Palm Springs

If you’re looking for a tiki destination, Palm Springs has a little bit of everything, and the four tiki bars are all in close proximity. Each place has their own charms and good reasons to visit, and so your preference might depend on your taste, which aspects of the venue are most important, the location, or even some small details.

Each tiki bar is located within a four mile stretch of Palm Canyon Drive and we’re also listing The Copper Room in nearby Yucca Valley that has the region’s best Mai Tai.

Last updated: January 2025

Toucans Tiki Lounge
2100 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Bootlegger Tiki
1101 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262

The Tonga Hut Restaurant and Tiki Bar
254 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262

The Reef
Caliente Tropics Resort, 411 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264

The Copper Room
57360 Aviation Dr, Yucca Valley, CA 92284

Summary and Ratings

The Ultimate Mai Tai rating system for Tiki Bars based on the following four criteria:

Drinks: quality, variety, price, consistency
Ambiance: decor, immersiveness, seating, special features
Service: hours, ease of service, friendliness
Tiki Aesthetic: totems, Polynesian and/or nautical theme, music

  Drinks Ambiance Service Tiki Aesthetic Total
Bootlegger Tiki 10 7 8 7 8
Tonga Hut 6 8 5 8 6.75
The Reef 5 6 7 6 6
Toucans Tiki Lounge 4 4 6 5 4.75

Overall, Bootlegger Tiki was my top choice. With a great immersive experience inside and truly outstanding drinks, this place was my number one and compares well to fine tiki bars nationally.

But Tonga Hut was pretty close, and most certainly is the best one to take those new to tiki bars. Drinks were pretty good and the centrally located venue has a high seating capacity, perfect music, and great decor. Plus they have some great food, too. Occasional service issues held the rating down for me.

The Reef is also a destination that every tikiphile should seek out. The friendly hotel bar vibe is truly relaxing and they too have fine food and great music. Drinks and decor elements were more uneven, hence the slightly lower rating. But with a group of people? This might be the most fun place for an evening of drinks.

Lastly, Toucans Tiki Lounge is a nightclub with a tiki theme and so isn’t essential for hardcore tiki people. But, you might have a fun time anyway.

Bootlegger Tiki: Craft Cocktail Heaven

This small craft cocktail bar is attached to a coffee shop and is a former Don the Beachcomber location. The interior is cozy with just a few booths and a limited number of bar seats. There is additional seating outside on the patio but inside is far more immersive.

As you can see there is an impressive selection of liquor. Decor is really nice and while the music sometimes veers into rock territory, our most recent visit was far more relaxed on the music selection.

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The cocktails here are very “craft cocktail” oriented and the entire menu changes every so often. There are only a few tiki classics on the menu, though some are on the happy hour menu or available upon request.

We loved all of our cocktails, including a wonderful 1944 Mai Tai, and after several visits consider Bootlegger Tiki to be among the best craft cocktail bars in the area and among the best nationwide. Service here was great. The bartender and bar back worked together very well and they were really responsive to the customers.

If you can get in, Bootlegger is an excellent experience and worth a visit by any tikiphile.

Tonga Hut: Does Everything Mostly Well

Pretty good time at Tonga Hut. We went for dinner and drinks on a couple occasions and one time we had a party of five and the only tables that accommodate more than four were on the patio but at least there is good decor and music out on the patio. We loving hanging in the central lounge area, which also has good foot traffic from the wait staff. There’s an indoor seating area that very nicely decorated and dark, though we had service issues the one time we sat there (out of sight, out of mind, apparently).

The Mai Tai here is just fine, but they do have a nice rum collection so you can ask for adjustments or a called rum without issue.

On another visit I had a Reverb Crash and I liked it, while Mrs. Mai Tai’s Chai-Tai was excellent. The cocktails here weren’t uniformly outstanding but none were bad and I do like that they have an extensive menu of cocktails to choose from.

Ask the staff to show you their speakeasy Tonga Room, a private room with impressive decor.

Given it’s location downtown, fairly large seating capacity, and overall nods to historical tiki and modern trends, I’d say that Tonga Hut is the best option in Palm Springs for tiki-newbies or a guarantee of an overall good experience.

The Reef: Fun Bar at Tiki Resort

On one trip we stayed at the Caliente Tropics, so we got to visit The Reef daily and in different circumstances. I enjoyed a nice virgin Pina Colada by the pool one day, though it’s a bummer that The Reef has a shirt/shoes policy and that you can’t put charges on the room. So remember to take the flip flops and some cash before going down to the pool.

Service here was pretty good at the bar, but table service at times could be longer than expected on some visits. I really enjoyed the music here, including the Yacht Rock Thursday where all the music was from that genre. Some of the patrons out on the patio were really hooting it up singing along to some songs as well. The decor here is fun but definitely not fully immersive. But plenty good enough for the job, especially when surrounded by the rest of the tiki stuff at the hotel.

It was really nice staying at a hotel with a quality tiki bar on site. Would be even nicer had we been part of a group outing or event. It’s easy to see why so many people say nice things about their experiences at the Tiki Caliente events.

Toucans Tiki Lounge: Nightclub Vibe

Tiki comes in many different styles and so Toucans is not as traditional as The Reef or the Tonga Hut. It’s a bar and nightclub voted “best Gay bar” and “best dive bar” in Palm Springs. This is way more of a nightclub than a dive bar, though.

On an early Thursday afternoon though, it was a mellow visit, with some pretty reasonable “club” cocktails (one of the better cruise ship style Mai Tais I’ve had). A bunch of locals smoking heavily out on the patio.

Mrs Mai Tai enjoyed her “Blue Balls” cocktail. They had some interesting names for some of the other drinks.

I’ve heard good things about the drag shows this place is famous for. But the low key afternoon cocktails were just our speed on vacation. Some nice decor elements here too.

The Copper Room: “The Best Mai Tai in Palm Springs”

The Copper Room is a restaurant and lounge next to the runway of the Yucca Valley airport, about 30 minutes from Palm Sprong. It is nothing special on the outside but is a trip back to the 1970s thanks to the wood panel interior and numerous retro touches including the semicircle bar that faces out on the runway and with a huge premium spirits collection on a shelf above.

The Copper Room is home to Terry’s Mai Tai, an amazing cocktail from Terry Six (formerly of Kon-Tiki Oakland) that uses a secret four rum blend and homemade orgeat. The cocktail is amazing and the retro sensibilities of the Copper Room will work great for those with retro sensibilities.