tikitomtom

The radio news was focused on the launch of Apollo-Soyuz flight into space, but my mind was more interested in my next meal. I dialed through the radio stations and finally settled when I heard Glen Campbell belting out Rhinestone Cowboy. It seemed appropriate for my road trip across the southern California desert. I was […]

“You need to get your Arizona tiki shit together.” That’s what Cathie, a Tiki friend from California, told Richard when she introduced him to Verity – Veritiki – at the Kon Tiki’s 50th anniversary back in 2014. A few days later, they started the Tiki AZ Facebook page, and people flocked to the site. Now

One day, James – aka Trader Tobin – decided he wanted to try this thing called Tiki. His plan of attack was to make a painkiller cocktail and purchase a tiki mug online. A short five days later, and at the insistence of his wife Marshell, they were at Tiki Oasis. It was written in

When she was a young girl, Debbie’s grandparents would often take her on Sundays to the Islands, a Polynesian Pop restaurant in Phoenix. She remembers the experience fondly. But, when her family drove past the Kon Tiki (the Phoenix location long gone now), her parents told her it was a bar – and she was

No services for 74 miles. That’s what the sign tells you as you leave Marfa, Texas to drive west. Translation: You’d better have a full tank of gas. You’d better have some water. You’d better not feel anxious about seeing absolutely nothing except stunning high desert landscapes. All that and a shoe shop too. It

How do you combine an obsession for industrial goth music, an appreciation for mid-century modern design, a German sensibility, a love of rat pack music, and a fascination for tiki together into one cohesive space? Ask Frank – aka DJ Hans 242 – who created The Tiki Room TX in San Antonio. The Texas Tiki

Jason is the Boozy Doodler. A gifted tattooist. Black velvet painter. Menu graphic artist. Tiki cartoonist. Cocktail tinkerer. Prop master craftsman. Tiki bar glass designer. If it’s tiki, he’s doing it. Jason and Casey invited me to stop by for a Jungle Bird at the TaBoozy Lei, their home bar located in New Braunfels, Texas.

When Caroline travels to Chicago, she arrives early at Three Dots, orders her first drink, has a PuPu platter dinner, keeps the tiki cocktails coming until the crowd and music gets clubby, and walks out in a straight line. The Three Dots and a Dash bartender took notice once, and told Caroline – you must

Yma Sumac pulled Alice around the side of her table at the Hukilau and told her she had a beautiful voice. The photographers noticed the moment, flashing bulbs commenced, and Formikahini’s status as a famous exotica singer was confirmed. Her exotica career happened by chance. Alice went to hear Clouseaux, a fourteen-piece exotica band complete

Matt Pietrek and I met at Latitude 29 and were deep in discussion about his experience with writing and publishing his amazing home bar book, when the guy to my left interrupted. “I like the look you guys got going on. Do you guys know anything about Tiki?” I couldn’t help myself, so I blurted