If you had to choose just one Tiki bar in Los Angeles

Hi. My wife is turning the big 5-0 this weekend and wants a bit of a Tiki blast to celebrate. So we're trying to find the definitive Tiki bar in the Los Angeles area to visit.

She would like a place that serves appetizers as well as a variety of drinks. I've looked into Bahooka's in Rosemead, Damon's in Glendale, Tiki Ti in the Los Feliz area, Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, and the Purple Orchid in El Segundo. We've been to Bahooka's before and stopped to look at Damon's today, but can't get out to preview the others before Saturday.

So if you had just one place to visit, which would it be? If it's something off the list above, that's fine to mention too. Thanks in advance for any assistance or advice anyone might offer.

This is easy. If you had to pick the one definitive Tiki bar in the entire world (let alone L.A.) to visit it would be Tiki-Ti. Tiki-Ti has both the history and the top-notch drinks. Start with a Ray's Mistake. My favorites are the Uga Booga, Tropical Itch, Dr. Funk, and the Zombie.

FYI, they're only open from Wed-Sat. Go early since later in the evenings it becomes very crowded. No appetizers, but free bar mix.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2009-08-11 23:05 ]

For appetizers and drinks you've got to go to Trader Vic's in Downtown LA.
Both the food and drinks are top notch and the decor is excellent.
A great way to to create an excellent Tiki memory of the big 5-0!

I know it's not LA but Don's is a great place as well. Drinks get better and better and food is great. Happy hour is the best during these times.

I second the Downtown Trader Vic's.

I just went to the downtown Trader Vic's on Sunday. It was so great! I loved everything about. They loved the way were were dressed and gave us really great service. We were celebrating my daughter's 15th birthday and they went above and beyond helping us celebrate her day. The only bad thing I can say about the place is that it is not in Portland, OR.

I'm new to this La La Area but have been to Damon's was very disappointed with the menu-not very Island mon. Drinks unremarkable. The Tonga Hut is very small, good more for a late night last call or two to me, nice neighbory vibe, small small dance floor w/ DJ, but again tiny no seating really as the bar stool fill up fast and once planted there the regulars rarely move until last call.

Normally I would say Tiki Ti, but it does not serve appetizers. There is good food nearby, but nothing at the bar itself.

Based on your criteria I would say that you want either Trader Vic's at LA Live or Don the Beachcomber in Sunset Beach. If you are OK with going the extra distance to the OC, then I recommend Don the Beachcomber. The drinks are on par with Trader Vic's (and cost a little less) and they have better appetizers. Try the brie quesodilla with kalua pork. Excellent! Much better than Cosmo's Tidbits.

It also depends if you like to smoke or not. The Tiki Ti is a smoking establishment. If you hate smoke, Go to the Downtown Vic's and ask for the from-scratch Mai Tai otherwise they use a premix.

Thanks all. Based on the above, we're opting for Trader Vic's. Just spent some time on the phone arranging it all with a lovely hostess whose name I cannot recall. She was extremely helpful and accommodating for our large party. My wife can't wait. We'll be seeing Spamalot at the Ahmanson at 2, then meeting everyone at Vic's at 8.

Well, I realized I've never posted a report on our time at Trader Vic's. Overall, we had a blast, a very good time, but had a few little niggles not related to Vic's, with parking.

There were events going on at both Staples and Nokia Theater, so the whole area was packed. We had never been there before so we just followed the LALive parking signs, and ended up parking in a lot that cost $20. Found out later that there's a lot directly across Olympic from Vic's that's only $8 or $10. so we'll keep that in mind for future visits.

Once in Vic's, we waited just a bit for our reserved seating for 12, and hung out in the bar, which was really nice. Thanks to my sister in law, the band played a special happy birthday song just for my wife. We got our table and the drink menu was overwhelming. I wasn't driving that night so I opted for a Zombie. Others had a healthy mix of other rum and gin based drinks. Towards the end of the evening my wife wanted a bowl, so we got the Tiki Bowl and I got stuck with drinking most of it, boo hoo for me. We had the very accommodating waiter add a bird on a stick from another drink, which we passed around for photos.

Appetizers were the big thing for most, though I had a dinner that was a few skewers of grilled shrimp and a small potato based patty. The food is good but I don't think remarkably so, but maybe it was an off night for the chefs. We'll have to try again.

We loved the decor. the very nice staff and the band, until they started playing regular rock towards the end of the night. Wish they would have stuck to tiki like music!

Overall, as I said, it was a great night and birthday celebration. Thanks to everyone who recommended this place.

I don't think this conversation can go on without mentioning the Purple Orchid, which has Tikicentral vibe by the owners; a very high TIPSY ratio; is close to the ocean; and often has great live music.
Its also right by LAX, so there is no excuse for missing it even on a short trip to LA.

Glad you had a good time TikiThor. I agree completely about the band. Best idea is to have drinks in the bar when the band first starts playing, then after about a half hour move to the dining room. The band were good when playing Hawaiian music but sounded like many bar bands in Hawaii when they started playing bad rock covers from the 70s and 80s.

On 2009-08-11 20:48, tikithor wrote:
If you had to choose just one Tiki bar in Los Angeles

I would choose the bar crawl.