Detroit Archives - Tiki with Ray

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #120 Mahu Lounge – Ypsilanti MI

Posted by Ray on October 21, 2024 in Home Tiki Bars 2 Comments

There’s a waterfall in the shower!

Kurt and Lance live in a small town east of Detroit. It’ called Ypsilanti and I have no idea how to pronounce it! Downstairs in the basement of Kurt and Lance’s home you will find the Mahu Lounge but what’s unique about their home tiki bar is that it expands into different rooms. A bedroom adjacent to the bar has been turned into the The Dirty Pearl VIP Champagne Room. The tiki has also moved into the downstairs bathroom as well. They never use the shower so they put a waterfall in it! Great idea! Here is the story of the Mahu Lounge and The Dirty Pearl VIP Champagne Room…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #119 Paradis du Zombi – Grosse Pointe MI

Posted by Ray on October 9, 2024 in Home Tiki Bars 2 Comments

When I walked in to Zach Robert’s home tiki bar, I felt like a I stepped into a temple, a tiki temple! The bar is in the center of the Zach’s space with two tall tikis from Detroit’s Mauna Loa, two smaller tikis on the far sides of the garage and one giant tiki towering above the bar. The name of this incredible bar is Temple of Rum but that doesn’t include what’s on the outside! I will let Zach tell you more about Paradis du Zombi…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #117 Kraken’s Bay Tiki Lounge Warren MI

Posted by Ray on July 26, 2024 in Home Tiki Bars 5 Comments

From Parrot Head to Tikiphile…

Before Ed Schroeder discovered tiki, he was a Parrot Head. There’s a lot of crossover between the tiki, pirate and Jimmy Buffett subcultures. From an outsider’s perspective, they may appear all the same, but as Ed slowly discovered the world of tiki, he realized that tiki bars are the “real deal” and started to build his own! Kraken’s Bay Tiki Lounge is Ed’s basement but it feels like paradise. Here is Ed’s story…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #116 The Exotica Suite – West Bloomfield MI

Posted by Ray on June 27, 2024 in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

It’s been said that good things come to those who wait.

In the case of The Exotica Suite – a home tiki bar in West Bloomfield, Michigan owned by Matt and Nui Totsky – that certainly rings true. Matt shares how their story of patience and perseverance finally paid off with the room of their dreams.

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #82 The Boom Boom Room – Royal Oak MI

Posted by Ray on March 17, 2021 in Home Tiki Bars

I usually like my tiki bars dark but in the case of Matt “Captain” Wittstock’s Boom Boom Room, keep the lights on! I’ve always wondered what a home tiki bar might have looked like in the 70’s and I think I found my answer. There are so many cool little details inside the Boom Boom Room that it would be a sin to turn the lights out. Here is Matt’s story …

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Tiki VIP #40 Michael Zadoorian – Author/Detroit Tikiphile

Posted by Ray on March 12, 2020 in Tiki VIP

I just finished reading Michael Zadoorian’s new book THE NARCISSISM OF SMALL DIFFERENCES and I totally relate to the characters. Joe, one of the main characters in the book, is a 40 something Gen Xer, no kids, doesn’t want kids, into old stuff and hangs out in tiki bars. This would describe me as well. I hope to meet Michael in person someday, but I already feel like I know him. I know where he’s coming from. Here is Michael Zadoorian’s story …

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