Earlier this year, I posted about my "Great San Francisco Tiki Crawl". I hit five bars over the course of one day. (You can read about it HERE). Although I am frequently in the Bay Area and I usually have a little tiki time on every visit, on my last visit two weeks ago, I hit three tiki bars (all different ones from the January visit) and decided to share the experiences.
PAGAN IDOL:
I had been to Pagan Idol before. Previously it had been crazy crowded and I didn't have the best time there. The friend I was with enjoyed it even less than I did. But it is a tiki bar and it has a nice reputation. The decor was fun and it has two bars. Sure, I'd be happy to give it another shot. And I did.
My first day in the Bay Area, I dashed off to SF to take touristy shots for a friend in Russia who had been asking me about the city. (You can read about that HERE.) I was near Chinatown and realized I was near the bar.
So, when 4 p.m. rolled around and the Pagan Idol welcome mat was rolled out, I decided to treat myself to a return visit. It was tiki-riffic!
Going in at opening was a wonderful way to give the place a second chance. I had the entire bar to myself for the first half hour or so...and I made the most of it. Not only did I order a fab-o-rama cocktail, but i also got to let my freak flag fly and take lots of pictures!
The lower bar has a ship/nautical motif. The light fixtures are these cool glass things that look as if tentacles are writhing out of them.
The main seating area features a large ship's wheel as its focal point.
The lower bar features a stained glass faux window of a peacock. I don't get the significance, but it is nicely rendered.
Wanting to get a little upstairs time in before the tiki crawl that was scheduled to show up and take over the upper area arrived, I bid Jason farewell and made my way up the steps to the back room. Beneath the steps you'll notice are faux burning lava coals! Yikes!
The upper bar, with its tropical setting, is my favorite of the two bars. The bar area features a dueling water feature with bubbles and colored lights. I really love the glass balls (floats), netting and ropes hanging overhead as well.
On my first visit to Pagan Idol a few years back, I could not make out what this grotto-like area was supposed to be (probably because of the lighting?). It is a pretty cool feature, though. And you have to love the stars twinkling above.
There are two hut-like booths. Fab!
And several tikis.
Drink #2...the upper bartender Johnny's choice, a Barbados Rum Punch! Zowie!
While I was there, I opted to pick up one of their souvenir mugs, the Lono, named and designed after the main tiki in the upper bar's seating area.
The tiki crawlers arrived and I was banished back to the ground floor bar.
For my third and final drink, Jason concocted a Ginger Groggers. Clever name - tasty drink.
Pagan Idol, at second glance, is a swell bar. I can see why it is so highly rated. When it's busy, it's a mad house. When it's quiet, it IS paradise.
Pagan Idol
375 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 985-6375
Website: https://www.paganidol.com/
LAST RITES:
Of the three bars I visited on my recent Bay Area adventure, Last Rites was the bar I was looking forward to the most for no other than I had never been before and it would all be completely new to me. Sure, I had seen pictures of the giant skull wall thing on Critiki, but I had never experienced any of it for myself.
There really isn't much to the front other than the sign jutting out from the wall. But even the lettering got me excited.
The theme of Last Rites is that a plane has gone down somewhere, deep in a dense jungle with headhunters and and some sort of ancient temple.
There are a pair of skull wall sculptures like this on either side of the rear wall. They are so creepy cool.
In a small alcove for three, there is a table set up that is ringed by three chairs salvaged from the downed aircraft.
The inner hull of the aircraft serves as the bar. You can see the plane's windows behind some of the bottles.
Here is a coaster. Of course I took a picture...and of course it disappeared into my pocket for a trip home... The fake blood and grime were a nice touch.
The seating area opposite the bar is in the old temple.
My first drink was the signature Last Rites, complete with burning cinnamon sticks. I also tried a Last Rites Mai Tai. Delicious.
The bar seating is also modified airline seats.
The bartenders where flight jump suits (very clever touch). I forget my bartender's name, but she was fantastic. That is a bad photo of her below serving a girl who just turned 21 the day before a Lover's Quarrel. It was my birthday gift to the birthday girl. While she was waiting for her friends to arrive, we had chatted. She was new to tiki and I was pleased I could be her introduction to it with her first tiki drink. CHEERS!
Last Rites was fab. They were doing so many things right there, I hated to leave. But I will be back...
Last Rites
718 14th Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
website: https://www.lastritesbar.com/
TRADER VIC'S (Emeryville):
I had been to Trader Vic's years and years ago when I was still living in San Francisco. I always meant to get back...I just never did until recently. Of my recent attempts to return, I always seemed thwarted. I went back last year only to find the place closed over the holidays. Earlier this year, I was heading there and had a flat tire. We never made it that day. But the third recent attempt was the charm. And what a surprising experience it turned out to be.
We arrived on an early Tuesday evening. It is Happy Hour all day on Tuesdays...and the word must have gotten out because the place was packed.
While I had been there before... Zowie! This time it was like walking in to a completely different place. Have they redone the place in the last 20 years or what? Nothing was like I remembered it.
We did not have a reservation and the dining room was surprisingly full. Luckily they had a spot in an alcove off of the bar. (The bar is far more interesting than the dining room anyway.)
But before looking at the dinner menu, we did something far more important...we perused the drink menu!
One thing was noticeably missing from the menu---the wonderful Kamiina that I'd had all those years ago. I had written down the drink and looked it up online to get the recipe. The recipe I found did not do the drink justice and I was really looking forward to having another. Alas, it was no longer on the menu. Instead, I opted for one of the weekly special drinks (I don't recall the name though). It was pretty looking...but not so pretty tasting. Oh well.
The bar area was hopping though. I hoped my subsequent cocktail would be delicious...
At one point, I had to use the Men's Room. Did I take pictures in there? What do you think?
Although i only got shots of one, there were dueling urinals and...
Dueling sinks. (Bad photos---I know. But, hello? I was in the bathroom. I had to be quick and sly...)
Just beyond the entrance was a display case showcasing all kinds of Trader Vic's swag that could be purchased (I think). Prices were not on display, so I didn't end up buying anything. Drat.
Just down from the display case was this glassed-in portion of the kitchen area with these big oven things where the meats are cooked.
One of the Happy Hour specials was a pupu platter. Crab rangoon, chicken wings and jalapeno cheese balls. Yum!
It got later and later and still the place was pretty full.
From the bar area, there was a port hole looking into the dining room.
It was time for our 2nd round. Erich had the Kona Puffer (on the right), which was a blend of pineapple, passion fruit and almond mixed with gin and a dropper of overproof rum (you can see it sticking out of the front of the mug). I settled for a chi chi (left), which is basically the tried and true pina colada with vodka and a hint of orange (It was on the happy hour menu, too).
Speaking of mugs, there was a cup tree showing the various mugs being used there. Cool.
I'm such a tiki nerd, i even took a picture of the ordering screen the waiters use---with the big Trader Vic's Emeryville logo on it.
A glance into the dining room showed a swanky, open seating area that looks out on the bay. This is different than I remembered. I recalled many intimate little dining rooms --- one table per room. The open plan was much nicer.
The place had lots of island-like decor.
The Happy Hour menu. Build your own pupu platter $10. Chi Chi $9.
The case the bill came in... (Yes, I take pictures of EVERYTHING!)
A tiki near our seat.
As the evening wore on, the crowd began to dissipate.
As we left, I snapped one last shot of some tribal masks on the wall. (All of those masks were the perfect ending to the night, October 30th, 2018.... Halloween would be the next day--and there would be masks aplenty out and about.)
I totally dug Trader Vic's. It was way cooler and much nicer than the place I remembered it being. It's funny, but I was in no hurry to return to Trader Vic's (it had been nearly 20 years). Now I can not wait to get back there. Whoo hoo!
Trader Vic's
9 Anchor Drive
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 653-3400
website: https://tradervicsemeryville.com/
Critiki: https://www.critiki.com/location/trader-vics-emeryville-53/
CHEERS!
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