I'm Freaky for Tiki: An Introduction

It's no secret. I am freaky for all things tiki. I'm not sure just WHY I dig the tiki thing either. I think basically it is just the element of FUN that is mixed into the bar experience. It's an adventure, a trip to a foreign locale...without the necessary travel. Tiki bars that are done right can transport you for an hour-long vacation to a tropical wonderland or just give you a place to unwind in an amusing atmosphere.

I don't know when this obsession started, but it seems to be life-long. "Gilligan's Island" reruns and ads on TV for Fresno's Leilani and Luau restaurants (Hmm... what could those be like?) fueled my childhood interest.  However, it would take years and YEARS before I could act on the tiki interest (I had to turn 21 first...and then had to get the courage up to go in. Yes, believe it or not, I was always scared of going into bars alone. I still am...unless, of course, it's a tiki bar! Ha!)  Sadly, by the time I had the nerve to visit the Leilani and the Luau (with friends I managed to convince to go with me), they were long past their heydays and not very tiki.

THE LUAU:

The Luau gave the best impression of what it once was. I visited it in the 90's some time. It was a Chinese buffet by that time. The dining room had no pizzazz. However, just beyond a curtain you could see into a storage room...which used to be the bar. WOW! It looked like it had once been swanky cool. I recall there was also a door outside that bypassed the restaurant and announced it was the entrance to the tiki room. 

But it's all gone now. The building and sign are still there. It's still a buffet, but the business isn't even called The Luau any longer and the sign has been altered so that it no longer has anything tiki about it.

No more Luau...

THE LEILANI:

 

I finally got to venture into The Leilani in the late 90s. I had long loved the cool neon coconut tree that stood on Blackstone Avenue, beckoning me. When I finally got there though, whatever Polynesian elegance and style it may have once had had been stripped bare. The restaurant was nothing but a big open room with bare walls. There was no longer a bar area. It was gone. The sign was eventually painted all black before eventually being removed. Dang. Tiki coolness I never got to experience.

The entrance to The Leilani. I'm not even sure this exists any more.

The Leilani and The Luau were apparently owned by the same people as their mugs (of which, I DO have one) listed both names on the back. Looking around online (where all of these photos come from), I've found samples of the mugs, as well as napkins and matchbooks.  Take a look:

Since then, Fresno has been devoid of tiki. UGH! (Further proof Fresno is a great big PIT.)  But that doesn't mean that the rest of the world is tiki-free. No, no, NO! In fact, I go out of my way to find and experience that tiki thang I can't here in my own backyard. 

Critiki is an excellent source to track down all things tiki. You can visit my little page on Critiki here. It is through Critiki that I found out about the new tiki bar (Tiki-Ko) in Bakersfield (Bakersfield has a tiki bar and we DON'T? How is that fair?) that I intend on visiting next month. 

EBay has also been awesome for finding vintage tiki mugs and other goodies. It was there that I found my Leilani/Luau mug. Start your own search here.

I'm always on the lookout for tiki...and somehow tiki always finds me. Case in point, The Mr. Chu cocktail I had in Bend, Oregon at some Chinese restaurant (see photo below) this past summer. Bend was apparently one of the many no tiki zones I've encountered on many of my trips...but this one cocktail (in a Fu Manchu tiki mug) appeared. Zowie! (I was unable to buy the mug there, but did find another on eBay. Ha!)

I think that, in the coming weeks, I'll add more tiki entries to the blog, perhaps featuring a tiki bar or two each time. But right now it is tiki time somewhere. Mai Tais anyone? 

CHEERS!