How many current Tiki Bars are there in California?

anyone know or guess?

I count 23... LA/OC - 10, SD -1, PS - 2 (when TH opens), Central Cal - 2, SF/Bay Area - 8.

24, I forgot Ven-Tiki in Ventura.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2014-01-20 10:19 ]

I count 22 too

1. Bali Hai
2. Don the Beachcomber
3. Trader Sam's
4. Hale Hawaii
5. Purple Orchid – El Segundo
6. Trader Vic's Lounge – Beverly Hills
7. Trader Vic's Los Angeles
8. Tiki-Ti
9. Tonga Hut
   10.Tiki No
10. Damon's
11. Ventiki
12. Tonga Hut Palm Springs (I'm counting it)
13. Hula's – Santa Cruz
14. Smuggler's Cove
15. The Tonga Room
16. Trader Vics Emerville
17. Trad'r Sams - San Francisco
18. Bamboo Hut
19. Forbidden Island
20. Conga Lounge
21. Kona Club

Did I miss any?

Ooops! Forgot Minnie's what else did I forget?

I forgot to count Kona, Conga Lounge, Hula's, and Damon's.

Not on Boris's list.. Hawaiian Room, Hawaii West, Tiki Haven, Toucan's, and Lakanuki.

So I guess that makes it 28. :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2014-01-20 10:31 ]

I see many road trips in the making here... LA/OC is very fortunate!

And about a dozen of those are first generation Tiki bars.

More in the Golden State than the rest of the country (world?) combined ?

im thinking road trip!!!!!!

28 bars and that's not even bringing up non-bar establishments like the Mission Tiki Drive-In, Trader Mort's Liquor Store or the numerous hotels/motels.

Tikilongbeach - that sounds like great material for a book! Heh... :)

There is a Hula's in Monterey as well, is there not?

On 2014-01-20 13:33, AceExplorer wrote:
Tikilongbeach - that sounds like great material for a book! Heh... :)

If Tiki Road Trip didn't already exist.

How about a web page?
(or am I giving away insider information :D)

Billy's has a great Mai Tai and Le Roy tikis!

p.s. 5 out of 23 that I've designed, built and or worked on too :wink: !!!

Thanks Ben, I forgot Billy's so 29.

There is also Banzai Beach in Hermosa Beach. They are calling it a tiki bar and they do server tiki style cocktails and have a somewhat "party city" tiki decoration.

[i]On 2014-01-20 10:28, JOHN-O wrote:

Not on Boris's list.. Hawaiian Room, Hawaii West, Tiki Haven, Toucan's, and Lakanuki.

So I guess that makes it 28. :)

Very inclusive. Time for TRT III to introduce me to these, except for Toucan (been there).

[ Edited by: christiki295 2014-01-20 21:16 ]

On 2014-01-20 13:33, AceExplorer wrote:
Tikilongbeach - that sounds like great material for a book! Heh... :)

I am surprised no one has put together a "Home Tiki Bar" book.

You're missing Harbor Hut in Morro Bay

Are we separating the joints that are legit tiki bars versus have a tiki theme?

Are we not including the current configuration of The Islands (Hanalei/Crowne Plaza)? It has been obviously decimated and bisected from what it once was, it's mainly a hotel restaurant, and it's official bar is a sushi bar...but it seems to me that as long as you can still order a tropical drink (which may not be the best, when Tiki Oasis isn't going on), in sight of Tiki decor and the one saved original rock/waterfall area, it should be counted as a Tiki bar.

Caltiki Brent

This reaches an interesting point now where the line of what is a "tiki bar" starts to get fuzzy. Where do folks draw the lines around what makes something a "tiki" establishment? One tiki does not make a "tiki bar" in and of itself.

Seems to me that stratification of establishments that sell tropical cocktails falls into at least four separate categories: Dedicated Tiki Bar (Forbidden Island), Legacy Tiki Bar (Tonga Room), Tiki/South Seas themed restaurants (Mai-Kai or Bali Hai), and Faux Tiki Bar (Trad'r Sam's...being very generous b/c I wouldn't even include this as "Tiki".)

But, I'm no Sven. :wink: What's the common qualifier for a "tiki" esatblishment? I think this should be a little bit more definable than the general "what is tiki?" question.

I had a friend tell me that trader Sam's at disneyland was a "cartoon version of a tiki bar"...implying some level of fakeness.

But to me, it is a full blown tiki bar! I guess everyone has a different view of a tiki bar...to me, it hits all the main points of what a tiki bar is...people even steal the drink menus!

I think for something to be considered a tiki bar, the drink focus should be on tiki drinks....if the place specializes in tiki drinks...it's probably a tiki bar.

I have a hard time counting Banzai Beach in Hermosa and Toucan's. Toucan's is chock full of "tropical" decor, but it's far more Caribbean than South Seas. Toucans aren't a Pacific Ocean bird- they're native to South America and the Caribbean. Not a bad place (yes, i've been there), I just don't consider it "tiki".

Despite Banzai having what they call a "Tiki Lounge", the vibe isn't there, nor the decor. Even the exterior of the establishment says "Sushi & Teppan Grill". http://www.yelp.com/biz/banzai-beach-teppan-grill-and-tiki-lounge-hermosa-beach?nb=1 If I were to consider their "Lounge" a tiki bar, it'd rate quite low on the Critiki scale.

Hopefully we can add Clifton’s to the list, sometime next year....

The point of this thread was to get an APPROXIMATE number of Tiki bars in California.

I'm all for including Pre-Tiki, Vintage Tiki, and Tiki Revival (The Good, Bad, and the Ugly).

We have a number. It's 30. A nice round number. Easy to remember. :)

Now Hakalugi... LOCK THIS THREAD !!

Edited - Bad use of Spell Check.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2014-01-21 16:33 ]

On 2014-01-21 14:31, finky099 wrote:
This reaches an interesting point now where the line of what is a "tiki bar" starts to get fuzzy. Where do folks draw the lines around what makes something a "tiki" establishment? One tiki does not make a "tiki bar" in and of itself.

Seems to me that stratification of establishments that sell tropical cocktails falls into at least four separate categories: Dedicated Tiki Bar (Forbidden Island), Legacy Tiki Bar (Tonga Room), Tiki/South Seas themed restaurants (Mai-Kai or Bali Hai), and Faux Tiki Bar (Trad'r Sam's...being very generous b/c I wouldn't even include this as "Tiki".)

But, I'm no Sven. :wink: What's the common qualifier for a "tiki" esatblishment? I think this should be a little bit more definable than the general "what is tiki?" question.

Well it is a "Disneyfied Tiki Bar" and as critical as I am of Disney's actual contribution to the Tiki world
many, many TCers here are rabid Disneyphiles whose introduction to tiki was the enchanted Tiki room
and many of those same people are very good friends, I have seen to many people with huge black sad eyes
when I criticize it (I am not completely heartless!) So I just let it slide these days, I just can't take all the crying.

But Trader Sam's does have all the prerequisites of any real Tiki Bar, plus the Pirates of the Caribbean, Indian Jones, Tourist affectations.
I enjoy all my times visiting there, but it has always been due to a large group of friends attending, but damn if the place isn't crazy loud.

Edit: are you referring to Trader Sam's San Francisco? if so.....never mind.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2014-01-21 17:07 ]

Let's say if you can walk in and the decor is right, there's actually a Tiki in it and there's a Mai Tai on the menu it should count.

Trad'r Sam's (SF) is Pre-Tiki but I included it or I'm sure someone would cry. I stand by my list, John-O's gets a little shakey. :lol:

:evil:

Now you did it, Boris! You hurt his feelings!

There's no crying in Tiki!

On 2014-01-20 15:09, RevBambooBen wrote:
Billy's has a great Mai Tai and Le Roy tikis!

Billy’s has enough tiki and good drinks to keep me an CeCe coming back.
I’d add Hapa J’s too!
Cheers

Look what's coming back to Ventura!!!

On 2014-01-21 14:52, lucas vigor wrote:

I think for something to be considered a tiki bar, the drink focus should be on tiki drinks....if the place specializes in tiki drinks...it's probably a tiki bar.

Not necessarily with all the "Pop Up Tiki Bars" recently. They have one night of tiki drinks and call themselves a Tiki Bar. And, Trader Sam's Disneyland is a Tiki Bar but, it's all plastic! ( that drives me crazy!!!)

What about Turq's, across from Don the Beachcomber? Interior by OA and actually a bunch of vintage tikis, lamps, puffers and turtle shells.

I would throw in Tony's on the Pier in Redondo Beach!

So would I if it had a Tiki in it, same goes for the Warehouse.

John-O is right, the answer is 30 with what comes and goes it seems to always be around 30.

Why Hula's – Santa Cruz,
but not Hula's - Monterey?

Cause we forgot about it.

Has any one been to China Inn in Pacific Beach or Wang’s in North Park, both in San Diego? As far as I can tell, both serve tiki style drinks, and Wang's has a signature Tiki Farm mug. But I've been out of SD for near two decades, and haven't been to either, so I don't know what they're like. They could just be Chinese restaurants with a tiki touch.

Good point, Spike! I think we should add Turq's to the list.

Turk's was OA's last install. I recently learned that my cousin use to work there. She's one of the daughters of my Aunt who wrote the book How Daddy became a Beachcomber. I brought P Moss ( Frankie's Tiki Room) there one night after a gig at Don's. We were chillin' out with drinks and some dude comes in and one punches another dude in the chin and out go the lights! Good times at Turk's! Bob and LeRoy also have good stories about the place!

Turk's sounds pretty rad!!!! My kind of joint. :D. Ben! Lets go over there after ITMP and start some shit. I got your back. You go first though. :wink:

Turq's is one of those places that is a ghost of it's former self, it's seedy
full of drunk 20 somethings, chugging down cheap beer, Rap playing on the Jukebox
pool tables in the back and very dark inside, you don't really see the Tiki stools
or carved posts until your eyes adjust, it's practically across the street from Don the Beachcomber

It is entertaining to see a group of older well dressed Tiki folks show up
take over the jukebox with Punk Rock or Ratpack tunes & try to explain to the young gals
behind the bar, how to mix a proper cocktail.....that's Turq's.

The Dagger Bar at Don's can close a bit earlier on slower nights
and we have found ourselves at Turq's more times then we like to admit
and I can definitely say it no longer qualifies as a Tiki Bar.

I haven't been down here in while, is it still in existence?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4913&forum=2&hilite=laguna%20beach

No.

ATP, I think we gotta give Turq's credit for it's place in Tiki history & put it on the list of must-sees, if only once! I'm glad Sabu brought me over there, after my first visit to Don's.