New York

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #114 Rita’s Lost Weekend – Matawan NJ

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars
Rita's Lost Weekend

Remember that movie Escape From New York?

Once you got in, it was hard to get out. But in reality, it’s quite the opposite. If you want to drive into Manhattan from New Jersey you have only three options: Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel or the George Washington Bridge. If you want to take a train in, you got two ways in, NJ Transit or you can take the PATH train.

So, if you want to tiki and you live in New Jersey, what do you do? You don’t escape to New York, you build a tiki bar in your garage and escape there! This is exactly what Shanna and Johnny did and here’s their story…

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #78 The Parrot’s Perch – Niskayuna NY

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 3 Comments

When people think of New York, they immediately think of New York City. But there is more to New York than just the Big Apple, there’s the rest of the state and it’s huge! Niskayuna is located above Albany, and I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of Niskayuna until now. Brendan Halayko and his wife Beth live in Niskayuna and they have an awesome home tiki bar called The Parrot’s Perch. Here is their story …

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #76 The Lost Pearl – Rochester NY

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 2 Comments

It gets cold and snowy in upstate New York and if you’re looking for a tiki bar, sadly you are out of luck. The nearest tiki bar is three hours away and in Canada. Kirk Doran lives in Rochester and after a life changing trip to Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto down at Walt Disney World, he decided to build his own tiki get-away. The name of his bar is called the Lost Pearl which is named after his aunt and it’s a perfect escape from the snow and cold weather. Here is Kirk’s story…

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Tiki Blogging #8 Tiki Triangle – Justin Cristaldi

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Blogging

Tiki Triangle Justin Cristaldi

Tiki Triangle is my East Coast tiki connection …

Justin Cristaldi lives in New Jersey and blogs about all the tiki things going on in the Tri-State area. What I love most about Justin’s blog Tiki Triangle, is that he gives straight-up honest reviews of tiki bars and always recommends what you should and shouldn’t order. I have a soft spot in my heart for New Jersey’s three Chinese tiki bars: Lee’s, Chan’s Dragon Inn and Lun Wah, and you can find Justin hanging out drinking a Mai Tai at one of them. Here is Justin’s story …

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Tiki Bar Review #28 Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Bars

Otto's Shrunken Head

Hey, this used to be Barmacy!

When I first walked into Otto’s Shrunken Head, I felt like I’d been there before. I lived in New York back in the early 2000s and before Otto’s was Otto’s, it used to be Barmacy. Barmacy was a bar that was supposed to be a pharmacy that turned into a bar. Pretty interesting idea, but a Tiki bar is so much cooler!

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