage. It's the best vintage/rockabilly store in Sacramento. If you want a quick nip while bumming around town on Saturday with your family, stop by our hut. We are only 2 miles from Swanbergs and should be home all day Saturday. PM or e-mail me for address/directions.

!!!!!!!!! the volcano bowl in the lower right looks incredible! i'm glad to see i'm not the only one with mugs on the floor. but knowing dan, they'll be beautifully displayed elsewhere soon, while mine will just keep gathering dust. mahalo ptd, i need to have the sactown ohana over sometime soon. maybe when i get the mugs off the floor! :)

Hi King, you are right before dark they had all found their way to a new spot, the jungle room is once again in order. Many of the Gecko's are together now and they look terrific. His new style is called Fat Lava.

This bit of the Sacramento Ohana is looking forward to coming to your home, we are ready for the invite, you have ours for sure, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2008-08-23 16:36 ]

Oh my goodness, I just signed up and here I see there is something going on near me.
I'm in Elk Grove too.
Don't have a Tiki room yet but I'm on my way. So much left to do.

I went to my first Tiki Oasis and now I'm hooked.
I'll post more later. I'm supposed to be doing chores. Shhh.. don't tell anyone I was here :wink:

LiddleLola aka Darilyn

Welcome to TC Darilyn, glad you made it to Oasis...it is an awesome event.

That big smile that Dan is wearing happens to anyone entering the Jungle Room!!!

A trip to the Bullet collection would certainly be an honor. :)

I guess I better make it over to the Eastern Empire some day...if it is good maybe the Sac Ohana should make some pilgrimages.