Guest Tiki Bar Review: The Kon-Tiki – Oakland, CA by Kevin Crossman – Ultimate Mai-Tai

Back in the late 40’s, Thor Heyerdahl made his epic voyage across the Pacific Ocean on his balsa raft called the Kon Tiki. I’m guessing Thor Heyerdahl never thought about someone opening up a tiki bar based on his amazing journey, but in 2017, that’s exactly what happened! My good friend Kevin Crossman paid a visit to The Kon-Tiki and came back with this incredible write up. I’ll let Kevin take it from here …

Oakland is special place in the history of Tiki, thanks to Victor Bergeron who opened Trader Vic’s in 1938 and of course when he invented the Mai Tai in 1944. While Trader Vic’s is no longer in operation in Oakland, there’s a new tiki bar well worth a visit. The Kon-Tiki opened in November 2017, taking over the building after adventure/tiki bar Longitude closed earlier that spring. Owned and operated by Christ Aivaliotis and Matthew Reagan, you’ll usually find Christ serving as a bartender, master of ceremonies, and the public face on The Kon-Tiki. “Coming at it from a bartender’s perspective instead of a chef like most restaurants, has been really helpful because it’s more about hospitality rather than the thing you’re serving,” said Aivaliotis when I spoke to him about the venture.

Aivaliotis has been in the bar industry in the Bay Area for many years and was deeply interested in opening a bar in his hometown. The location in the northern end of Oakland’s Chinatown is just two blocks from the 12th Street BART station, making it a convenient location for East Bay Tikiphiles like me who would rather not fight rush-hour freeway traffic just to visit a tiki bar during the work week.  The takeover of the Longitude space seems to have come together quickly and through a series of fortunate events. “I wasn’t even looking to open a Tiki Bar”, Aivaliotis told me. But once the venture got going, Aivaliotis went all in.  “I wanted it to be derivative of all the tiki bars that I’d loved and have never been to because they closed years ago. I wanted to open a tiki bar because I love the drinks and I love rum.” Decor here is classic tiki bar all the way, with no “clown tiki” or modern variances on the genre. Tikis are everywhere.

And do you know what else is everywhere? Rum. Lots of it. The Kon-Tiki recently launched their Rum Club, the Kon-Tiki Expedition. Aivaliotis said he is a collector by nature. “I wanted to have every rum I could get!” Aivaliotis told me, and said that it was always part of the plan to do a rum or tasting club. “We decided it would be a big one, with 100 rums to start. The rums were chosen to be exemplary for the rum type or style, and then some variations within that. For example, I have three Clairins, the Haitian Agricole rum, because I think they are different enough from each other but also interesting as a category to have them all on there.” After people complete the 100 rums they will be immortalized on the wall with a plague made by artist Woody Miller (Kon-Tiki’s mug designer), custom glazed mugs as a prize, plus discounts. Aivaliotis told me there is a woman who claimed she didn’t like rum but now she is so enthusiastic that she’s completed half the rums already and is looking to be the first woman to complete the program (one brave and hearty soul has already finished the 100 rums in less than a month!).

When The Kon-Tiki opened, the cocktail menu leaned heavily on tiki classics such as the Zombie, Jet Pilot, Navy Grog, and Samoan Fogcutter. Interestingly, the Mai Tai has not appeared on their printed menu, though they’ll happily make you one with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve rum if you order it. The Mai Tai also often appears on the happy hour menu, made with Plantation Dark rum. The highly trained bartenders can make anything you ask for and do so without any attitude. The friendly personality and hospitality of the staff at The Kon-Tiki is important to Aivaliotis who told me “if you make someone a good drink they might come back, but if you give them a good time they’ll definitely come back.”

Earlier this year, the cocktail menu had a makeover. Many of the classics were dropped in favor of Kon-Tiki originals or more obscure cocktails from other bars. I’m a big fan of the Rum Old Fashioned variant called Rum & Honey that is made with St. Benevolence rum (a rum that funnels all profits to support medical and education services in Haiti). The new menu also expanded the communal drink selection, and added aperitifs and non-alcoholic selections. I recently tried a couple of the “straight-edge tiki” drinks and while I didn’t love the Coca-Coconut (Coke and coconut creme), I thought the sparkling Tropical Lemonade with passionfruit and mango was delicious.  The new menu also features souvenir Mai Tai and Zombie glasses as well as the Kon-Tiki’s signature Tiki Mug. These glasses and mugs are all top-notch. Aivaliotis told me he expects to continue to change up the cocktail menu from time to time and that “there is always an eye to quality over … profitability (laughs). I will use a more expensive ingredient if it makes the drink better – compared to most bars who are focused on the bottom line for better margins.”

One of the more interesting aspect of The Kon-Tiki is the food menu. While not an extensive list, the selections vary from their amazing Burger with pineapple-maui onion jam and kewpie mayo to more exotic items such as pork bellies, smoked trout dip, grilled trumpet mushroom and a rotating selection of Filipino-inspired dishes from chef Manuel Bonilla. On our last trip, my wife and I loved the scallops made with ponzu, apple, and radish sprouts. And I could not resist the Burger, which I think is amazing and maybe the best thing in the building – a high bar when there are top-quality tiki cocktails and a selection of over 100 rums! Aivaliotis told me the food program was really important, especially since tiki drinks are so strong.

Of course, The Kon-Tiki isn’t the only tiki bar in the Bay Area. In fact, there are a number of classic and upper-echelon bars ranging from The Tonga Room to Smuggler’s Cove. But Aivaliotis doesn’t view this as a competition as much as being part of the community. “I just love that in the tiki scene that it doesn’t feel like it’s a competition – it feels like we’re part of a family. I love seeing Doc Parks (Pagan Idol and the upcoming Zombie Village) come, and Michael Thanos (Forbidden Island) comes a lot. And I go to their bars. And I think it’s nice to see everybody treating it like we’re friends rather than as competitors trying to hunt down every last nickel from a person who wants a Zombie.”

When I asked Aivaliotis what was coming up in the future for The Kon-Tiki, he told me he’d like to have more music events, and more “trinkets and stuff” as a takeaway from the visit. They have more glassware coming and there will be a charity aspect inspired by The Kon-Tiki’s regular Wednesday Ohana night that celebrates the tiki community. He also said that he is looking to do more community events and a vending presence at local festivals and events. He also said they are looking to expand their perception as a restaurant and so may do some special culinary events at the location.

The Kon-Tiki has come a long way in a year and I’m more than pleased to call it the closest thing I have to my “local tiki bar”, even though I’m not there every week (I live in a black hole of tiki in the Bay Area, about a 30 minute BART ride from The Kon-Tiki). The varied cocktail menu is really top notch and the food is interesting and appetizing. The semi-regular rum nights with various rum producers has been a big draw for me and others in the community. The 1 year anniversary celebration is on November 10th. If you’re visiting the Bay Area and doing a tiki tour, do not miss The Kon-Tiki. And if you’re a local and haven’t been? Well, you need to get yourself over there right away.

Here is The Kon-Tiki website

And Facebook page

The write up and all photos by Kevin Crossman

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The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai