Author Archives: The Tiki Chick

Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre – Montclair, CA

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , , ,

Hey, it’s my 100th post! For this little milestone I wanted to feature a tiki spot that’s quickly grown dear to my heart: The Mission Tiki Drive-In in Montclair, which is just past Pomona (home of the LA County Fair).

Maybe it’s all the Oldies (courtesy K-Earth 101) I listened to as a kid, but I’ve always been fascinated by classic drive-in movie theatres. (If you hadn’t noticed, I seem to have a thing for fads of the mid-century.) There’s only about two dozen drive-ins still open in all of California. Many were demolished, burned down under suspicious circumstances or are now “dark” and only host weekend swap meets, like the Santa Fe Springs Drive-In I always see along the 5 freeway.

By happy coincidence, one of the closest drive-in movie theaters to Los Angeles is also tiki-themed! The Mission Drive-in has been around since the 1950s, and in 2006 it was refurbished, upgraded for better sight and sound, and given a tiki makeover. The ticket kiosks are thatched huts lit up with glowing fish floats.

Adults are $7 per person and kids are just a buck, so a lot of families come here. Past the entrance on the left there’s a little hillside with a few Easter Island-style moai among the greenery.

The parking spaces are all inclined so that your car tilts upwards, giving you a better angle to look at the screen. Most people tend to sit in the backs of trucks or bring lawn chairs to sit out in the open air, though you’ll have to stay close to your car so you can hear the audio from your radio.

Each screen shows a double feature of one new release and a slightly older movie in a similar genre. For a few years Mission Tiki had partnered with TCM to do a month of classic movies, but apparently that’s no more — here’s hoping they bring that back sometime.

There are four screens, one in each corner, and a snack bar/projector building in the middle that’s decorated with island-themed murals, tiki pillars, and tiki masks, plus a smattering of bamboo and lauhala matting on the inside.

The snack shack serves up your standard fare of popcorn, pretzels, pizza and hamburgers, along with tacos, asada fries and horchata (mmm). Next time I’m going to have to go for the “Tiki Dog,” a.k.a. a bacon-wrapped Danger Dog.

By the counter there’s a little gift shop (cash only!) that’s open before the movies start. It sells signature t-shirts, hats, posters, and multi-colored plastic Ku cups, but the best is their logo tiki mug clutching a bag of popcorn. Tiki Diablo designed it, and I think there’s still a few up for grabs from the edition run of 150.

Mission Tiki Drive-In Movie Theatre
10798 Ramona Ave.
Montclair, CA 91763

Halloween Art Show at the Tonga Hut

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with , , ,

I started off my Halloween festivities over the weekend with a theme-appropriate cocktail at the Tonga Hut: The Zombie (recipe circa 1934), garnished for the occasion with a gummy eyeball and fake finger.

It was the perfect potion to sip while browsing the art that had been brought in for this special Halloween show. Here’s a peek at some of what was on display. (From left: Painting by Kirby and Stephen Sandoval‘s “The Best Candy” & “Rebirth”)

I was blown away by these black velvets by Thor. Although the subject of shrunken heads might not normally be my cup of tea, it’s hard to look away from the golden glow of these paintings.

Eric October has a knack for making tikis look cute, like this happy Ku toasting a Dia de Los Muertos figure. And I love how the scrap wood frame looks with Kirby’s “Skully Brains Cocktail” on the right.

MP found inspiration for this very cool “Keep to the Code” piece from the movie “Treasure Island” and a hot buttered rum. (I could go for one of those right now, if it wasn’t 88 degrees outside!)

Speaking of salty old pirates, I’ve always admired this Cap’n Sqully mug by Squid, so I snapped one up from the Taboo Island tent that was set up in the vending area in the parking lot.

Coming up at the Hut are a Gilligan’s Island-inspired gig on November 21, and the Christmas-themed Tiki Wonderland on December 11. I’ll be there with bells on! (Quite possibly literally.)

Kokomo’s at Mall of America – Minneapolis, MN

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

In Minneapolis we had the experience of witnessing the highs and lows of modern tiki culture in one day. After an excellent lunch at Psycho Suzi’s, we still had a few hours until our flight left so we headed over to the Mall of America. (It’s very close to the airport; coincidence? I think not.)

James A. Teitelbaum’s Tiki Road Trip had mentioned there was a tiki restaurant here, so we set out to find it. But I was unprepared for the Margaritaville-esque nightmare that awaited us.

Granted, I actually kind of like the giant hibiscus flowers over the thatched bar, but all those pastel chairs hurt my eyes. Just wait, though, it gets worse, much worse…

Check out these huge hideous tikis out and about. And I thought the ones at Boutiki in Disney’s Polynesian Resort were bad.

There’s just something about the expression on this one that gives me the heebie-jeebies. (I guess it’s appropriate that I’m finally posting this around Halloween, this should be enough to give you the creeps.)

In fact I was so put off by this place that we didn’t even stay to try any of their drinks. We went to Dairy Queen for chocolate dipped cones instead.

EDITOR’S NOTE: KOKOMO’S ISLAND CAFE HAS SINCE CLOSED