Tag: Monterey

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Hula’s Island Grill – Monterey

We had a nice Saturday last week where we traveled down to Carmel for some lunch and sightseeing, then up to Monterey, Capitola, and then dinner in Santa Cruz with a friend.

After some exhaustive antique shopping at the nearby Cannery Row Antique Mall, we took a break at Hula’s Island Grill for a drink and some decadent Ohana Pie. We enjoy the Hawaiian leaning vibe that includes some tiki elements, including a nice shaded patio out back.

Pink Bikini Martini

Drinks here aren’t totally craft oriented but I do enjoy their longtime menu item the Pink Bikini Martini that has pineapple and watermelon infused vodka. I helped Mrs. Mai Tai find something up her alley from the premium cocktail menu where “Pick Yo Self Off La Flor” is a pretty good Espresso Martini riff featuring Flor de Cana rum and coffee liqueur, cold brew, and spices.

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Hula’s Island Grill

Mrs. Mai Tai and I made a side-visit to Monterey on the way home from Paso Robles and checked into Hula’s Island Grill for Lunch. After all the imbibing the night previous, it was Shirley Temples rather than cocktails for us (we do love those cherries). Service was spot on but it was a bit too cool for Hula’s fine back patio.

We had a great lunch in a little nook next to some framed vintage photos and even saw a framed version of the Barack Obama Birth Certificate.

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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.