Tiki, Tropical & Polynesian Pop Culture
Tiki Cat – Kansas City, Missouri There are few places I actually fantasize about visiting, but Tiki Cat was one of them. They were featured in House of Tabu Exotica Moderne magazine and the highball zombie glass is one of my favorites. Today I heard the news I fear is just the beginning of many […]
Tiki Triangle Book —> CLICK HERE TO ORDER <— From the classic Mai Tai to the infamous Zombie, in this book you will find over 100 recipes including classic tiki cocktails, modern mixology techniques, and easy to prepare Asian and Polynesian foods. You will also discover details on how to recreate these classic drinks, complete […]
The Upstairs Bar This is a really cool place of interest. This was a speakeasy during Prohibition in the late 1920s a Philly gangster named Max “Boo Boo” Hoff put up a front called the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company. It is said that they ran more liquor than Al Capone. 80 years later after the […]
Exotica Moderne Tiki Lovers Alert! There is a new magazine out and its called Exotica Moderne. This is a modern take on vintage Polynesian Pop with many modern features and insights of how the movement is alive and well. In the first few pages they set the mood with music that is keeping the scene […]
The Polynesian Tiki Bar at the Pod Hotel It might not be easy to find, but about 4 Flight upstairs of the Pod Hotel in Times Square in Manhattan, there is a rooftop oasis called The Polynesian Tiki Bar. It is a modern interpretation of Polynesian pop culture complete with artwork, palm trees, appetizers, pupu […]
Martin Denny April 10, 1911 ‒ March 2, 2005 Martin Denny is best known as the Father of Exotica Lounge Music, a keystone of the Tiki Culture. He was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles. After touring South America, he became fascinated with latin music and the instruments used in that music. […]
Renaissance Aruba Blue Bar On the rooftop of a strip mall where a hotel resides, is one of the best places to get Polynesian cocktails I thought I could ever find. I never really expected to find one of the very best craft cocktail lounges I’ve ever been to is a Marriott hotel attached to […]
Otto’s Shrunken Head As their story goes, a small group of native New Yorkers got together in early 2002 and decided that New York City did not have a decent Tiki Bar. The demise of Hawaii Kai in Times Square and the destruction of Trader Vic’s at the Plaza Hotel by Ivana Trump left New […]
Waitiki Waitiki in Orlando Florida and in the general area of Disney World should the adults need a break from Mickey Mouse. I know I did. Of course Disney has their own Tiki restaurant, but if you care to slip away into the city and get away from the theme park theme, downtown Orlando is […]
China Paradise CLOSED 2016 [ORIGINALLY POSTED 11/11/12, Now Closed] After 25 years this same restaurant in the same location still seems to be fairly reliable. Their website claims they have been in business over 40 years, since 1968, which would make it closer to 45 years, and that would truly date it in the height […]
Lee’s Hawaiian Islander What to love about places like this, is that they have not changed on the inside or out for nearly half a century. Its really surreal to step off the street into a place that looks like its practically closed. There are no windows, so the outside world is shut out, and […]
Chan’s Dragon Inn This is truly one of the last of the great Polynesian themed tiki bars. In New Jersey there are less than a handful left, and this is only one of 3 in North Jersey. It has all the decorations to make it officially tiki: vintage photos of Hawaii up on the wall, […]