Category: Travel

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2021 Tiki Bar Visits

I visited 31 commercial tiki bars in 2021, a nice return to form thanks to some bars reopening for business, several new tiki bars in the Bay Area, and some looser travel restrictions within our family and society at large. Many of these visits were to support the establishment via to-go orders, hence the bars in my home county topping the list.

The highlight was visiting Max’s South Seas in Grand Rapids. Such an amazing place, it’s a must visit. And then some great excursions in Milwaukee, Chicago, Phoenix, Vegas, San Diego, Morro Bay, Palm Springs, and the greater Bay Area.

It is always a pleasure to be invited to someone’s home tiki bar, and this year we got to visit a few including ones that were new to us. Thank you all.

Cheers to all the great people I’ve met and shared librations with – especially Mrs Mai Tai @juliebeane. We’re wishing for a safer and more pleasant 2022.

2017: 25
2018: 34
2019: 52
2020: 15
2021: 31

2021 Most Visited:
17 Kon-Tiki
13 Forbidden Island
10 Trader Vic’s Emeryville
6 Smuggler’s Cove (plus two pop-up events)
6 The Kon-Tiki Room

95: times this year I’ve walked into a tiki bar, home tiki bar, or bar with tiki event.

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Happy Instagramiversary to Me

The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai was relaunched on Instagram on this day in 2017. 1625 posts and counting, chronicling experiences with cocktails, connections with people in the community, and world’s leading feed of Mai Tai minutiae.

There have been some really terrible and shitty things in 2021, which we won’t focus on except to say that there are some really awful people out there and also that I miss my friend every day.

Some nicer things happened in 2021, though. A few are chronicled in the photos including some travels with Mrs Mai Tai to far off places such as Milwaukee, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Phoenix, Vegas, and various locations in California including San Diego, Palm Springs, Disneyland, Morro Bay, and Sacramento.

Parties were back, and we got to enjoy a few and always appreciate the invites. Plenty of shenanigans especially at The Kon-Tikis in Oakland. Rum Fest was back! 29 different tiki bars – many new to me and some just brand new period, with several more coming very soon. I was interviewed on The Rum Cast and had several long articles published in Exotica Moderne. I completed rum lists at Forbidden Island and Smuggler’s Cove. UltimateMaiTai.com was refreshed with a great logo and banner by B-Rex.

So, thanks to so many fellow Mai Tai fans I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with over the last year. I appreciate your follows, likes, and comments here and in real-life, including the discussion of very important topics such as tiki bar rating criteria and what rums are best in a Mai Tai.

Cheers!

 

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Golden Tiki

Our last Vegas trip was 2016, before Golden Tiki opened. So we made visiting a priority with a dinner reservation on Sunday. We entered the brightly colored yet still dimly lit space with so much to look at, while being serenaded by the retro stylings of Dino a’ la Carte. We were seated nearby Dino, who soon welcomed us and congratulated us on our anniversary (noted in our reservation). Thereafter the waitress surprised us with an anniversary cocktail flight and a Dole Whip.

Service was a strength here, as our waitress was quite attentive through various rounds. Dinner isn’t served until after happy hour ends at 7 pm, so this added additional layers of service calls. I tried the pork sliders and spam musubi and both were pretty good.

Golden Tiki is gorgeous, with different themed areas and lots of little details. Some Disney style elements, lots of shrunken heads, and some raunchy stuff especially in the restroom. The large layout leaves plenty of seating for groups and this feels like a perfect tiki bar for Vegas.

The Mai Tai was okay, definitely leaning sweet and easy to drink. Mrs. Mai Tai said the Painkiller tasted like it had coffee liqueur, a welcome addition. Her Trial by Fire didn’t provide the coconut and chocolate flavors advertised on the menu, but I thought it was pretty refreshing. She for sure liked the Strawberry Batida. Meanwhile, we both felt the Piranha Punch was too sweet, but I really loved the Hemingway’s Ruin which adds Don’s Mix to the standard Hemingway Daiquiri template.

We made sure to get a photo in their signature clam shell. There is so much to see here, we’ll want to return again, and everyone treated us so well. We also enjoyed the no smoking policy, which combined with better cocktails allows us to tap Golden Tiki as our favorite in town.

  • Wallpaper in Men’s Room
  • One of several cases of Shrunken Heads
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Trader Vic’s SJC

The world’s greatest airport bar is at San Jose International, at least as far as this writer has experienced: Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport.

Mrs Mai Tai and I breezed through security in less than 10 minutes and landed at Gate 22 to have brunch at Trader Vic’s. Staff was super friendly, even suggesting an off-menu San Francisco Mai Tai. The standard issue was just fine for me, and you know what it tastes like? It tastes like a Trader Vic’s Mai Tai.

I also tried the signature cocktail for the location, the Pilo Pilo. Fruity and delicious.

My Salmon Bowl was an unexpected pleasure. Plenty hearty with a gigantic portion of salmon. This was really great, I’d love to see this at other Vic’s locations.

The restaurant and bar are on the gangway side of the Airport, so this is sort of like the Vic’s in Emeryville except it is a different kind of vessel that you’re looking at. The Outpost across the way has merch and some grab and go items.

It’s always great to see a new Trader Vic’s, especially stateside. The place is well positioned in the terminal and was busy the entire time we were there. Check it out and try to fly SJC on your next trip.

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Presidio Afternoon at Walt Disney Museum and Sessions

Julie and I took our sons our for the afternoon at the Presidio in San Francisco. We started with a visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum, which is featuring a wonderful special exhibit on Disney during World War II. Photos aren’t allowed inside but there are some truly fascinating exhibits that chronicle not just the studio’s animation output but also putting some fo the things into cultural and political context. Highly recommended. We also did a quick run through the main museum which we have visited several times before and is always a delight. I am especially fond of the last room chronicling Walt’s media diversification in the 1950s starting with television and then with Disneyland.

Dinner was at Sessions, which we enjoyed earlier in the month during the May 4th special event with Smuggler’s Cove. The food here is gourmet, though pricey. This time we tried the beignets and they are so great. Wait service was disappointingly slow (like it was last time), though.

There are only a few cocktails on the menu. The Rum and Pineapple-based Sarlacc Shrubb was okay, though more tart than I prefer. Much better was the Golden Gate Mile, featuring Bourbon, Grapefruit, Honey, and Ginger. Julie liked the Presidio cocktail with Gin, Lemon, Hibiscus, and Prosecco. If you’re a wine fan, there are dozens of Skywalker Vineyards selections, which seemed popular with the patrons.

We finished the day by visiting the Yoda statue nearby.

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Everyone Jabbed

A Mother’s Day gift for @juliebeane is taking our sons to get their second vaccine shots. I had my second this past Monday.



Are you vaccinated? Everyone needs to do this so that we can safely return to our favorite past-times. I like supporting restaurants and bars by using their parklets and patios but indoors is where we all want to be, and to do so in mixed company. It ain’t gonna happen until everyone is vaccinated. Let’s do this everyone.

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1944 Mai Tai at Lake Tahoe

Following up from yesterday’s post about the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai at Gar Woods, I also wanted to try their “1944 Old Way” Mai Tai. Regular readers may recall that the term “Old Way Mai Tai” has different meanings, depending on who you ask and when you asked. In this case, it is a scratch Mai Tai (made with the Trader Vic’s Royal Amber rum) and topped with a float of Trader Vic’s 80 proof Dark Rum.

That particular Dark Rum isn’t my favorite but I scanned the spirits at the bar and spotted Pusser’s Rum. So, I asked for the 1944 made with Pusser’s instead. Well, it turns out there’s a no substitution policy for the Trader Vic’s Mai Tais (perhaps related to their licensing agreement) so the standard issue it was.

The second drama was that I didn’t use the gigantically wide straw that was provided (large enough to suck up small ice cubes) so I was sipping directly on the glass. Which meant that my first taste was nothing but the Dark Rum float. But, after a little stir with said straw, I am pleased to report that this was a really good 1944 Mai Tai.

Gar Woods has seating down on the pier and directly on the lake, so if you visiting in good weather and don’t mind a little sun, this could be a unique opportunity.

Worth noting that sister location Riva Grill in South Lake Tahoe also has a Trader Vic’s license, so give these restaurants a try the next time you’re in the area.