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Creating the *ultimate* Tiki Crawl (from LA to San Fran!)

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G

Hey Everyone!

Long time lurker, first time poster (hah!) My name's Jud, and I'm a tikiholic (Hi Jud!)

My passion started in 2002 in the Trader Vic's at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago (pour a little mai tai out in respect...the new place isn't nearly as good as the old Palmer House). Since then my wife and I have been to the Trader Vics in Atlanta, Bangkok, and Tokyo (btw, mai tais in tokyo are $35USD each!)

We're going on a trip at the end of July to Los Angeles, then driving up to San Francisco, and then flying back to Chicago. I've heard there's some amazing Tiki Bars that I need to hit...and I figured who better to help me build the ultimate Tiki Crawl than my fellow tikiphiles! :D

So far I know I want to go to Tiki Ti's for a Ray's Mistake, and after seeing this photo I think the Tar Pit is on the agenda:

And then I've heard about Smuggler's Cove?

Help me out friends! It's like I'm going to be in Tiki Nirvana...and I don't want to miss the good stuff!

(side note: I just tried my first $100 Mai Tai last weekend. Wow was it good!)

J

A great resource for all places tiki is Critiki.com. be sure to check out the ratings and any comments on each location though. Although some are technically "tiki," they don't all warrant a visit.

Edited to add this note: Apparently not ALL places tiki are included in Critiki yet. I see a big ol' hole in the Civic Center/Hayes Valley neighborhood in San Francisco that has been happily filled since December 2009. :wink:

[ Edited by: JenTiki 2010-06-03 15:20 ]

T
TikiG posted on Thu, Jun 3, 2010 3:36 PM

A couple must visits while in greater Los Angeles besides Tiki Ti (of course):

Don the Beachcomber - Huntington Beach

Tonga Hut - North Hollywood - Sunday evenings

I also suggest a more esoteric experience:
Kirby's Rumpus Room - La Crescenta - Wednesday evening only (private residence, focal point for local carvers, artists, musicians etc.)

Hope this helps (but you probably already know about the above!) There are many others too. Keep us posted with pics etc.

Cheers!G

G

Thanks for the help! I'm pretty much a clean slate...I have no idea about any places except for Trader Vic's, and I just happened across Tiki Ti's from this site.

So excited though! Will definitely post pix!

J
T

You should through in a side trip to Frankies Tiki Room in Vegas. it's only 3 1/2 hours from LA

T

In addition the the places already mentioned...

If you're driving up to the bay area, you might want to consider taking the 99 freeway through the San Joaquin valley.
That way you can stop off at Coconut Joe's in Bakersfield for lunch and Minnie's in Modesto for dinner!

Here's the threads on TC:

Coconut Joe's
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35112&forum=2
The address listed on this thread is actually for the banquet hall, which is about a block away from the restaurant. The hall is not open except when booked for events, so you won't see anything there... but the restaurant is awesome!
Here's the restaurant address:
4158 California Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93309

Minnie's:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4974&forum=2

Depending on the amount of time you have, you could visit the new Trader Vic's in Downtown LA (and if you're here before the 17th of July, you can catch a performance of South Pacific at the Ahmanson Theatre.):
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29701&forum=2

There's also Purple Orchid Exotic Tiki Lounge in El Segundo (near LAX):
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6160&forum=2

Bahooka in Rosemead (you can pick up their new Sven Kirsten designed mug!):
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=5021&forum=2

Damon's Steakhouse in Glendale:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26238&forum=2

Oceanic Arts in Whittier, run by original PolyPop pioneers Bob Van Oosting and LeRoy Schmaltz:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7252&forum=2

Art of the Pacific collection at LA County Museum:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35705&forum=2

In the Bay Area you can visit Tonga Room before it's bulldozed into oblivion:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=23662&forum=2

Forbidden Island in Alameda:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=19194&forum=2

Conga Lounge in Oakland (hometown of the Mai Tai):
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4844&forum=2

Trader Vic's Palo Alto:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4735&forum=2

De Young Oceanic Art Collection:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29278&forum=2

Have fun!



http://ericoctober.com

[ Edited by: tobunga 2010-07-03 23:08 ]

As for the Tar Pit that drink never actually made it onto the menu, they have good food and good drinks but it's NOT TIKI !

Great list of places in Ca. Eric.
thanks for doing all of that searching.

to the Thread poster,
if you can make it down to San Diego.
go to Bali Hi on Shelter Island.

Jeff(btd)

Frankies tiki room is nice place I agree

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

My trip wasn't nearly as successful as I had hoped. We started in San Francisco for a few days...I managed to have a great night at the Smuggler's Cove (those guys are SO knowledgeable about their rums and cachacas!), but the next day I had some bad Filipino food and got crazy bad food poisoning. I really couldn't handle food or drink for a few days after that :(

When we got to LA we had one drink at Trader Vics...it was fun, but honestly I'm kinda sad that most of the Trader Vic's have lost their old world charm. I miss my old Palmer House Hilton Trader Vics in Chicago!!!!

And then our very last night we hit up Tiki Ti's, which made up for the entire trip. The Ray's Mistake and Space Pilot were heavenly. I did find it interesting that some of the tiki drinks I've known and loved from Trader Vics (like the Scorpion) was completely different at Tiki Ti...but they were all tasty nonetheless!

Side story: In LA my wife and I went to a live taping of Let's Make A Deal, and they picked me to play! I won over $5300 worth of game room / man cave stuff (pool table, plasma tv, jukebox, keggerator, etc)...no tiki bar though! lol

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