Washington DC area tiki?

Okay, no more Politiki, no more Honolulu, and the only Critiki listing for Baltimore is lousy Tiki Bobs. Are there any recommendations for someone heading to Washington D.C. next week?

There's a huge moai at the Smithsonian! Natural history museum I believe. Lots of cool weapons too.

There's a great bar/pool hall that ikitnrev took us to.
It had huge Moai and an area right out of a Shag painting.
Mai Tais - annnhhhh - but they were served in Tiki Mugs.

Also - a terrific Chinese restaurant the name of which escapes me now, but with good drinks and great food.

Check in Tiki Events for a sort of overview of my trip up there. You can use search to find it.

On 2005-05-31 17:56, monkeyskull wrote:
and the only Critiki listing for Baltimore is lousy Tiki Bobs.

No charge, mind you.

The name of the Chinese Restaurant where I took Pablus is the Peking Gourmet, located in Falls Church (6029 Leesburg Pike). No tiki, but great mai-tais and great food.

The name of the pool hall mentioned above is the Continental Pool Lounge, located in Rosslyn across from the Key Bridge, and accessible by Metro. It has more of a modern Jetsons, space-age Shag-like decor, with a couple of tikis thrown in. some pictures can be seen at the ir website at http://modernpoollounge.com/photos.html

About an hour south of DC, in southern Maryland off of route 4 is Vera's White Sands. Fantastic decor, authentic Polynesian artifacts, and definitely worth visiting if you have a car. I can never remember what their hours are - for portions of the year they are closed, and then other times for weekends only. Here is an article from about two years ago http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=6635

If you find yourself out towards Dulles Airport, in Sterling is the Pacific Restaurant. A bit of a upscale feel, they have a great exotic drink menu, and a couple of tikis in the lobby. No website, but their phone is 703-404-5500.

If you had to choose between any of the above to capture the most unique one-of-a-kind experience, then definitely try to visit Vera's White Sands.

Vern

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

Has anyone in the Washington, DC area been to the Tiki Bar at the Third Edition Restaurant in Georgetown? If you scroll to the bottom of their web page there a few pictures: http://www.thethirdedition.com/picture_tour.shtml

I'm curious to check it out and was wondering what the rest of you thought.

IMHO this looks like a place calling itself a "tiki bar" in name only. Recommend the bar @ Solomon's, Maryland which has been posted in other thread here a Tikicentral. You can even buy Tiki Farm mugs there

Also how about "Pacific Restaurant" near Dulles Airport http://www.chengspacific.com/home.php ???

On 2005-06-01 05:18, ikitnrev wrote:
The name of the Chinese Restaurant where I took Pablus is the Peking Gourmet

Thanks for the tips, rev! I'll be in Springfield next week and the week of the 25th, so I'll definitely try to check this place out, Pacific Restaurant too. Don't think I'll be able to make it out to Vera's, but we'll see.

The Peking Gourmet is pretty good. They have a good duck, and I agree with Vern, the mai tais are pretty good too. I think that they are living off their laurels though. The service isn't as good as it once was.

BUT, if you get the chance, go out to Sterling Virginia and visit Louis Cheng's Pacific Restaurant. They have good mai tais, food, and zombies. It's a lot newer, and expensive, but I think worth the trip. Did I mention that they have good zombies?

Just my two cents.

The Pacific has great drinks and food. Just watch your drink. One time we all ordered drinks some got to us faster then others. A waiter realized the drinks for another table. though the same we ordered, were on our table and he came by and took them back. I'd had a few sips of mine. True story.

Just got back from drinks & food at the "Pacific" in Sterling, Va. Good food, Tiki drinks & PLENTY of Tiki atmosphere. Well worth the drive!!!

On 2006-09-09 16:53, Thortiki wrote:
Just got back from drinks & food at the "Pacific" in Sterling, Va. Good food, Tiki drinks & PLENTY of Tiki atmosphere. Well worth the drive!!!

I was just there last night, and second the hearty recommendation. The ambience is very cool: lots of tikis, a big indoor koi pond with giant clamshell that spews fog, Hawaiian music playing in the background, tons of masks, war clubs, etc. The cocktails were pretty good, but the food was incredible! I had a Vietnamese dish (forget the name) with skewered beef and rice noodles that you wrapped up in very thin rice-paper tortillas, then dipped in hot sauce.

I also dined at the Peking Gourmet on Monday and had an excellent Navy Grog. I'll be going there again tonight with ikitnrev.

Weblog: Eye of the Goof

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2006-09-14 14:00 ]

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2006-09-14 14:02 ]

I had a tikiriffic time in the D.C. area last week, and ikitnrev is a marvelous host. My trip report and a few photos can be viewed here.

Ok so I am going to DC march 23-30 what are the best spots if any, this is what I got so far...

Pacific - 46240 potomac run plaza sterling, Va 20165 http://www.chengspacific.com
Peking Gourmet Inn - 6029 Leesburg pike, Falls Church 22041 http://www.pekinggourmet.com
Smithsonian - find it yourself
politiki - as a drive by since it's just a front now. 319 pennsylvania ave SE washington dc, 20003
Vera's White sands -1200 white sands drive, Lusby maryland 20657 http://www.veraswhitesandsbeachclub.com

So far so good if anyone has any else let me know please. I am going to be museum looking most of the afternoon but exploring in the evenings.

aside from getting an invitation to the moai lounge, you got it all there!

p.s. the moai in the natural history museum has been demoted and is now waiting outside the ladies' room on the lower level. he must be waiting for mrs. moai to come out.

The Peking Inn serves good food and drinks, but the decor is entirely Chinese, no tiki.

You might want to call Vera's before driving down, to make sure they are open for the day you wish to visit. They get less boat traffic in the cold weather, so their hours may be rather limited.

I believe the Hawaii/Moai exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has been temporarily removed, due to renovations in the Hall. The Smithsonian American History is also closed ... same reasons. The newly reopened Smithsonian Portrait Gallery/Art Museum at 8th and F is worth visiting, and there are many other worthwhile museums

Other interesting and unique bars in the DC area ....

• Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring -- a pirate themed bar, that serves strong rum drinks
  http://www.piratztavern.com/

• Palace of Wonders, a circus sideshow/Burlesque venue, that some of the DC tiki folk patronize. Check their calendars to see what shows are happening during your visit
  http://www.palaceofwonders.com/home.html

Wow, now those sound like great reasons to see the nations capital. I definitely plan to see the palace, now i know about it. Ikitnrev thanks for the heads up on that! This field trip just keeps sounding better and better. though it definitely looks like i am going to get a hotel one or two nights to stay out and see some of these bars. thanks again for the leads on the capital.

If you find yourself up in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor there's a place called Big Kahuna Cantina. http://www.bigkahunacantina.com/
It's a strange 'Mexonesian' concept but it's not all that bad. They don't have it on the menu but you can order a regular Mai Tai in a tiki mug and it's pretty strong. Anyway, it beats a poke in the eye with a stick.

Pacific Restaurant is about the best thing we've got going at this point for traditional tiki though.

yeah skeeter, that big kahuna place is ~ okay but it ain't tiki. but the drinks are better than coors lite alright! :D

I can confirm the Moai at the Natural History Museum is around; we were there a few weeks back for U23D at the Imax theater there! Huzzah!
~Rupe

he's waiting by the restrooms, right rupe?

thread about the fate of the pacific cultures exhibit at nmnh is here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=17972&forum=1&start=0

That's the place - good times! If you're there, turn around to see an awesomely gigantic totem pole.

Although the place is FAR from tiki....Central Michel Richard serves a mean Mai tai.

Update on the recent visit to the nation's capital. I hit the Pour house for personal/historical reasons. It turned out to be a fine drinking bar the first night, they had sports on all 5 TVs. They had subscription to setanta sports station so there was a BPL soccer game on(i recently got Sirius radio and it has become an obsession), so i had a pint of Guinness and sat back to watch the game. Overall very average bar, the exterior sign would make me come back regularly if i lived in dc. The next night i went out to Cheng's Pacific, which was the shining star tiki palace in the dc area and of the entire trip. The food was great, the drinks were solid, service was nice and friendly. Got to be directed to my seat by the owner and was just totally blown away by the coolness and relaxed atmosphere of the place. The moai on the wall was great and all the other tikis and music definitely raised the tipsy factor in the place far beyond my expectations, final note on pacific, Go there now! A few days later i hit the Palace of wonders, which was hosting a benefit for one of the local performers. I found it to be a great bar and i loved the feel and collection of things on display. The Samoan sea worm was the greatest, i love old carnival sideshows and it was a much needed escape from my classmates and the current school trip, we hadn't hit the national gallery(Paul Gaugain) or natural history museum. more to come when...

I have never met a drink I didn't like, unless it was that time I met beer...

[ Edited by: Mike the Headhunter 2008-04-15 18:07 ]

[ Edited by: Mike the Headhunter 2008-04-15 21:29 ]

On 2006-09-17 08:10, MrBaliHai wrote:
I had a tikiriffic time in the D.C. area last week, and ikitnrev is a marvelous host. My trip report and a few photos can be viewed here.

I'm surprised that you found Tiki mugs by antiquing in Old Town Alexandria. I've lived there for years and since a store called Funque and Junque closed haven't seen any in the stores here -- and my wife owns Elinor Coleman's Vintage Mirage on North Lee Street, which sells vintage clothing and jewelry (no Tikis, though). Most of the stores in Old Town sell fancy schmancy high-end antiques, like Queen Anne chairs and framed prints of fox hunts.

I believe Indigo Landing was the restaurant you ate at before your successful Old Town expedition; at least that's what it sounds like from your description.

Meanwhile back in the jungle/getting lost on the way to the benefit...
I was lost on h streets galore trying to find the palace of wonders, i mapquested the address and ended up at the wrong end of the street. So i used a cheap map and ended up in the south of dc on the southern H street which is divided into 3 part in a questionable feeling area of dc at 8:30 pm. Tried calling the palace and got bits and pieces of the directions and decided to take a break from driving and I realized i was right next to the pour house so stopped in and went to check out the basement german bar thing. Total frat house feeling, but highly amusing watching people rocking out on the rock band game. The bartender was nice and offered me my own selection of sports tv. I found that the US v. Poland friendly was on so i ordered a Guinness and a Jack Daniels and sat back to watch the game. Eventually the US romped Poland and i ask the bartender if she knew where it was and she got directions from one of her friends and wrote them down for me. I thanked her and was off again and eventually found the palace and all was right with the world.

Friday the last day... I decided to go and search for rum and other rarities. Note I was lodging in a "club" , so i knew if i got caught with the booze i would be spending the night in a hotel, but it was the last night and i hadn't really searched. Alas at this point the car was gone and i was left with 5 bucks in quarters and a backpack. So off i go to the bus and Wisconsin circle and the short adventure i called my Rum walk to Georgetown. I hit the street and hoped to make it to the national cathedral before it's gift shop closed as i needed post cards. I hit every liquor store up to the cathedral and eventually had 3 rums and a bottle of Peychaud's bitters, I strolled into the cathedral, but the gift shop was closed. I looked around and decided to come down really early the next day to get the postcards. I continued down the road looking at all the pretty people, and cool architecture on Wisconsin ave. Hit about 4 more stores got 2 bottles of Rhum saint james, one bottle of fee brothers falernum. At this point i was over half way and eventually got to one store and got a free drink of Pink vodka from a pretty woman who was promoting the vodka. Got questioned by some underaged college girls who asked me to buy them a bottle, i almost did it, but thought better of the idea as i was carrying 5 bottles of booze and would hate to get busted for aiding a minor get liquored up and loose my gear. Continuing down the hill i eventually found the river, which was very picturesque at night and a bottle of John D. Taylor Falernum and decided was a good stopping point and caught a bus and went back to the club. The spine crushing conclusion later, back to work...

I have never met a drink I didn't like, unless it was that time I met beer...

[ Edited by: mike the headhunter 2008-04-15 21:17 ]

The irrelevant conclusion in case your spine still needs some crushing.
I get back to my room have a large assortment of booze and begin to pack. I decided that i would brave the risks and take it all home via train. I picked up an additional luggage bag when i went to Cheng's. I begin the wrapping and packing of my precious cargo. I fill my bags with all the booze and get some sleep. I must note i also did some searching around dc and found a 2 bottles of maraschino liqueur which got packed and a few other bottles of things like lemon hart and things i have to order from Cali. So the total was three bags of luggage. One filled to the brim with alcohol. 2 fairly filled with clothing and booze.
The next morning i go to the National Cathedral and pick up the postcards. Then hurry back to the "club" we take off for the train station. The teacher tells us we need to arrive early to make certain not to miss our connection... We arrive 5 hours early. They tell us we need to check our bags... I get nervous. They tell us to we can have a small carry on and the rest goes into storage... I start to sweat... I tag and hand over my cargo. With nothing else to do we get some food and try to figure out what to do for the next 4 to 5 hours. The swatch shop is open and i remember a friend wanted a swatch and said there was a shop in dc and asked if i could get him one. I hit it up and pick up 3.
A long time to wait, I decide to catch a movie since there is a theater inside the train station. 10000 BC was not very good, but it did get my mind off of the luggage situation. I leave there and realize that i forgot to mail the postcards. The post office is closed (it's Saturday afternoon) and the stamp machine is broken. I intended to mail a couple of postcards for my family with the dc post office stamp. I get bummed because there is no way i can do this with out any stamps. I walk around the machines and the closed post. Just as i give up i think i better check inside the machine... just because, it's like a habitual drink machine button pressing deal, you may hit the button 100 time and get squat, but that one time it pays out your on top of the world even if it's not your first choice soda. I realized there is no chance of stamps being inside but hope is a weird thing. Incredibly there lying inside the machine is a package of the brand new forever stamps. I scream with joy open the pack and affix the new perfect stamps to my postcards and put them in the post.
I feel like a million bucks and go to the waiting area to read my book, we have an hour or so. I am sitting there and get a minor panic attack, what if they search my bags, i may not be that uncommon in this post 9/11 world. I think of about a thousand bad scenarios waiting in that uncomfortable lobby. The train is scheduled to arrive and it posts it has arrived on time. Great! But then there is a delay... the sign showed boarding, then it showed delayed... i feel the sweat start to bead up and my stomach turn a little. The train now goes into delay for the next 30 minutes. More bad thoughts, what if they smashed my gear, is jail the way to go when in dc? Then microphone calls for a Mr. Taylor to come to the desk, i begin to sweat a lot more and my heart skips. They clarify the full name and it is not mine. More delay and then it says it is loading. Then another delay pops up, and More torturous delay. Then the boarding signage says passengers begin to board the train. I walk to the train with my laptop and book. I get on the train and bid Our great capital adieu. A very long uncomfortable trip with a few shots of whisky later, and we arrive back in Greenville, SC. My luggage is unloaded and not it is not broken(Yahoo!!). We load the truck and head back to the reservation and sweet security. I ended up with around 12 to 18 bottles of alcohol, bitters and oddities i can't easily get in NC, a nice story and very fond memories of America's Capital City.

palace of wonders is great; i have friends that perform there from time to time.
googlemaps would have taken you right to the door.

list moved to http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=46670&forum=2&0 in Locating Tiki

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar 2013-12-29 08:38 ]

JD,

Thank you for your research, as depressing as it is.

sure thing.

i did not include the pacific restautant in sterling, virginia, as that seemed too far from dc and kind of borderline tiki. but it was a great place nonetheless while it lasted.

On 2011-02-17 11:59, Johnny Dollar wrote:

2. Aloha Inn - 608 Quince Orchard Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
   status: still open, but tikis/decor removed a long time ago
   http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=39208&forum=2

This place closed a long time ago. After it closed it became a Chinese restaurant where I have eaten a few times, last time being about 5 years ago. It is not visible from the street, but I drive right past that place several times a week, so I can stop by and check it out to see what's up.

Johnny Dollar,

I have two souvenir photo folders from some Pre-Tiki places is Washington DC.

The first is from the Trade Winds located on 13th Street.

The second is from Club Klavako.

Here is another one from Club Klavako that uses the imagery from the Monte Proser Beachcomber chain.

This place was apparently a pretty big jazz club at one time.

DC

cool DC - there was once a monte prosser's beachbomber in baltimore during the ww2 era -

110 N. liberty street, baltimore, md 21201

Johnny Dollar,

Here are a few other Washington DC metro area Tiki places over in Alexandria, Virginia that weren't on your list.

Chick & Toshiko Lee's Pacific Inn

Clearly a borrow from Steven Crane's Luau Tiki.

And the Tahitian Hut, which is a bit newer.

DC

shit howdy, thanks for the new info dc!!! (how fitting...)

I'm a recent transplant to the east coast, been here for about six months and now that I'm pretty confident the snow's not coming back (hey, I'm from California), I'm going to venture out and see what I can find. Thanks to everyone for posting their findings! I'm going to try and make it to Solomons tonight if I can convince my partner to go with me.

On 2011-06-03 12:40, Iscah wrote:
I'm a recent transplant to the east coast, been here for about six months and now that I'm pretty confident the snow's not coming back (hey, I'm from California), I'm going to venture out and see what I can find. Thanks to everyone for posting their findings! I'm going to try and make it to Solomons tonight if I can convince my partner to go with me.

What did you think?

The Solomons Tiki Bar has pretty good decor and you can buy some nice mugs there. A good enough place to drink, but its not quite real Tiki. Still, a fun place to hit after a crab cake or two.

It was a no-go. =( My partner had too much to do Friday night, so we ended up not doing a whole lot. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do it this weekend instead. In the meantime, I'm trying to reassemble a passable stock of rums so I can at least make mai tais at home. Any idea where I can get the good Senor's Curacao? :wink:

On 2011-06-06 11:05, Iscah wrote:
It was a no-go. =( My partner had too much to do Friday night, so we ended up not doing a whole lot. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do it this weekend instead. In the meantime, I'm trying to reassemble a passable stock of rums so I can at least make mai tais at home. Any idea where I can get the good Senor's Curacao? :wink:

i don't live down that way, but in my experience both D.C. and Montgomery County liquor stores have pretty decent stock. some MoCo residents might chime in with actual stores to look for the senior curacao. i know i've seen it in their home bars :)

I found a couple of leads for getting both Rhum St. James and Senior's Curacao, liquor stores up by the Delaware state line. I'm on my way to Pennsylvania next week, so I was going to stop by and see what I could find. =) I'll let everyone know.