Category: Travel

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New Format for Mai Tai Day 2026 at Trader Vic’s Emeryville

Mai Tai Day is the day each year where we celebrate the birth of the world’s greatest cocktail and the man who invented it, Trader Vic Bergeron. The date is based on Oakland’s 2009 Mai Tai Day proclamation, the city where the Mai Tai was invented.

Trader Vic’s Emeryville has been hosting ticketed Mai Tai Day celebrations since 2019, with varying degrees of scope depending on the year. A couple years ago it was the 80th anniversary so there was a three-day celebration including a “Black Tai” event that was all-inclusive in the restaurant along with a dressy theme. In most years, Mai Tai Day has featured a festival vibe with vendors and performances in the parking lot plus drink and food stations inside.

Trader Vic’s Emeryville recently announced this year’s theme and a different scope for event ticketing.

Mai Tai Day 2026: Mai Tais then Fly

Flight departs August 30th. Destination: paradise.

Mai Tai Day 2026 is an all-inclusive tropical takeover: themed rooms, Tahitian dancers & drummers, rum tastings, island food, and enough Mai Tais to forget you never left the Bay.
3PM – 8PM. 21+. Limited seats. This one will sell out.

This one-day event seems to be similar to the Black Tai event with an all-inclusive food/drink format and ticket price of $200 plus fees. This setup will provide for a more intimate experience but has also generated some consternation from some previous attendees who are balking at the high entry price. That’s certainly understandable, especially for those who won’t drink their “money’s worth” of Mai Tais and other cocktails. We will see if this actually sells out or not, and whether this format works better for Trader Vic’s, but in any case we’ll see you there.

The travel theme seems to be paying homage to the Oakland Airport and Kona Hawai’i locations that are opening in the near future. The airport location is supposed to open very soon, though several rumored April and May openings have passed. The Kona location is connected to a refreshed Hampton Inn by Hilton Kailua-Kona Bay property that is taking reservations for October, and the venue just launched their website and Instagram profile @tradervicskona.

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Fresh Cocktails at Cavaña Near Oracle Park

Our trip to see the Giants play at Oracle Park started early with a visit to nearby Cavaña, a rooftop bar and restaurant that’s across McCovey Cove and part of the LUMA Hotel. The day was cold and breezy so we spent most of our time inside at the bar, but the rooftop views of the ballpark and Mission Bay are spectacular.

Cavaña leans into Central and South American flavors for both the cocktails and their food offerings, so the drinks have Agave spirits, Cane spirits, or Pisco. Many cocktails include floral and herbal elements, such as my Papaya which combined Pisco and Elderflower liqueur. Mrs. Mai Tai was immediately drawn to the coffee-forward Banano that included Santa Teresa rum as well as banana milk. Perhaps the best of the standard menu items was the Guayaba that included tequila, guava, and rose petals. All of these were outstanding and offered unique flavors you don’t experience at most places, and there a number of interesting non-alcoholic options as well.

Guayaba

There’s a very nice spirits list at Cavaña, and I spotted a bottle Rivers Royale rum from Grenda, a potent flavor bomb that’s wild and pungent. Seeing a Caipirinha on the menu, I asked for a spirit sub with the Rivers. The bartender cogently informed me that this was really high proof, which I said was okay, and then when he presented the drink, the bartender chuckled and said “that’ll get the job done.” This was a really good format for this powerful spirit, just enough lime and sugar to support the amazing flavors.

This was our second stellar visit to Cavaña, which is a great option for drinks and food before or after events at Oracle Park or nearby Chase Center. The authentic flavors drive a stellar lineup of offerings that offer something for everyone.

Papaya, Banano, Guayaba, and Caipirinha

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Beautiful Day on the Santa Cruz Wharf at Makai Tiki Bar

My company gave me Friday off for a “wellness day” so Mrs. Mai Tai and I went over to the Santa Cruz area for shopping and lunch. After a quick visit to Capitola and Soquel, we drove onto the Santa Cruz Wharf for lunch at Makai Island Kitchen and Groggery.

Makai has been a favorite of ours for some time, including the rotating bar area. This is such a unique feature and you have full views of the ocean, Makai’s Captain’s Table room, and the rest of the restaurant. We also saw a vast rum list that was over 30 pages and according to staff features over 620 rums, very quietly one of the largest collections of any venue in the United States. We both enjoyed our lunch, I had the Poke Bowl that includes lychee and crushed macadamia nuts as different kind of options, with Mrs. Mai Tai having the Halibut Green Curry Bowl.

There are bunch of different cocktail options including many developed by the crew. I started with a 1944 Mai Tai that I should have loved, featuring Appleton Signature, Smith & Cross, and Planteray Xaymaca rums (three of my favorites), but this Mai Tai was too lime forward and I could barely taste the rum. We had much better luck with the other cocktails, including the sweet banana flavors of Squid Ink, the light gin and lavender flavors of Purple Haze, and the not-too-sweet ube and coconut Triumph & Disaster. Our favorite was Pau Hana, a gin and elderflower cocktail that incorporated lemon and raspberry. This cocktail was developed by Hana Kingsbury (see what she did there) who was our server and posed with a photo with her creation.

The cocktail and rum options at Makai remain strong, plus their island far remains high quality and moderately priced. We enjoy things inside in the rotating bar, but the patio outside is pretty nice including a couple of very large tikis to help set the mood. Along the way, we saw birds and sea lions from our vantage point, and then strolled to the end of the pier to check out more sea lions, sea birds, and seagulls.

1944 Mai Tai, Squid Ink, Pau Hana, Purple Haze

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Harry Potter Themed Bar: Wizards & Wands in San Francisco

If you’re into themed bars, Wizard & Wands offers a Harry Potter-inspired experience featuring good cocktails, immersive decor, and some special effects. The bar is located in San Francisco’s Marina District, and includes Drag Brunch events on the weekends. Our party decided to visit later on a Saturday afternoon for some cocktails and conversation. Patrons are even encouraged to dress in costume while visiting.

The entry area features some thematic elements and occasional light shows. There’s a nice dark tavern vibe in this area which is where our party of six was seated. There are a few themed cocktails including riffs on standards plus beer choices. I quite enjoyed the Love Potion with tequila/hibiscus and the Butterbeer flavored Wizard Brew was also very good. Some of the drinks come with special features, such as the smoke with Glen’s or the note that’s set on fire with Julie’s Espresso Elixir, though they don’t lean heavily on the drink gimmicks here.

Every so often there would a light show and some thematic music, including the ceiling tiles in the lower room which are screen-based. Mostly though we spent the afternoon in conversation with a variety of dance tracks (Charli XCX, Dua Lipa) playing in the background. Wizards & Wands also serves bar food, which our party also enjoyed.

Unlike some bars that change theming every quarter, Wizards & Wands is committed to this theme and so it is more immersive than most pop-ups. If this kind of theme is your thing or if you’re just in the Marina looking for a place to escape, Wizards & Wands is a great option.

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Best Mai Tai in Vegas at Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar?

Our weekend tour of themed bars and restaurants was highlighted by a visit at opening to Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar in Vegas’ Arts District. We arrived about 15 minutes before opening and a crowd started to gather, which was good news since being early meant we were able to get seated at the bar back in the yurt portion of the venue. The thematic elements are so well-done here, including the impressive carvings outside and continuing past the first bar with an aurora borealis effect. The round yurt section was breathtaking with seating ringing the exterior portion of the room and featuring stone, furs, and Scandinavian textures.

Once seated we received a small non-alcoholic welcome drink featuring compote and spices. The cocktail menu features riffs on a number of classic cocktails including the Mikkel-Tai with tequila, Rum Fire, hazelnut sage orgeat, and Kronan Swedish Punsch. Mai Tai purists wouldn’t consider this variant up to Trader Vic’s standards but in this writer’s opinion the cocktail was fantastic – very rich and nutty, with the tequila and Jamaican rum really working well together. This was easily one of the best new Mai Tai style cocktails I’ve had in a while – don’t skip it.

Mikkel-Tai

The other cocktails our party tried were similarly well-done, and there are some great beer and wine options as well. Some others even had the shared Shot-Ski for four, which the staff set up by ringing bells and shouting as if this was a Viking victory cheer. Mike’s also offers some good food options. One of our party ordered the sausage tower and I had filling chicken schnitzel sandwich and house browns. A “tin” of Swedish fish completed our meal. We found the food to be very authentic to items we’ve had in Europe and despite a venue-filling crowd the food came out promptly and was served piping hot.

Viking Mike’s is one of the best themed bars in Las Vegas and compares favorably to the other destinations in the burgeoning Arts District bar scene.

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The Sex Panther at Prowl

Prowl is a jungle themed lounge in Las Vegas’ arts district, next door to Stray Pirate and co-owned by the some of the same crew. We landed early evening on Friday to find a small mixed crowd and one bartender holding court. The thematic elements include some LED screens, plenty foliage, and a stone idol on one wall. There are a variety of seating areas and booths, plus some great looking lamps that’ll give you retro vibes.

The menu has all kinds of fun nods, including “For a Good Time, Call 1-888-87-PROWL” (call it, it works), Monstera Mash, and Mustache Ride. As a fan of the Anchorman movie back in the day, I was immediately were drawn to Sex Panther and then very intrigued by the Mai Tai meets Margarita ingredient list that includes Mexican rum, tequila, pepita orgeat, and of course “bits of real panther.” This was a good cocktail, though I would have preferred it over crushed ice rather than served up.

Our bartender Jacklyn did a great job checking in with our party and we all seemed to enjoy the vibe and the cocktails. There are a variety of merch options including glassware designed by McBiff, hats, and more. The Arts District is really booming with great cocktail bars, with Prowl being another recent fun addition.

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Wilfred’s Lounge Has The Sesame Mai Tai You Never Knew You Needed… Until You Did

We always enjoy visits to Wilfred’s Lounge in downtown Napa, which is still doing a great job offering a Hawaiian-leaning food menu and a variety of exotic cocktails. This time we feasted on appetizers including a pretty nice Pupu Sampler Platter along with Spam fries and Spam musubi. The standout here were the Spam fries, perfectly fried and seasoned – and the salmon rangoon in the sampler platter had a nice spicy bite to them as well.

For drinks, Mrs. Mai Tai went with the Maximum Aloha which is still made to original specs and contains so many great flavors – not as sweet as you’d think, either. It is still the best cocktail here, so if you’ve never had this cocktail it is definitely worth the trip.

I perused the Mai Tai menu and decided to try something new by ordering the San Fransokyo. It’s quite a stretch to call this a “Mai Tai” considering it doesn’t have any original Mai Tai ingredients, but it has a type of orgeat so I suppose that’s fine. This black cocktail has some components I usually don’t have, including shochu, sake, cachaca, pisco, Cherry Heering, black sesame orgeat, shiso, and lemon. This is really sesame forward, and found it to be pretty enjoyable too. Maybe not in my regular rotation but definitely glad I tried it.

Wilfred’s Lounge also features great views of the Napa River, with fire-pit lounge seating upstairs that is even better when it’s warmer.

San Fransokyo and Maximum Aloha