#1033 - Kon Tiki, Tucson, AZ - 3/20/2010

I'd heard that Bamboo Ben helped to spiff up Kon Tiki recently, but I was still more impressed by the decor than I expected.  I'd put it up with the Tonga Room among my favorite tiki bars below the Mai Kai line.  I personally favor the lazy afternoons with old regulars to the younger, louder crowd on weekend evenings, but I was happy to see it doing a brisk business.

The appetizer plate, and in particular the ribs, were first rate, and the huge menu of drinks better than average.  Wish I could be there April 10 when a bunch of the tiki folks help out with the relighting of the Kon Tiki torches ceremony.

(More pics)

4625 E Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85711 - (520) 323-7193
kontikitucson.com - critiki - yelp

#1030 - Trader Vics, Scottsdale, AZ - 3/19/2010

I love Trader Vic's, of course, and this particular visit had the benefits of being on the patio on a warm March night in Scottsdale, where the ubiquitous scents of jasmine and fire pits make the evenings all the more pleasant.  Also, this one is associated with the swanky Hotel Valley Ho, which makes a fine additional stop.

6850 E Main St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 - (480) 248-2000
tradervics.com - hotelvalleyho.com - yelp

#587 - Bali Hai, San Diego - 8/20/2007

#585 - Thatch, Portland - 7/28/2007

A new, small, and beautiful tiki bar.

2733 NE Broadway St., Portland, OR 97232-1722 - (503) 281-8454
critiki - tiki central - portland food and drink

#519 - HulaHula, Seattle - 12/27/2006

Hulahula opened last week and I visited it with Poi Polloi last night. It is adjacent to Tini Bigs martini bar and under the same ownership. It's fairly spacious and has a generous amount of bamboo, thatch, and Witco-like bas reliefs. The dance floor of the previous venue now features lounge chairs and a blacklight tiki mural that runs the length of the room. The drinks were mediocre, I had a below average mai tai and a worse pina colada before we had better luck with a navy grog and some punch type drinks (I watched the bar tender refer to the instructions to make some of them).

Poi Polloi was very pleased with his appetizer, a shrimp, bacon, and hot pepper combo. I think they've done a fairly good job on the decor -- it's much more seriously devoted to tiki than any Seattle establishment except the Luau. It did feel a tiny bit sterile -- e.g. the wall decorations were too evenly placed, rather than giving the sense I like in a bar that the decorations have been slowly accumulating over many years. The bartender was friendly, but the place had very few patrons when we went -- granted in the dead week between Christmas and New Years. I'd like to see what the ambiance is like when it's more full. It's well worth a trip for any locals or visitors to the area, though you may have to go soon if business doesn't pick up considerably. For me it's a very welcome addition to Seattle's tiki world.

Historical notes: The building that holds Hula Hula and Tini Bigs was constructed in 1929
The "Midway Tavern" first appears at this address in the Polk Guide in 1935. It has since hosted the Tic Toc Tavern, the Puzzle Tavern, Arthur's A Fine Pub, Romper Room, and Watertown


106 1st Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 284-5003
Est. Dec. 2006
Previous bars at this location: Arthur's Pub, Tic Toc Tavern, Puzzle Tavern, Midway Tavern, Romper Room, Watertown

#497 - The Hukilau, San Francisco - 3/12/2006

Not much tiki to speak of at the Hukilau. In fact, there didn't seem to be a tiki in the place. The feel is of a college haunt for beer drinking and burgers, with only a passing nod toward the tiki theme. The drinks came with umbrellas in the straws, rather than fruit garnish.

(Last two bars posted out of order because I forgot about them from SF trip.)

Est. 2002 - Closed 2012
5 Masonic Ave, San Francisco, CA

#474 - The Tonga Room - 3/10/2006

Excellent. I would rate the Tonga Room a very close second to the Mai Kai, and I can't understand why more isn't made of it by west coast tiki folk. Not only is the general decor close the Mai Kai, but the rain storms every half hour and the band -- though it's neither an exotica band nor a very good band -- coming out on a boat in the middle of the pool -- this is top rank tiki escapism.

The Mai-Kai, Ft. Lauderdale - 10/7/2005

The fabulous grand-daddy of all tiki bars.

maikai.com - critikis

(more photos)

Address: 3599 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

Phone: (954) 563-3272

The Alibi, Portland - 6/26/2004

Portland has the immense good fortune to have the trifecta of tiki bar types: The high end in Hale Pele, the classic, mid-range with a Trader Vic's, and the vintage divey in the Alibi.  But while the Alibi goes back to the 40s, hosts karaoke, and certainly does not have the craft cocktail chops of a place like Blair Reynold's Hale Pele, don't mistake the "divey" for some half-hearted tilt toward a theme -- the Alibi is a dark, adjust-your-eyes-and-drop-you-jaw, tiki wonderland.

The building here is said to go back to the 1880s, when it was the "Chat-n-Nibble, a stop for horse and buggies along a dirt road called "the interstate." This would later become either Patton or Maryland Avenue (these were renamed Interstate Avenue in 1917). After prohibition it was a tiny tavern called "Max Alibi, which was owned by a Mr. Peterson and quite successful for several years. In 1947 Peterson sold it to Roy Ell, who turned it into a tiki bar, emulating the experiences he had enjoyed in Hawaii. Over the years Ell expanded the place, engulfing a private home behind the tavern and a Texaco station next door to expand parking, as well as adding a restaurant section in the 50s and additional tiki touches, including the large, blacklight, hula girl bas-relief mural and Witco-style railings in the 70s.

Ell leased the business out in the 80s with the stipulation that the decor not be altered, and eventually sold the place to Larry and Karla White in 1992.  The Whites again refurbished the interior and rooftop sign in 2005, taking care to consult local tiki aficionados and preserve the vintage tiki style, despite no longer being required to do so.  Larry White passed away in early 2013.

If you are a tiki fan, the Alibi is not likely to win your affections through their overly sweet drinks, the fairly standard bar food menu, nor the drunken karaoke singers. But it is exceedingly rare to see such a long-lived institution so devoted to its tiki decor, especially one that feels so unremittingly like a bar, without concessions to the restaurant area or sunlight. You enter through a thatch hut (mostly likely acquired from the old Kon Tiki) and, as your eyes adjust to the soft glowing lamps and fish tanks in the dark, you're never sure what lies around the corner. It is this stark transition from the bright, suburban America outside -- more pronounced than you were ever experience at, say, a Trader Vic's -- which makes this one of my favorite tiki bars in the country.  Especially with the closing of places such as Rosemead's Bahooka, I feel an abiding debt to Roy Ell, Larry White, the Portland area folks who helped clean it up and preserve it, and even the karaoke singers.

(Exoticat photo)

4024 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 287-5335
Est. 1947
Previous bars in this location: Max Alibi
Web site: alibiportland.com
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