Tiki in Southwest Airlines magazine

Last month while flying Southwest Airlines I was reading the inflight magazine and found a section called Bar Beat where they suggested "For a scary-sounding drink, zombify yourself at these polynesian lounges." What followed were short descriptions and locations of venerable places like the Molokai Lounge at the Mai Kai, the Hala Kahiki, and the Tonga Room (with photo), and newcomers like the Luau in Seattle and Rumjungle in Las Vegas. Well, 3 out of 5 ain't bad.

There was also a sidebar on the Zombie, with a recipe (good but not the original recipe) and a history of the drink.

For the record, Luau isn't trying to be a tiki bar, but rather a good polynesian restaurant, and in this regard they have very much succeeded -- the food at Luau is excellent. For that matter, they have very good drinks, too. The ambience isn't bad, it's just not a tiki bar. The closest I've seen Luau come to trying to claim they are a tiki bar is their own label of "polynesian lounge"... it would seem to me that all of us in our thirst for new tiki bars are trying to force this one into the mold, and then scolding them when they don't fit.

Humuhumu wrote:
"For the record, Luau isn't trying to be a tiki bar, but rather a good polynesian restaurant, and in this regard they have very much succeeded -- the food at Luau is excellent. For that matter, they have very good drinks, too. The ambience isn't bad, it's just not a tiki bar. The closest I've seen Luau come to trying to claim they are a tiki bar is their own label of "polynesian lounge"... it would seem to me that all of us in our thirst for new tiki bars are trying to force this one into the mold, and then scolding them when they don't fit."

I wasn't scolding them but merely implying that I wouldn't put them in such company as the Mai Kai or Tonga Room. I went to Luau 2 or 3 years ago and thought the food was good (especially the great flaming Pupu platter) but I wasn't impressed with the drinks. Perhaps they have improved since then.

The article was about cocktails and not about food. I would have included the Tiki Ti and Trader Vic's (instead of Luau and Rumjungle) in the list if they wanted to mention only 5 top destinations for tropical drinks and polynesian atmosphere.

UPDATE!!!

CURRENT December 2010 issue of Southwest's Spirit Magazine has a great 11 page spread on Tiki drinks & here is a web link if you can't get a copy on the plane:

http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/paradise_found/

ENJOY Thortiki

We brought a copy over to Smuggler's Cove 1st Year Event & Martin Cate was well aware of the issue. He thought they did a GOOD job!

Thortiki

PS But, the article did speak of Tiki drinks like they were JUST being re-discovered. HUH???