tiki bar

Tiki Bar Review #15 Tiki Ti Los Angeles. CA

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Bars 2 Comments
Tiki Ti
Tiki Ti

I have a guilty pleasure: Kodachrome pictures!

Time machines haven’t been built yet, so the closest you can get to going back in time is looking at old pictures. Sadly, most pictures were taken in boring black and white back in the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s. Usually the film was cheap and those pictures have faded away anyway. Kodachrome pictures are different. They look vibrant, colorful, and alive. These pictures really are the closest you can get to seeing what the past was like. Or maybe there is another way to experience the past:

By tasting it!

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Tiki Bar Review #14 Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar Anaheim, CA

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Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar
Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar

One of my favorite things to ask people is, “What got you into Tiki?” For some people, their first step was going to a Tiki bar for the first time. Another thing people tell me is a trip to Hawaii or someplace tropical got them interested in living the Tiki lifestyle. There is one last reason that is quite common, especially out on the West Coast, and that is Disneyland!

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Tiki Bar Review #13 The Golden Tiki Las Vegas, NV

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The Golden Tiki menu
The Golden Tiki menu

It’s all about escapism. It really is.

We all work hard and we all get into our own routines. One day turns into the next and before you know it you’re a decade older. Sometimes being able to escape from your day-to-day life and pretend you’re somewhere else is not only fun, but I think needed! Besides Disney, no place does escapism better than Las Vegas, NV.

Just walk down the Las Vegas Strip and choose your own adventure. Want to stay in a medieval castle? Want to be whisked away to Paris? How about New York City? Or even spend a weekend in a pyramid? You can do all these things and after a couple drinks, you’ll forget that you’re in the middle of the desert!

Yes, the people who design the hotels in Las Vegas have escapism down to a science. If you run a Tiki bar there, you have to up your game! Branden Powers, the owner of the Golden Tiki, rose up to the Las Vegas escapism challenge and came back with a full house! The Golden Tiki is awesome!

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Tiki Bar Review #12 Frankie’s Tiki Room Las Vegas, NV

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Frankie's Tiki Room Las Vegas
Frankie’s Tiki Room Las Vegas

The punk rock/Tiki connection is alive and well with Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas, NV. If you’re a touring punk rock band, you’re well aware of the Double Down Saloon, which is “the” place to play in Vegas. Punk shows at the Double Down are legendary and the man behind such a cool place is P. Moss. P. Moss got together with Chris Andrasfay and bought Frankie’s, an old Vegas bar that only locals knew about, and made it what it is today: an incredible Tiki bar!

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #8 The Lowbrow Lanai Portland, OR

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars
The Lowbrow Lanai bar
The Lowbrow Lanai bar

Sometimes the hardest part about creating your own Tiki bar is finding the things you want to add to it. There is always eBay or Craigslist, but most of us find our Tiki treasures going to antique stores and thrift shops. I’ve done my share of traveling from one antique shop after another looking for that perfect Tiki mug. It took me over a year to find my Mid-Century Modern couch! Marci Holcomb and Austin Jordan don’t have to search very far for cool stuff. They own their own vintage store: Sputnik Housewares! Marci and Austin’s store and home are in Portland, OR. This is their story…

Marci and Austin
Marci and Austin

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #7 The Exotica Glendale, AZ

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The Exotica dining room
The Exotica dining room

Jim Hyte lives in Glendale, AZ, which means he lives in the desert. I remember on TV when someone was lost in the desert and dying of thirst, they would start to hallucinate. The image the person would see was always a large pool with palm trees. Jim decided to make that hallucination into a reality. He has turned his home and backyard into the Exotica!

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #6 The Monkey Hut Portland, OR

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment
Penelope at the bar
Penelope at the bar

Every home Tiki bar is built the same way: one piece at a time. It may start with the bar itself, a piece of furniture, a Tiki, a wall hanging, or even a Tiki mug itself that creates the spark for someone to start to build a home Tiki bar. Everything you see in a home Tiki bar has a story behind it and adds to the history of the bar. The Monkey Hut, Heather Gregg and Craig Hermann’s home Tiki bar in Portland, OR, has its own history that starts back in the ’90s in Petaluma, CA.

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #5 Cave Of The Kungaloosh Washougal, WA

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 2 Comments
Cave Of The Kungaloosh Moai
Cave Of The Kungaloosh Moai

When it comes to a full Tiki experience, there are three factors: décor, music, and drinks. These three factors are what I look for when I visit a Tiki bar. The décor and music are major factors that can make a Tiki bar great, but the most important thing for me is the cocktails. But what happens if the cocktails were taken out of the equation? Would a Tiki experience be the same without a Mai Tai in my hand? This is something I never really thought about until I talked to Daren Ford…

Cave Of Kungaloosh owner Daren
Cave Of Kungaloosh owner Daren

Daren has turned his home and backyard into a Tiki getaway. His place is called the Cave Of The Kungaloosh and it’s truly amazing. But there is one thing that’s different with Daren: he doesn’t drink alcohol.  Can someone enjoy the Tiki lifestyle without drinking? Let’s find out…

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