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Tiki Central / Locating Tiki

The Temple Bar, Berkeley, CA (restaurant)

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Name:The Temple Bar
Type:restaurant
Street:984 University Ave.
City:Berkeley
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:510.524.6403
Status:operational

Description:
This place has been open for years, in fact I hosted my first Elvis Hawaiian D Day party there a decade ago. The problem was this family owned operation (run by and catering to indigenous Hawaiians)was open so sporadically I lost touch with it. But last night I happened to be driving by looking around for a place to eat, saw the heartening neon OPEN sign - and beneath it, the magic words written on the front window: Restaurant and TIKI BAR.

Though they still feature live Hawaiian music the first Sunday of every month, it almost seemed like this very old school joint - which looks more like a saloon - almost played down its ethnic heritage. It always had luaus and exotic drinks, but the ambience was more like any other old restaurant. Now they've added more tikis and have a delicious dinner menu, open for business five nights a week, Wed-Sun. (4-9 Wed-Fri, 5-9 Sat/Sun). My Mai Tai was served in a real tiki mug and was damn strong! The appetizers and entrees were likewise very tasty, and moderately priced as well. The owners are off the boat Hawaiians and are very friendly. Their teenage daughter was our server and she too cute - she remembered my Elvis party, even though she was only 6 at the time! They also still have on display the autographed photo of Julie Parrish with Elvis and the gals in "Paradise Hawaiian Style" (Julie was the guest that night). Anyway, if you're ever in the East Bay, this makes THREE cool tiki bar/restaurants to check out (along with the Conga Lounge in Oakland and Tiki Tom's in Walnut Creek). We also just recently ate at a tiki restaurant called the Bamboo Lounge (I think)in Pleasanton, but more on that later. The Temple Bar also does catering and allows private parties. See link below for more info:

http://www.templebar.org

[ Edited by: AquaZombie on 2003-08-22 13:00 ]

I was driving with The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa (I know, lucky me!) in Berkeley a couple nights ago and she asked me to pull over so she could get something out of the back of the car. Looking up from our parking spot on University Avenue, I saw a joint with a sign that read "Temple Bar" and promised luau buffet, exotic cocktails and live Hawaiian music. WOW! It was closed at that time, but we returned an hour later to find an open door inviting us in to a dim yet warmly lit room strewn with tapa cloth, Hawaiian print fabrics and even some tikis. Traditional Hawaiian music was playing on the stereo as a smiling white-haired man of Kauai welcomed us to the bar. His name is Uncle Kem and he's a gracious host, a fine bartender, and a man of many intriguing stories. We all had a fine time sipping cocktails and hearing about Uncle Kem's experiences as a musician, his inspiration and angst from Hurricane Iniki, and some of the history and activities surrounding his bar. The bar itself was fashioned in the ninteenth century and is a beautiful piece of work. The cocktail list has over a dozen drinks, many of which are house originals and are all $5. Full bar and beer also available. We must plan a Tiki Central night here!!!! The Temple Bar is only open for bar business on Friday and Saturday nights. There are ukulele classes every Tuesday taught by Uncle Kem. Hawaiian bands with open mic and luau boo-fay are to be had every first Sunday of the month. So much fun to be had here! Much more info can be found on their website in the above post. Hope to see you all there sometime soon.

-Weird Unc

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