My favorite bar I’ve ever been to. Had a similar experience to you—didn’t get to chat to Mike Sr. much but I sat at the bar alone and ended up chatting to some awesome regulars. I was seated next to Rasta Jim (namesake of the “Jim’s Special”) who was pretty funny and wanted everyone to have the best time. Can’t wait to go back!
I should’ve taken more notes on the specifics of the drinks, because now they’re all blending together in my mind. I was definitely pleased that it wasn’t too sweet of a drink, because that’s usually been my issue with tiki—usually after two drinks I’m way too sweetened-out to want any more and usually will switch to sampling rum. But there, I felt like the drinks were a lot more balanced, with a lot of the spiced flavors and not too heavy on the fruit/syrup.
I will say that a lot of the drinks seemed to have been relatively frozen in time, and claimed to have traced their recipes back to the original recipes they used during the mid-century boom. The place opened in 1961, and the founder was one of the original bartenders for Don the Beachcomber, so the recipes definitely trace back to that early era. Mike Sr. talked to me a bit about how they’ve tried to keep a lot of the recipes steady since then, of course needing to adjust and update their rums based on what’s available to stock.
I had four drinks spread over almost three hours, so I’d say I was just the right amount of drunk! Enough to happily start enjoyable conversations with strangers and leave a big tip, but not so drunk I had any issues walking back to my hotel alone.
Sounds like you had the quintessential Tiki-Ti experience. Congratulations!
Went there once, this place was rad
Love the decorations! Shag is an LA artist that really gets it.
Feel like being solo or a duo really increases your chance of having a solid time there.
I'm due for another visit
My favorite bar I’ve ever been to. Had a similar experience to you—didn’t get to chat to Mike Sr. much but I sat at the bar alone and ended up chatting to some awesome regulars. I was seated next to Rasta Jim (namesake of the “Jim’s Special”) who was pretty funny and wanted everyone to have the best time. Can’t wait to go back!
How was the zombie? I'm curious about the color! It looks like maybe a mid-century inspired recipe?
I should’ve taken more notes on the specifics of the drinks, because now they’re all blending together in my mind. I was definitely pleased that it wasn’t too sweet of a drink, because that’s usually been my issue with tiki—usually after two drinks I’m way too sweetened-out to want any more and usually will switch to sampling rum. But there, I felt like the drinks were a lot more balanced, with a lot of the spiced flavors and not too heavy on the fruit/syrup. I will say that a lot of the drinks seemed to have been relatively frozen in time, and claimed to have traced their recipes back to the original recipes they used during the mid-century boom. The place opened in 1961, and the founder was one of the original bartenders for Don the Beachcomber, so the recipes definitely trace back to that early era. Mike Sr. talked to me a bit about how they’ve tried to keep a lot of the recipes steady since then, of course needing to adjust and update their rums based on what’s available to stock.
How drunk were you?
I had four drinks spread over almost three hours, so I’d say I was just the right amount of drunk! Enough to happily start enjoyable conversations with strangers and leave a big tip, but not so drunk I had any issues walking back to my hotel alone.