I visited 25 tiki bars in 2017, which is a mix of luck and effort. I was fortunate to visit some new cities, where I was able to visit some great tiki bars. In particular, the tiki bars in San Diego and Portland were highlights. Some bars below I was able to visit several times.
Surprises? Tiki-Ko in Bakersfield is amazing and well worth going out of your way to visit. I had suuuuuper high expectations for False Idol and Hale Pale and in both cases all the expectations were exceeded. Superb places!
- Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto (Orlando)
- Trader Vic’s Emeryville
- Smuggler’s Cove (SF)
- Forbidden Island (Alameda)
- Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar (Anaheim)
- The Jungle Bird (Sacramento)
- Longitude (Oakland, RIP)
- Kona Club (Oakland)
- Pagan Idol (SF)
- Hukilau (San Jose)
- Cat Eye Club (San Diego)
- Bali Hai Restaurant (San Diego)
- False Idol (San Diego)
- Trad’r Sam (SF)
- The Alibi (Portland)
- Hale Pele (Portland)
- The Shameful Tiki Room (Vancouver, B.C.)
- Tiki-Ko (Bakersfield)
- Bamboo Hut (SF)
- The Royal Hawaiian (Laguna Beach)
- Aku Aku (Orlando)
- Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room (Santa Cruz)
- The Kon-Tiki (Oakland)
- The Tonga Room (SF)
- Luau Lounge (SF)
Thanks to Julie Crossman who was my partner in crime for most of these visits.
Also thanks to Jim and Richelle for the fun SF Tiki Bar Crawl on the hottest day in San Francisco history. It was too hot but still lots of fun. We visited three bars in one night (Smuggler’s Cove, Bamboo Hut, and Pagan Idol).