The fictitious world of tiki became my paradise at young age. Some of my earliest happy memories involve thatched umbrellas waving in a warm breeze, colored lights flickering on cocktail tables in a darkened room, and lots of maraschino cherries on a fanciful plastic skewer. Trader Vics was our special occasion restaurant when I was a child and I went into deep mourning as most of them disappeared.
In recent years, it seems like every bar with an umbrella or rum drink on the menu is now marketed as a tiki bar. But very few of them are willing to commit to the level of tiki that I require to deserve the name. For my 60th year, I thought I’d review 60 tiki bars according to my unscientific standards of that it takes to be worthy of the label. I’m always on the lookout for a good one, and I welcome recommendations!
If you want to know more about what I’m looking for in the ideal tiki bar, you can take a look at my blogs “What Exactly is a Tiki Bar?” “The History of Tiki,” and “What is a Tiki Drink?”
I will be adding to this list:
- Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – When we stumbled into Latitude 29 in New Orleans, we encountered a dedication to preserving tiki legends that is simply staggering.
(My use of the words “stumble” and “stagger” was my subconscious mind adding its two cents to the review). This place has it all: glowing lanterns and fish traps hanging from the ceiling, giant tiki statues, a map showing where various types of tiki-esque statues can be found around the south Pacific, and stunningly delicious appetizers. But these are merely accessories to the real star of the show: the tiki drinks. Beachbum Berry apparently hunted down bartenders from the bars that pioneered tiki—Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s—and got them to reveal enough of the secret cocktail recipes that he was able to reconstruct these masterpieces. Now he keeps most of them a secret—bartenders who work at Latitude 29 have to sign a stack of legal documents promising to maintain confidentiality about the recipes. This means that you can settle in at the bar and enjoy a navy grog, zombie, suffering bastard, mai tai or any one of about 40 other cocktails made in way that you could never duplicate at home (or in another bar) in a million years. - The Big Owl Tiki Bar – Perched on wooden pilings suspended over the water in Kent Narrows, Maryland, Big Owl’s is a great example of what I think of as modern tiki.
Instead of building an atmosphere in a dark, quiet space, this type of tiki bar relies on mother nature for most of the décor. I will say, however, that they seem to add new tiki statues every time we come, so they are making an effort to evoke a sense of tiki bar style. The bar doesn’t focus on any classic tiki drinks, but they make wonderful fresh fruit crushes. I feel like my summer hasn’t started unless I’ve enjoyed my time on Big Owl’s deck with a grapefruit crush trying to to sit at just the right angle to keep my hair blowing into my mouth. - Casey Key Fish House — The Tiki Bar is small but scenic on the water some distance away from the restaurant in Osprey, Florida.
They make a good maitai, but don’t offer other tiki drinks. Still an enjoyable place for a drink that puts you in vacation mode.
- Jules’ Salty Grub & Island Pub—It was too windy to put up the umbrellas, but we wanted to be out of the sun and still enjoy the outdoor view overlooking the harbor on Bald Head Island, North Carolina.
“Why don’t have you have a seat at the Tiki bar,” Jules suggested. And even though it wasn’t set up yet for the day, she had servers accommodate us and that gave me a chance to evaluate the tiki-ness of the setup. To be honest, I would not have known it was a tiki bar if she hadn’t given it that label—there was not a tiki statue in sight. However, the menu featured some original and classic cocktails featuring fruit infused rums, coconut, and other tiki ingredients served in a clear, glasses with the contours of a tiki mug. My drink included guava and coconut milk which gave it a light pink hue that wouldn’t have been at all noticeable in a standard ceramic tiki mug. I don’t think I’d ever really consider it a tiki bar, but the patio at Jules’ is a wonderful place to enjoy original drinks while you decide which yacht you’ll purchase when you win the lottery. Great sushi, too. - The Lazy Pirate – Once advertising themselves as having the biggest tiki hut on the East Coast, the Lazy Pirate in Carolina Beach is a great place to hear live music, but it’s not really a tiki bar. However, they do get an honorable mention for offering a “rum bucket” which is a low-budget homage to the elaborate giant multiple-straw drinks served in the traditional tiki bars.
- Leaping Lizards Tiki Bar – This poolside bar at the Hampton Inn overlooks the Carolina Beach boardwalk and sand dunes so
it is definitely relies on the outdoor setting rather than tiki accountrements to set the vibe. In fact, there was nothing even remotely tiki themed except some fish traps tucked up high on the ceiling. Drink offerings focus more on margaritas than tiki specialities, but they do make a decent rum punch. Not surprisingly, it gets crazy crowded on summer nights when fireworks are expected, and it’s probably better off season anyway. Sitting outside near one of the firepits on a cool fall evening is a great way to extend the relaxed feeling of summer just a little bit longer. - Low Tide Tiki Bar – Perched over the rocks at the start of the north end Carolina Beach Pier, this small bar offers some of the best views on the island.
For its size, it boasts an impressive number of tiki masks and statues, although most of the atmosphere comes from mother nature. There are a couple of tiki drinks on the menu, such as the painkiller, but standard beers and rail drinks are served more frequently, and of course everything is in cans or cheap disposable cups. When the weather’s nice, I think it’s impossible to sit at the bar and not instantly feel like you’re on vacation. - Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar – When Carolina Beach locals mention to “the tiki bar,” this is the place they’re referring to. Set on the
remains of a fishing pier that collapsed in a hurricane nearly 30 years ago, the tiki bar portion sits directly over the beach. While drinks are served in nondescript disposable plastic cups that can blow away if you’re not hanging on tight, this bar does make a good effort to deserve the designation as a proper tiki bar. They feature a variety of good rums and make tiki drinks with ingredients such as falernum which no one has by accident. For the Carolina Beach Centennial, they created a special cocktail based on the classic Navy Grog. Their creation, Beauregard’s Grog, was named in honor of a blockade runner that sank nearby in 1863 and is still partially visible at low tide. If the blackened scallops happen to be on the menu when you’re there, you do not want to miss them. - O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill — Surrounded by water in the middle of “urban” Sarasota, O’Leary’s delivers a relaxing vibe even though it is a very busy, spread out establishment.
They offer several creative drinks, but none of them are particularly tiki-esque. They do offer some souvenir tiki cups, but it’s not enough to reach the level of kitsch required for a true tiki bar. - Sea Witch Café & Tiki Bar – Like the Lazy Pirate, this Carolina Beach bar is best known for music under a big thatched hut, but this property also includes a variety of porches and a big stage. There are a few tiki accountrements, but it’s hard to notice them among all the TVs. It’s as if a sports bar was marooned on a tropical island. On Sundays during football season, there is no place better to watch a game with a host of people who will become your closest friends for the afternoon.
- Shaka Shack Tiki Bar – This is a great tiki bar for kids and those fond sweet, nonalcoholic beverages. The Shack, which is in the
middle of Surf’s Up Mini Golf in Carolina Beach, features a variety of virgin dacquiris and Italian ices prepared to order. The alcohoic drinks, on the other hand, are all canned. The vibe is more beachy than tiki, but the mini golf course is creative and a lot of fun. During our visit, they were decorated for Halloween, so all the water features were dyed red and cute dophins were spattered with blood. Visitors with sensitive children might want to wait until November. - Tiki Bar Oriental – The tiki bar at the Oriental Marina & Inn is probably the worst tiki bar I’ve ever been to. It’s not just a bad tiki bar–it’s a bad bar overall.
Unless you want a Miller Lite or a shot of Jack in a plastic cup, you’re pretty much out of luck. And you may wait 45 minutes to get it. A certain amount of delay was to be expected because we were there during a music festival, but the hotel was sold out, so the crowd was not exactly a surprise. Fortunately, the evening we were there, the weather was beautiful and the people in line were nice to talk to. Oriental, North Carolina is a lovely town but they’re currently facing a serious deficiency in the tiki department. - Tiki Docks Riverview – Is there such a thing as “Industrial Tiki?” If so, this bar and restaurant on the outskirts of Tampa has nailed that vibe. It was both impressive and disconcerting at the same time. The drink menu was extensive, featuring a few tiki classics like the Zombie, but mostly new creations or variations on old standards. They offered a collection of “shareables” in giant glasses, which is a classic tiki tradition, at least in my mind. The food is probably more reminscent of Mexico than the South Seas. They made liberal use of Don the Beachcomber’s name, so it either shows a commitment to craft cocktails or a desire to make use of the marketing rights they’ve paid for. On a nice day, the view overlooking the river is quite pleasant.
- Tiki Garden — This tiki bar in the Fed Hill area of Balitomore was so disappointing I left without even ordering a drink.
Everything they had appeared to be swirling around frozen in a machine of doom. They have a great website, however, so maybe there are plans to invest more in the future to make it an actual bar.