Category Archives: Tiki Sites and Stores

First Foray into Mixing Cocktails – Trader Tiki’s Wailani

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

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions this year is to start mixing tiki drinks. I’ve had Beachbum Berry’s books for awhile, but I was always daunted by the logistics of where to begin. You can make or break a cocktail by not using the best ingredients or quality rums (which can also be frustrating to find, not to mention pricey).

I tried to make this as foolproof an endeavor as possible, so I started by tracking down Trader Tiki‘s mixing syrups at Barkeeper in Silverlake. These syrups just went on the market about a year ago, but they’ve already earned quite a reputation. (They’re also available online, but I was in an instant gratification kind of mood.)

The number of tiki drinks one can make is positively dizzying, so I just picked the recipe on the back of the orgeat bottle: Wailani. Of course, I then had to stop at BevMo for rum (Don Q Gold, $10) and the grocery store for limes, pineapple juice and ice.

Clearly I need to step it up in the garnish department, but I was pretty pleased with these first attempts. (This is a double, by the way.) Cheers!

Bamboo Ben’s Hut – Huntington Beach, CA

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

Back in August, Mr. Hockey and I headed down to Huntington Beach to visit the “hut” of Bamboo Ben, the man behind the look of such spots as Forbidden Island, Tucson’s Kon Tiki, the Tonga Lei Room, and Tiki No.

He also happens to be the grandson of Eli Hedley, an originator of the “beachcomber” style (using found objects like driftwood) who worked on tiki heyday spots like the Aku Aku in Las Vegas, the original Luau in Beverly Hills and even Disneyland’s Adventureland.

It was sort of like getting to see Santa’s workshop—but tiki! This was a bittersweet day, though, because Ben was leaving the space after 10 years. They were already in the process of moving out, but you can still get an idea of how neat it was with its A-frame peak, thatch overhang and fish float lamp.

Lining the back of the wall were a bunch of tiki mugs, including trophies from still more places Bamboo Ben’s had a hand in, like Don the Beachcomber, with a lower shelf practically devoted to Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas.

In the corner there was a cool lava rock-style fountain with very ambient lighting and a couple tiki mugs helping to direct the water flow.

And in true beachcomber style, Ben often uses the bamboo and lauhala matting leftover from tiki bars and other installations (and also aloha shirts as in the pic above) to make frames and affordable art objects for purchase.

They’re not pictured here, but for my own tiki room we bought a bamboo mug shelf, two lamps and a few bamboo frames. It was quite tempting to take home more but we only had so much room in the Prius.

If he’s not too busy building the next awesome tiki bar of tomorrow, he’ll do custom work — tiki bars, signs, shelves, tables, basically whatever you can think of that can be constructed out of bamboo — or trick out a room in your house into something truly magical.

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