5 Day Tiki Tour SW - Input Wanted (East Bay/SF)

Hey folks,
I'm from SoCal and planning a 5-day tiki jaunt in a few weeks to places I haven't yet hit that looks like so:
Day 1
Bootlegger Tiki - Palm Springs, CA (Been to both Tonga Huts)

Day 2
The Golden Tiki - Las Vegas, NV (Been to Frankie's)

Day 3
Longitude - Oakland, CA (Done both LA Trader Vic's locations)

Day 4
Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar - San Francisco, CA

Day 5
Smuggler’s Cove - San Francisco, CA

Mainly what I'm looking for is thoughts on the SF/Oakland portion. Are these the ones to hit or should I swap one of these out for another - I've never been to any tiki joints up there, but have read some of your suggestions for more single day bay area visits in other posts. Thanks much for your input!

[ Edited by: Tiki Dub 2015-07-09 02:32 ]

On 2015-07-08 22:08, Tiki Dub wrote:

Day 3
Longitude - Oakland, CA (Done both LA Trader Vic's locations)

Day 4
Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar - San Francisco, CA

Day 5
Smuggler’s Cove - San Francisco, CA

Mainly what I'm looking for is thoughts on the SF/Oakland portion. Are these the ones to hit or should I swap one of these out for another - I've never been to any tiki joints up there, but have read some of your suggestions for more single day bay area visits in other posts. Thanks much for your input!

As long as you're in the East Bay, you should go to Trader Vic's in Emeryville. You mention that you've been to the LA Trader Vic's locations, but Emeryville is the flagship and worth a visit. Much better in atmosphere and décor than the ones in LA. Also, Longitude isn't truly a tiki bar, although I've heard the drinks and food are good. But Forbidden Island in Alameda is a true tiki bar. The décor is fantastic and the drinks are usually quite good.

As for San Francisco, Tonga Room doesn't require a whole day, unless you really like listening to the cheesy wedding band that plays after 8:00pm (they also charge a cover if you stay for the band). Go for the happy hour (which includes a decent buffet), then head to Smuggler's Cove for the rest of the evening. Also, Smuggler's Cove is much better early in the week, or right at opening (5:00pm) on the weekends. It gets pretty crowded and noisy on weekend nights and it's a bit harder to enjoy the surroundings and vibe when it's like that.

We just finished a two-day Tiki Safari in this very area. We started at Forbidden Island, got there shortly after opening on a Thursday evening. Plenty of room but it filled up fast. Drinks were very good. I recommend their Forbidden Island drink and the Shark's Tooth.

From there we hit Trader Vic's in Emeryville and of course had the Mai Tais. We also had a very good meal from their bar food menu.

After recovering the next day we were in line for Smuggler's Cove by 4:30pm on Friday. We were about 6 or 7 in line. By 5 o'clock the line was down to the corner. We somehow got lucky and ended up with the only two seats at the downstairs bar. We were in awe of Melissa the bartender and Christopher the bar back. They were absolutely awesome! The drinks were out of this world (I know "mai tai"). We had a Sidewinder's Fang, Captain's Grog, Tradewinds, Pupule, and their #2 Painkiller.

After a quick bite to eat somewhere else, (Smuggler's Cove has no food not even bar snacks) we stopped into the Tonga Room but just to check out the decor. Very nice and bigger than I thought. We will try the drinks next time.

Have fun and message me if you need any more advice

TV's Emeryville
Kona Club Oakland
Forbidden Island Alameda are all worth checking out.

Tiki D, Forbidden Island is mentioned several times in this post.If I were looking for great drinks and awesome tiki ambience that’s were I’d go.
If I wanted awesome decor,okay drinks and somewhere to romance my wahine Trader Vic’s Emeryville is da place
Have fun!

Thank you guys/gals very much. Based on what you've shared, I'm going to consolidate which will allow me to hit Russian River (non-tiki I know, but I've been wanting to go for a few years now) on the trip. Now I'm thinking the following (but still interested in any input):

Day 3
Russian River Brew Pub

Day 4
Anchor Brewing
Tonga Room
Smuggler's Cove

Day 5
Trader Vic's
Longitude
Forbidden Island

Thanks again!

On 2015-07-09 23:27, Tiki Dub wrote:
Thank you guys/gals very much. Based on what you've shared, I'm going to consolidate which will allow me to hit Russian River (non-tiki I know, but I've been wanting to go for a few years now) on the trip. Now I'm thinking the following (but still interested in any input):

Day 3
Russian River Brew Pub

Day 4
Anchor Brewing
Tonga Room
Smuggler's Cove

Day 5
Trader Vic's
Longitude
Forbidden Island

Thanks again!

Forbidden Island in Alameda is a MUST.
Smuggler's is also amazing. As mentioned above, for best results, go as early as possible. If they open at 4 or 5, get in line 15-20 mins before.
For beer, I always enjoy Mikkeller Bar a few blocks south of Union Square. Mikkeller's first tap room in the States (I think now only one of two or three in the States.)
Cheers!
:drink:

Forbidden Island is my fav, so excellent addition as is TV Emeryville! Have a fun trip!

I sure hope you'll post photos of your trip. Wendy