Author: Ray

Tiki Field Report #9 Tiki Rock Stars In San Fran! 11/25/16

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Tiki Rock Stars at Smuggler's Cove
Tiki Rock Stars at Smuggler’s Cove

When I moved to Seattle from Pennsylvania over a decade ago, I told my parents I wouldn’t be coming home for the holidays. This wasn’t because I don’t love them, but because you always run the risk of dealing with snow and freezing rain during the winter. What I usually do is fly home during the spring or early fall. The weather is better and the flights are cheaper.

The holidays can be a little tough when all your friends are spending time with their families and my family is thousands of miles away. Instead of wondering how long to leave the turkey in the oven, I wonder where I’m going to put myself for the day. At first blush, this may sound depressing and lonely, but it’s actually quite liberating! I have a four days off during the Thanksgiving holiday. What should I do with them? Where should I put myself? I know: San Francisco!

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Tiki VIP #12 Michael Thanos (Forbidden Island)

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Michael Thanos

The first Tiki revival started back in the early ’90s and it was very underground. Leading this revival was a handful of ex-punks and alternative types. The Tiki community was a subculture of a subculture! The Tiki bar options were limited to only the places that happened to be still around. I’m guessing most of the patrons of these Tiki bars went because the bar was close to their home, not because of a love of Tiki.

This was the Tiki reality back then, but it didn’t have to stay that way.

If Tiki was going to survive, let alone have a future, new bars needed to be opened. Michael Thanos was one of first few to open a new Tiki bar. He is the owner of Forbidden Island in Alameda, CA, which is incredible! It’s a must visit for anyone visiting the Bay Area who loves Tiki. Forbidden Island opened back in 2006 and decade later is going stronger than ever. Here is Michael’s story…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #16 The Alta Tiki Lounge Daly City, CA

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Buz Deadwax owner of The Alta Tiki Lounge

“Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,1
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same…”

If your familiar with the TV show Weeds, you’ve heard this song sung by Malvina Reynolds. The neighborhood Malvina was singing about was actually Daly City and she describes it perfectly. All the homes are literally square boxes that are different pastel colors and built on the side of a hill. Hidden in one of these “square boxes made of ticky tacky” lies the Alta Tiki Lounge.

Buz Deadwax is the proud owner of The Alta Tiki Lounge and here is his story…

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Tiki Bar Review #24 The Waldorf Vancouver, BC

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Tiki Bar At The Waldorf Vancouver B.C.

If there is any Tiki bar that should get honorable mention, it should be the Waldorf Hotel in Vancouver, BC. The place is essentially a dance club. I can assure you, electronic dance music will be pumping out of the speakers—not Martin Denny. When I visited the Waldorf, I didn’t even have a drink. In fact, I don’t know if they even serve any Tiki cocktails at all.

So why am I writing about this place? Two reasons. Well, maybe three.

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Tiki VIP #11 Sierra Kirk (Hale Pele)

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Hale Pele

Everyone has their favorite Tiki bar and mine is Hale Pele in Portland, OR. When you walk into the bar and take a seat, you honestly feel like you’re in a Tiki hut somewhere in the South Pacific. The décor is incredible. What also is incredible at Hale Pele is the drinks. One of the women behind the bar making these awesome Tiki drinks is Sierra Kirk.

Sierra is unbelievably talented. Her Tiki drinks are some of the best I’ve ever had. If you want a drink with fire and flames, she’s just the woman for the job! I consider her to be one of the great Tiki bartenders right now! Here is Sierra’s story…

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Tiki Field Report #8 The Mai Kai Fort Lauderdale, FL 9/13/16

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Ray and Dave at The Mai Kai
Ray and Dave at The Mai Kai

You don’t know what humidity is until you go to Florida.

I just touched down in Fort Lauderdale and it’s so humid here that my glasses fog up as soon as I go outside. I flew in from Seattle on a six-hour flight and I’m here to do two things: visit the legendary Mai Kai and reconnect with my friend Dave who I haven’t seen since the early ’90s. Back in the day, we were heavily into skateboarding and punk rock. Time passed. I grew up to be a guy who blogs about Tiki bars and Dave became a professional photographer (Gittleman Studios). I made an offer to Dave: if he could take some pictures of the Mai Kai for me, I would pay for his drinks. It was a deal!

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A Pop-Up Tiki Bar! The Low Tide Lounge Seattle, WA

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Bars, Tiki Lifestyle
Lowtide Lounge at The Piranha
Lowtide Lounge at The Piranha

You should start a Tiki bar!

If I had a nickel for every time someone said this to me, I would be rich! Okay, well maybe I would have enough to buy a cup of coffee, but I digress.

Yes, starting a Tiki bar is a dream of mine, but it’s not easy and it’s not cheap. You need to find a place that’s in a good location and somewhere you can afford the rent. You also need a license to serve alcohol AND a license to sell it. I haven’t even talked about the money needed for décor.

One idea I thought of was doing a “pop-up” bar. I was down in Los Angeles and they got pop-ups for everything including food, clothing, music, and of course, booze. The idea is to rent a space out for a week, a month, or even a day. I thought a Tiki pop-up bar would be a great idea. Well, great minds think alike. Duffy De Armas made my a dream a reality! He opened the Tiki pop-up bar: the Low Tide Lounge.

Alison, Harvey, Ali and Duffy
Alison, Harvey, Ali and Duffy

Here is his story…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #15 The Fuzzy Smudge Olalla, WA

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Mark and The Fuzzy Smudge
Mark and The Fuzzy Smudge

Remember that old saying “as the crow flies?”

It meant the actual distance between two points via a straight line. The town of Olalla is only 15 miles away from Seattle, but that doesn’t mean it’s close—let alone easy—to get to. The Puget Sound stands between Seattle and Olalla, which means you have two ways of getting there: taking a ferry or driving around and below the Puget Sound. A ferry trip is not cheap, so that means driving is the best way to get there. Why all the fuss about getting to Olalla? Because Debbie and Mark Whitehead live there and down in their basement lies the Fuzzy Smudge…

Going downstairs to The Fuzzy Smudge
Going downstairs to The Fuzzy Smudge
The Fuzzy Smudge bar
The Fuzzy Smudge bar

Here is Debbie and Mark’s story…

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