Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #67 The Royal Ohana Room – Cleveland OH

Craig Donofrio grew up in So-Cal and enjoyed Disneyland, going to Hawaii, and backyard luaus as a kid, so it’s safe to say tiki has been in Craig’s blood for a long time. When Craig and his wife Paula moved to Cleveland, they decided to build their own tiki bar in their basement. They called it The Royal Ohana Room and here is their story …

 What is the tiki scene like where you live?

Craig- My wife, Paula, and I moved to the Cleveland area a little more than two years ago. We were delighted to find two fantastic tiki bars in the area with thriving tiki culture. We love Porco Lounge and Tiki Underground, and it is so cool that there is a great sense of community and Aloha in both places.

What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle” and how long has it been part of your life?

Craig- Wow! It seems that in some way, tiki has always been part of my life. Paula and I both grew up in Southern California, about 10 minutes from Disneyland. I was a weird child who loved to go to the Tiki Room whenever we went to Disneyland, which was quite often. Nowadays, my friends do an annual Disney bar crawl, and whereas Disneyland doesn’t serve alcohol, I somehow seem to find rum floating on my dole whip while the “birds sing words and the flowers croon.”

When I was a kid, we had palm trees in our backyard and a lava rock facade in the front of our house. Being from the West Coast, Hawaii was not so hard to get to, and the Hawaiian vacations started when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old.

In 1969, I was just a little guy, but I remember my parents throwing a luau. I’m pretty sure that my dad and his friends dug an imu to roast a pig. Coastal living and tiki seem to go hand in hand. When I was in High School, we had a formal at Sam’s Seafood, which later became Don The Beachcomber.

Loving all things tiki is a throwback to my childhood and simpler times. I am a serious history buff, so, the historical aspects of the tiki world are always fascinating and thrilling for me.

Can you give a little history of how your home tiki bar came together?

Craig- Paula and I started getting into tiki culture through Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas and, by extension, Tiki Oasis sometime around 2009. It is so much fun to get together with others and take trips down memory lane.

With a few trips to Hawaii, and various tiki flea markets, especially the ones at Don the Beachcomber, we have been decorating our home with more and more tiki and Hawaiiana décor. I wanted to put together a tiki bar in my house for a long time. It started with a Tiki Corner bar when we lived in St. Louis, but when we moved to Cleveland, I went all in. It has been a labor of love and is an ongoing work in progress.

I hope to add more bamboo and lauhala weave on the walls in the not too distant future, but as the funds are available.

Any story behind the name of your bar?

Craig- The Royal Ohana Room. Well, since Ohana means family, it was our new Family Room, and of course, being a fan of the Old Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach, I thought the Royal would add a little panache.

What is your favorite Tiki drink?

Craig- The go-to drink that I order at every tiki bar is the good old Mai Tai. I usually base my first opinion of their drinks off that benchmark. Nine times out of ten, it is the standard Trader Vic’s Mai Tai, but now and then, there is a unique twist on it, sometimes good, sometimes not. I love the Don the Beachcomber recipe, but it’s not as easy to make.

I also enjoy an excellent Lapu Lapu, a Jet Pilot, and a Don Beach Zombie. There are so many great drinks out there!

What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!

Craig- I have been to around forty tiki bars around the country and even in Europe. There are a few favorites for a few different reasons. I love the old school places like Tiki-Ti and The Tonga Hut in L.A. When they opened Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, I immediately fell in love with the place, and Arthur the owner was such a great guy, so full of Aloha, I was so sad when he died. Of course, everyone who has been there has to say, the Mai-Kai in Ft. Lauderdale and the Hala Kahiki in Chicago are so cool for their historicity.

I would say that I have three favorite tiki bars. Foundation Tiki Bar in Milwaukee, Tiki Cat in Kansas City, and since Don the Beachcomber shut down, I would say, False Idol in San Diego. Honestly, there are so many cool tiki bars, and most of them have something awesome to offer.

Honorable mention would be Tiki Taki in Prague – just because – IT’S A TIKI BAR IN PRAGUE! Also, the people there were very cool, AND they played Johnny Aloha music – IN PRAGUE!

Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?

Craig- I love an old school vibe in a Tiki Bar. Like when they are a time capsule back to the 50s and 60s. It is sad to me when they get the décor right, but the music is some 1990’s pop. In my world, a great tiki bar has excellent drinks, a chill aloha vibe, some old school exotica, crooners, generally kitschy music, and maybe a little surf music added in here and there. The bar staff should be friendly and knowledgeable of their craft. Foundation in Milwaukee is an outstanding representation of an exceptional tiki bar.

What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?

Craig- The Royal Ohana Room will continue to evolve as we continue to collect more fun kitsch and get the walls more decorated. Really, can you have too much fun stuff in your tiki bar? We have been part of Tiki Underground’s home pub crawl in the past, and I hope that we will do it again next time around, it was swell! I also sense a serious luau in the future.

 Anything else you would like to add?

Craig- I would like to say thanks to you, Ray, for your excellent work on your blog and videos. You really help to build the tiki community across the country.

Paula and I hope that tiki will continue to be subcultural enough to last a long time to come. Of course, I think we’re in for the long haul. Oh yeah, check out the Living Tiki Page on Facebook.