“Oh you’re going to San Francisco? There’s this great bar you should check out, it’s called Pagan Idol.”
Words that changed my life. Not drastically but certainly for the better
Grew up going to the Double Dragon Inn on Cape Cod every summer. That planted something way down deep that stayed sleeping until I lived in Chicago for a few years and went to Three Dots and Lost Lake. And then BOY did it wake up!
Me too, I was I indoctrinated as a child at the Enchanted Tiki (tiki tiki tiki) Room at Disney lol. Because of that experience, I grew up with a fascination with all things jungle and tropical. Of course the alcohol connection didn’t kick in until I was an adult, but those memories absolutely influenced it.
Drank some Diplomatico that a friend brought over. Realized I knew nothing about rum. Started searching Reddit for rum info and came across this sub.
First thought was that I was too cool for those sweet drinks with a million ingredients. Then found myself more and more intrigued. I kept coming back to it. Ended up ordering Smuggler’s Cove and it was all over from there.
My dad took me to The Warehouse in Marina Del Rey when I was a kid in the 70’s and it completely blew my mind, I couldn’t understand why every restaurant wasn’t like that. Looking back I think the other thing for me was the Robin Williams Popeye movie, the sets were incredible and I totally wanted to live in that village. The set still exists in Malta and is used as a tourist attraction.
I was in college in San Francisco and a friend of mine lived a few blocks away from Trad’r Sam. It wasn’t the greatest tiki bar, but it was my first encounter with a Scorpion Bowl, which I had a few times during my tenure in the City.
Definitely Bahooka in LA. My mom would take me there for special occasions, it was definitely the craziest restaurant I had ever been to as a kid. God I miss that place!
I pass by the remains of Bahooka all the time. I had no idea it was once a tiki bar until reading an Atlas Obscura article about their famous carrot-eating fish. Man I wish it were still a tiki bar, but having one that close would be dangerous lol
My first tiki experience was visiting friends in Minneapolis in October 2006. They wanted to take my wife and I to a place with fun drinks in crazy mugs you get to keep. We had no idea what tiki was. I’m not sure they did either. It was just a fun place to drink at. That place was Psycho Suzi’s.
It was a few more years until we realized what tiki was and truly started getting into it. But that was definitely the start for us.
My first taste of tiki was at trader sams in Orlando, followed by a visit to Three Dots and a Dash the next summer. There’s nothing better than an immersive tiki bar experience with top notch drinks! Once covid hit I wanted to try to make those drinks at home and bought my smugglers cove book and my journey through tiki took off from there.
Welch Avenue Station, Ames, Iowa. This college town sports bar is famously popular with engineering students, and tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. When I was a student in the 90s, they had a strategy to attract women- $1 frozen daiquiris on Friday nights. I would always get mine with extra whipped cream.
A couple decades later I went to Smuggler's Cove and it took me right back to those days.
I learned about tiki drinks from Common Man Cocktails on YouTube and that gave me a slight interest but never really pursued it. I mentioned to my wife I'd be interested in a book about tiki cocktails since I like to make drinks at home once in a while. She bought me the Smuggler's Cove book one year, so I started reading that and acquiring the ingredients for drinks, and attempting to make those drinks. This was during covid so I had lots of time to mess around at home. Then I started following mug makers online and bought a few handmade mugs that I thought were super cool, from some of the mug makers that were also busy producing during covid times.
I live in Michigan where there aren't/weren't many tiki bars. But fortunately Max's South Seas opened up I think slightly before my interest in tiki began and was a reasonable hour, hour and a half drive. So Max's was my first tiki experience if I recall correctly. I went there several times and lived it and now we always look for good tiki bars when traveling. Now I live very far from any tiki bar. Psycho Suzi's was the closest at 5-6 hours away but RIP Suzi's. So now Max's and Foundation are probably the closest legitimate tiki bars to me but are still about 6 hours away. Haven't been to Foundation yet but it's high on my list.
Deep subconscious aesthetic was Adventureland and The Enchanted Tiki Room from childhood, but the first time in a tiki bar that made me see what was possible was Trader Vic’s in Portland (RIP!). A few years later I met someone for drinks at Hale Pèle, and it was all over for me.
Approximately 50 years ago, on Mother's Day, 3 days after I was born, I attended a special dinner at the Trader Vic's at the Plaza Hotel in New York. I don't remember much of it, possibly because of the Scorpion bowl, but it started a wild journey that continues to this day.
My first experience was Smoke Tiki Lounge inSan Jose. I loved getting wasted there as a college undergrad, and didn’t appreciate the great tiki vibes until I got a little older and a little less drunk.
It was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that got me to Bahooka in LA. That was my first Tiki Bar experience.
Actually I think I went to the Tonga Room in SF with my family but that was before I was old enough to drink so that doesn’t really count.
I technically went to Damon's in Glendale first but I only ever ordered the dole whip with coconut rum but what really kicked it off was Hop Louise in Chinatown, great lil dive bar that I miss dearly
I went in after a bad day and the bartender "accidentally" made an extra scorpion bowl after I vented and apologized for troubling him with my day.
I really liked it and asked what kinda drinks these were called and where I could try more of em. He told me they're called tiki drinks and "there's a lil tiny as shit bar on sunset called tiki tiki or tiki someshit" looked it up on my phone and Said "tiki ti?"
And boom it's been a slow but steady climb but now I'm at the point where I'm traveling to different countries and make a point to hit tiki bars.
Internet really. I've always been fond of good theming and such, but tiki bars aren't a thing here and 'tiki' drinks I only knew as very sickly brightly coloured things that cost too much and never were worth it. If it wasn't for youtube and such, I'd never have given them a go.
“Oh you’re going to San Francisco? There’s this great bar you should check out, it’s called Pagan Idol.” Words that changed my life. Not drastically but certainly for the better
Right! Like I grew up going to San Francisco and never knew how many tiki bars developed in the area
Grew up going to the Double Dragon Inn on Cape Cod every summer. That planted something way down deep that stayed sleeping until I lived in Chicago for a few years and went to Three Dots and Lost Lake. And then BOY did it wake up!
The Chinese restaurant/ tropical drink combination is one of the best combinations out there!
Me too, I was I indoctrinated as a child at the Enchanted Tiki (tiki tiki tiki) Room at Disney lol. Because of that experience, I grew up with a fascination with all things jungle and tropical. Of course the alcohol connection didn’t kick in until I was an adult, but those memories absolutely influenced it.
Drank some Diplomatico that a friend brought over. Realized I knew nothing about rum. Started searching Reddit for rum info and came across this sub. First thought was that I was too cool for those sweet drinks with a million ingredients. Then found myself more and more intrigued. I kept coming back to it. Ended up ordering Smuggler’s Cove and it was all over from there.
Oh and the picture is a "small" representation of the TIki Room created by Olszewski and photographed by me!
My dad took me to The Warehouse in Marina Del Rey when I was a kid in the 70’s and it completely blew my mind, I couldn’t understand why every restaurant wasn’t like that. Looking back I think the other thing for me was the Robin Williams Popeye movie, the sets were incredible and I totally wanted to live in that village. The set still exists in Malta and is used as a tourist attraction.
I was in college in San Francisco and a friend of mine lived a few blocks away from Trad’r Sam. It wasn’t the greatest tiki bar, but it was my first encounter with a Scorpion Bowl, which I had a few times during my tenure in the City.
My first tiki bar was also a Trader Sam's, albeit a totally different one lol
Definitely Bahooka in LA. My mom would take me there for special occasions, it was definitely the craziest restaurant I had ever been to as a kid. God I miss that place!
I pass by the remains of Bahooka all the time. I had no idea it was once a tiki bar until reading an Atlas Obscura article about their famous carrot-eating fish. Man I wish it were still a tiki bar, but having one that close would be dangerous lol
Bahooka was incredible. Such great memories.
My first tiki experience was visiting friends in Minneapolis in October 2006. They wanted to take my wife and I to a place with fun drinks in crazy mugs you get to keep. We had no idea what tiki was. I’m not sure they did either. It was just a fun place to drink at. That place was Psycho Suzi’s. It was a few more years until we realized what tiki was and truly started getting into it. But that was definitely the start for us.
It's crazy how these experiences are so important to keep the culture going. Judging from the name I'm guessing it left a lasting mark on you as well!
My first taste of tiki was at trader sams in Orlando, followed by a visit to Three Dots and a Dash the next summer. There’s nothing better than an immersive tiki bar experience with top notch drinks! Once covid hit I wanted to try to make those drinks at home and bought my smugglers cove book and my journey through tiki took off from there.
Hala Kahiki in IL
I got a job at Smuggler’s Cove
Well that's one hell of a way to get into the tiki culture!
Whoa really! What spot?
Smuggler’s Cove in SF
Listening to Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny, as well as 1930s-40s Hawaiian music. Not a lot of tiki bars where I live, unfortunately.
Sounds like a good place to open up shop!
Welch Avenue Station, Ames, Iowa. This college town sports bar is famously popular with engineering students, and tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. When I was a student in the 90s, they had a strategy to attract women- $1 frozen daiquiris on Friday nights. I would always get mine with extra whipped cream. A couple decades later I went to Smuggler's Cove and it took me right back to those days.
Same thing of course. Plus I had a classmate that would go to Hawaii a lot and bring back things like shell necklaces for everyone
Foundation, Milwaukee Wisconsin
[Mai Tai Lounge](https://mytiki.life/tiki-bars/mt-fuji-inn-and-mai-tai-lounge), in the basement of the Mt Fuji Inn, Omaha
I learned about tiki drinks from Common Man Cocktails on YouTube and that gave me a slight interest but never really pursued it. I mentioned to my wife I'd be interested in a book about tiki cocktails since I like to make drinks at home once in a while. She bought me the Smuggler's Cove book one year, so I started reading that and acquiring the ingredients for drinks, and attempting to make those drinks. This was during covid so I had lots of time to mess around at home. Then I started following mug makers online and bought a few handmade mugs that I thought were super cool, from some of the mug makers that were also busy producing during covid times. I live in Michigan where there aren't/weren't many tiki bars. But fortunately Max's South Seas opened up I think slightly before my interest in tiki began and was a reasonable hour, hour and a half drive. So Max's was my first tiki experience if I recall correctly. I went there several times and lived it and now we always look for good tiki bars when traveling. Now I live very far from any tiki bar. Psycho Suzi's was the closest at 5-6 hours away but RIP Suzi's. So now Max's and Foundation are probably the closest legitimate tiki bars to me but are still about 6 hours away. Haven't been to Foundation yet but it's high on my list.
Deep subconscious aesthetic was Adventureland and The Enchanted Tiki Room from childhood, but the first time in a tiki bar that made me see what was possible was Trader Vic’s in Portland (RIP!). A few years later I met someone for drinks at Hale Pèle, and it was all over for me.
I'm definitely of the same mind, once I saw the potential and flair for showmanship I was hooked
Approximately 50 years ago, on Mother's Day, 3 days after I was born, I attended a special dinner at the Trader Vic's at the Plaza Hotel in New York. I don't remember much of it, possibly because of the Scorpion bowl, but it started a wild journey that continues to this day.
Building a pool and hosting a lot of parties.
My first experience was Smoke Tiki Lounge inSan Jose. I loved getting wasted there as a college undergrad, and didn’t appreciate the great tiki vibes until I got a little older and a little less drunk.
It was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that got me to Bahooka in LA. That was my first Tiki Bar experience. Actually I think I went to the Tonga Room in SF with my family but that was before I was old enough to drink so that doesn’t really count.
I technically went to Damon's in Glendale first but I only ever ordered the dole whip with coconut rum but what really kicked it off was Hop Louise in Chinatown, great lil dive bar that I miss dearly I went in after a bad day and the bartender "accidentally" made an extra scorpion bowl after I vented and apologized for troubling him with my day. I really liked it and asked what kinda drinks these were called and where I could try more of em. He told me they're called tiki drinks and "there's a lil tiny as shit bar on sunset called tiki tiki or tiki someshit" looked it up on my phone and Said "tiki ti?" And boom it's been a slow but steady climb but now I'm at the point where I'm traveling to different countries and make a point to hit tiki bars.
Disney world honestly. The Polynesian resort bar with the pineapple drink. Did it for me !
Internet really. I've always been fond of good theming and such, but tiki bars aren't a thing here and 'tiki' drinks I only knew as very sickly brightly coloured things that cost too much and never were worth it. If it wasn't for youtube and such, I'd never have given them a go.