Tiki in Vegas, Wahine
Taboo Cove and Club Venus
Las Vegas, NV
Taboo Cove is part of a group of newly erected tiki bars across the country that feature spectacular tiki interior design (by tiki carver Bosko in this case), great drinks, and an astounding collection of vintage memorabilia...but they drop the ball with the loud music and clubby environment. Tiki is about chillin', people. Get nutty somewhere else...like at Club Venus next door, where astoundingly hot women frolic in a club designed by red-hot illustrator Shag. Chicago's Rock-A-Tiki and Washington DC's Politiki rate identically.
Mai Tai Inu: Whatever Mo serves ya. You'll find this sexy barkeep at Taboo Cove, and she serves the best drinks in Vegas.
Tiki Bar You Can't Go To
Polynesian Room
Vancouver, BC
This spectacular multi-level wonder, built in 1955, is fully intact and perfectly preserved...behind locked doors. Open only for special events (and for scores of film and television shoots) the Polynesian Room is a rare treat for those who have managed to get a peek inside this kapu (that's Hawaiian for VIP-only) locale. The decline of interest in all things tiki through the Seventies and Eighties forced the lockout, but we hope the latest tiki renaissance will inspire the owners to open the Polynesian Room to the general public once more. Chin Tiki in Detroit (seen in 8 Mile) and Chicago's Kona Kai are other vintage tiki temples kept under wraps.
Mai Tai Inu: Sorry, this one's gone dry!
City Exploding With Tiki
New York, NY
Whenever things get rough, people flock to their local pretend Polynesian paradise for a little escapism. With that in mind, it's really no surprise that five new tiki bars have recently opened their doors in the Big Apple -- there were none prior to 2001. Some of these nouveau tiki temples nail the vibe perfectly, like Brooklyn's Zombie Hut, where one of the drink recipes requires the bartender to actually set the bar on fire. Others don't quite get it, including the Tiki Room, which looks good from the outside, but inside the magic fades fast: no tikis, no tropical decor. In the search for the ultimate NYC tiki, there are some near misses: Kahiki Lounge is great, but only open during the summer (within Marion's Continental Restaurant), and Otto's Shrunken Head is a live rock club, although tikis carved by Wayne Coombs abound. The East Village's Waikiki Wally's may be the best of the quintet. It opened last September on the site of the famous bondage club La Nouvelle Justine, has decor by the legendary Oceanic Arts and the notorious Crazy Al Evans, and serves their drinks in Tiki Farm mugs.
Mai Tai Inu: The potent suffering bastard at the Zombie Hut will get you drunker than all those rough nights in college...combined.
If You Only Visit One
Mai Kai
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Opened in 1956, the Mai Kai is a spectacular Polynesian paradise. Look for an extensive dinner menu, amazing drinks, gorgeous cocktail servers in really short sarongs and bikini tops, a full floor show (featuring stunning hula girls, fire-knife dancers and a full band), authentic oceanic carvings everywhere you can point your eyeballs, and architecture that will make you forget you're on the mainland. Although places like the Mai Kai could be found in every major city in the Fifties and Sixties, nothing else currently exists on this scale. With the loss of the Kahiki in Ohio two years ago, the Mai Kai survives as the only remaining example of its genre. Worth the trip from wherever you are right now.
Mai Tai Inu: All of 'em.
James Teitelbaum is the author of Tiki Road Trip: A Guide To Tiki Culture in North America.
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