Okay, I’m just going to say it: The Shameful Tiki Room is the best Tiki bar in Canada!
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Tiki Bar Review #23 The Shameful Tiki Room Vancouver, BC
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A Pop-Up Tiki Bar! The Low Tide Lounge Seattle, WA
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.
Here is his story…
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Tiki Bar Review #22 The Mai Kai Fort Lauderdale FL
I live in Seattle. I booked a flight and flew six hours across the country to go to the Mai Kai. Why? Because when it comes to Tiki bars, the Mai Kai is it! My visit to the Mai Kai lasted five hours and I could have stayed longer. What is so special about the Mai Kai you may ask? Well, let’s start from the beginning…
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Tiki Bar Review #21 Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto And The Disney Polynesian Village Resort Orlando, FL
The last time I was at Disney World, they were just starting to build Epcot…
Tiki Bar Review #20 Lee’s Hawaiian Islander Lyndhurst, NJ
Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
It’s a city that’s a 45-minute train ride from downtown Manhattan. It has no claim to fame and I can’t see anyone needing to or wanting to go there—unless you happen to be my buddy Matt who lives there.
I was in Pennsylvania visiting my parents and long story short, I missed my connecting flight that would get me back to Seattle. I asked the man at the flight desk what my options were. He said I could come back the next day and fly out at 5:00 AM (no, I wasn’t doing that!) or I could fly down to Newark right then and fly out from there the next morning at 8:00 (okay, that’s much better). So that’s what I did.
Matt picked me up at the Newark airport and started heading back to his place. “Are you hungry?” Matt asked. “If so, there’s someplace you need to see.”
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Tiki Bar Review # 19 Aku Aku Orlando, FL
Boy and girls, today’s word is “Tiger Fu@#ker.”
Who would’ve thought to create a Tiki drink that mixes the flavors of huckleberry and jalapeno? I have the answer. It’s the Aku Aku in downtown Orlando, Florida!
Tiki Bar Review #18 Tiki No North Hollywood, CA
The San Fernando Valley has many names. Some people refer to it as “the Valley.” Others may call it “North Hollywood.” The “No” in Tiki No is a reference to North Hollywood. The Valley has the oldest Tiki bar in So-Cal, which is the Tonga Hut. Now the Valley has the newest one with Tiki No. Visiting two great Tiki bars is totally worth the trip to North Hollywood!
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Tiki Bar Review #17 Tonga Hut North Hollywood, CA
The Tonga Hut is a Tiki bar that turned into a dive bar, then turned into a Tiki bar again. It’s the oldest Tiki bar in Los Angeles, opening for business in 1958. Tiki was very popular back in the ’50s, but by the time the late ’60s rolled around, people had moved on to other things like polyester pants and underpowered automobiles.
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My Tiki Origins #1 The Haunted House At Knoebels Grove, PA
Every journey starts with a first step, but sometimes you may forget when and where that first step might have been. When it comes to the living the Tiki lifestyle, it usually starts by walking into your first Tiki bar. Then you hit another. Then you buy a Tiki mug. Then you buy another, etc.
I can remember my first Tiki bar. It was Hula Hula in Seattle, WA…
The year was 2006. In theory, Hula Hula should’ve been my first step in the Tiki world, but actually, it wasn’t. My first step was at an amusement park in Pennsylvania called Knoebels Grove…
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The Mid-Century Modern And Tiki Connection
It seems like most people I meet who love Tiki also love Mid-Century modern. Why is that? Well, I have a theory.
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