Hula’s Island Grill, Monterey

Mrs Mai Tai and I had a great lunch at Hula’s Island Grill in their newly expanded back patio. We have enjoyed our visits to the Hula’s locations here in Monterey but also in Santa Cruz and at the Hula’s Modern in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

The back patio has a nice tropical vibe and I enjoyed my Trader Vic’s fish sandwich while Julie loved her Tofu Jungle Bowl. Service was very friendly and super efficient.

Cocktails at Hula’s can be hit or miss but I really enjoyed my Pele’s Punch (first picture). This normally comes with Firewater Bitters and since they are VERY spicy I asked for Angostura Bitters instead. It was a delicious punch with some great Blood Orange flavors. Mrs Mai Tai had her requisite Pink Bikini Martini and loved it as always.

Hulas has two cocktail sections and it is nice to see them trying to elevate the cocktails with their Premium Cocktails menu. For our second round Julie had the POG Punch, which she liked okay and which I thought was pretty good. More tart than sweet but overall quality was right up there. I also tried the Reverend Stiggins, a Mojito riff using the Plantation Fancy Stiggins Pineapple Rum. When I was here a couple years ago I thought there was too much mint. This time it was balanced quite well. The soda adds a lightness that made this cocktail super refreshing.



We had a great time at Hula’s.

This was tiki bar number 15 for me in 2020. Compare to 2018 when tiki bar 15 was April 21, and last year when tiki bar 15 was March 21. This year has really sucked for visiting tiki bars.

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