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Trader Vic’s Atlanta

A highlight of our Inuhele weekend was a visit to the last restaurant that opened during Trader Vic’s lifetime. Located in the basement of the Hilton hotel, Trader Vic’s Atlanta will be celebrating its 50th anniversary later this year and significant portions of the venue haven’t been touched since opening. The eye candy starts before you enter with large Barney West tikis behind the elevators, plus a large foyer that leads to the Mai Tai Bar and then to three distinct dining areas.

We had dinner two nights here and found the food to be comparable to other Vic’s locations, except that the portions were noticeably larger. The fried rice, wonton soup, and crab rangoon were delicious, and they still offer whipped peanut butter spread with crackers as an included appetizer. Our service was friendly and prompt both nights.

During our Inuhele weekend visits the foyer was taken over with a large selection of Trader Vic’s merchandise, with Eve Bergeron present to help with the sales and to talk to fans of the chain founded by her grandfather. Trader Vic’s Atlanta also sells their own branded merch, available throughout the year.

Toward the back of the venue there’s a patio or sorts that serves as a smoking section. There’s a large Barney West Moai facing the street and bright Trader Vic’s signage back there as well. The venue has many pieces of original art and decor, historical displays, and signature Chinese Ovens, making this a true time-machine for those looking for a vintage experience.

We had a lot of fun talking tiki and Trader Vic’s with Jim and Mick, too. Since Mick is a local he pointed out several features and history of the venue.

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Inuhele 2026 Seminar Slides

(Nearly) Everything You Know about Rum in a Mai Tai is Wrong

While the Mai Tai was born with a long-aged pot-still Jamaica rum, over decades the Trader used rums from various islands and styles to produce Mai Tais for different purposes. Learn how the rums and recipe for the Mai Tai evolved over the years and how changing up the rum can make your Mai Tai more palatable for your guests.

Think you know everything about rum in a Mai Tai? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged.

View the Slides

The (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai

Everyone is familiar with the iconic Hawaiian Mai Tai that features pineapple juice and a dark rum float. This popular variant of the Mai Tai is quite different from the original 1944 Mai Tai created at Trader Vic’s.

So, when did the Mai Tai in Hawaii become the “Hawaiian Mai Tai” we know today? It is actually far later than the myths you might have heard. Learn more about this iconic cocktail and how it evolved over the years based on contemporaneous reports and published recipes.

View the Slides

 

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Peanut Butter Mai Tai

Longtime Trader Vic’s customers are familiar with the peanut butter spread that’s often provided with crackers as an appetizer in the Trader Vic’s restaurants. This stuff is amazing and has developed a cult following, described by some including this writer as being as addictive as crack cocaine.

We ran into local tiki fan Michael at the Atlanta Trader Vic’s on Friday and he mentioned the bartender Salam makes a Mai Tai with this peanut butter spread, affectionately called a Peanut Butter Crack Mai Tai. We knew we couldn’t leave without trying it so Michael got Salam’s attention and soon we had these Mai Tais to savor. Friends, you need to do whatever it takes to try this, it’s so good. Just a hint of peanut butter on the finish and does not overpower the fresh lime and rum that you want to taste in a Mai Tai.

Preparation is easier at Atlanta, where the peanut butter spread seems to be a little bit more whipped than it is at the Vic’s in Emeryville. Salam whips it up into a syrup and uses ¾ oz in addition to the standard Mai Tai ingredients when prepping the cocktail. We loved it, and dare say that this should be immediately added to the menu at every Vic’s location (perhaps omitting “crack” from the name). And be sure to ask the next time you’re at Vic’s in Atlanta. 

Peanut Butter spread

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Great Experience at The S.O.S. Tiki Bar

We’re in Georgia for the Inuhele weekender and had some time on Wednesday to Lyft over to Decatur to check out the supposedly “world famous” S.O.S. Tiki Bar. We arrived around 9:00 and found the place to be mostly full but we were happy with seats at the bar. The retro-leaning music and crowd noise were fairly loud, so you could only talk at the bar to person next to you or the bartender but not to someone a couple seats away.

The cocktail menu has a lot of options but I went with the Mai Tai to start, surprised and pleased to see this is served flaming. This is good Mai Tai that includes a little Angostura Bitters, very approachable for someone new to tiki. I also had the Frozen Painkilla that was really great in that format, though I omitted the additional shot of rum.

Mrs. Mai Tai picked Dr. J’s Monkey Disco that includes some bubby in just the right proportion to combine with fruit flavors, amaro, and rum. Her second drink was the Superfast Jellyfish, a daiquiri style cocktail with a huge foamy head. Both of these were good cocktails that indicate modern sensibilities are at play with the bar program.

By far the best drink we had was Caribbean Queen, a rich cocktail featuring rums from Jamaican and Barbados, allspice, grapefruit, and just the right amount of guava. One of the best new tiki cocktails I’ve had in a long time.

All our drinks were elaborately garnished. The bartender at our station was definitely not a veteran and so the garnishing process did take some time and the lead bartender provided a little help flaming the Mai Tai, but our drinks tasted great which was the most important part. She seemed enthused about the genre, referencing nearby books Easy Tiki, Smuggler’s Cove, and Beachbum Berry Remixed. The team also did well making an off-menu Kingston Negroni for my neighbor at the bar.

S.O.S. is in a nice neighborhood with some other restaurants and bars, including Victory Sandwich which shares the building and kitchen. We didn’t try any of the bites at S.O.S. but have heard good things from others. The decor and vibe were really nice here, plus great service and fab cocktails.

Mai Tai, Dr. J’s Monkey Disco, Superfast Jellyfish, Caribbean Queen, Frozen Painkilla
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The Best Espresso Martini in San Jose

Well, this isn’t exactly an exhaustive quest to find the best version of the 2020s viral cocktail sensation, but Mrs. Mai Tai had a couple great ones on our excursion Friday night in San Jose so I thought I would share.

Espresso Oasis at Dr. Funk

Replacing the vodka with a more flavorful spirit such as rum isn’t unique to tiki bars, but Dr. Funk leans into traditional exotic cocktail flavors by also including falernum and orgeat syrups to add sweetness. The rum blend features Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut and OFTD Overproof rums and these work great with the coffee flavors.

Espresso Oasis at Dr. Funk

Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Martini at Haberdasher

We tried another twist on the standard cocktail at Haberdasher, featuring a house-made pumpkin-spiced syrup to pair with more traditional ingredients vodka, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, and coffee. Those mild spice flavors add additional depth and sweetness that work great.

Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Martini

We really enjoyed our Haberdasher visit that also included a Pink Squirrel from a specialty cocktail menu, plus some great service from the staff. I learned a bit about their popular whiskey club as well.

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Back to the Asylum

With extended visits to many Halloween and Holiday themed bars, travel to Europe, and family visits, it has been a long time since we visited downtown San Jose for some rum tasting from the Rum Asylum rum list at Dr. Funk Rum House.

The three rums this time including Cruzan Hurricane rum, an 137 proof firebomb that’s best tried in a cocktail. Better for me were Batiste Agricole and Damoiseau VSOP, two cane juice rums from French departments Martinique and Guadeloupe respectively. These were much more interesting and tasty to sip on.

Dr. Funk recently announced they’re doing a “Fortune Meets Romance” theme for February, incorporating both Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. These pop-ups are fun, and popular with the downtown San Jose cocktail crowd, though I’d love to see Dr. Funk be known more for just being a great tiki bar.

We also heard the long-anticipated food menu revamp is coming soon, so stay tuned for updates.

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Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Investigative Report

Over the holidays I received several credible reports that Trader Vic’s Emeryville was making Mai Tais using Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate rather than from scratch ingredients.

For those not familiar, Concentrate is a product developed by Trader Vic’s several decades ago to ease cocktail production by replacing the orgeat, orange curaçao, and rock candy syrup with ¾ oz of the Concentrate plus lime juice and rum. Note that this is different from the “Mai Tai Mix” that’s available to consumers at retail. In the past, when a cocktail menu listed a “Trader Vic’s Mai Tai” and referenced “modified to perfection” in the description that meant it was made with the Mai Tai Concentrate.

Original Mai Tai, January 2026

The widespread use of Concentrate in the Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s Emeryville ended years ago, and the description for “The Original Mai Tai” specifically mentions orgeat, orange curaçao, and rock candy syrup. Concentrate is still used for Mai Tai variants such as the Tropical Tais, and sometimes for large events, but even on Mai Tai Day when I ordered an Original Mai Tai they did make it from scratch. So, it was quite a shock to hear Vic’s was using Concentrate in the standard Mai Tai.

During my visit on Sunday I ordered a Mai Tai and it didn’t taste like it used the Concentrate. Moreover, I popped over to the bar and the first thing I saw was longtime bartender Saul measuring out ingredients for a dozen Mai Tais and he was not using the concentrate. In speaking with Saul, he also confirmed they don’t use it for the Original Mai Tai.

I am traveling to Georgia next week for Inuhele and will continue the investigation at the Trader Vic’s Atlanta location.