Tag Archives: Los Angeles

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

Hatchi Mix Series at Breadbar: Rum Amok with Caña Rum Bar

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

The carb-crazy restaurant Breadbar in Century City has been hosting a bunch of pop-up foodie events over the past year, including the “Hatchi Mix” series where mixologists concoct a one-night-only selection of eight cocktails priced at $8 each.

Each of these nights features a theme/liquor/bar, and in June it was “Rum Amok” with Joel Black from Caña Rum Bar in downtown LA. I wanted to try something not normally offered there, so I ordered the Blood & White Sand, which was made with white rum, pineapple, Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth and The Bitter Truth lemon bitters.

Also not part of the regular menu were four “mixo” pizzas, again $8 each. The mushroom, asparagus, caramelized onion and blue cheese pie made me swoon. My buddy got the kale, fennel and ricotta cheese one and it was also delicious. They really need to serve these all the time!

I knew my dining companion would be intrigued by the Bellini Le Fleur: Luksusowa vodka, lavender peach purée, and lemon verbena oil, topped with Champagne. A unique, less sweet version of the brunchtime staple.

Breadbar’s desserts sounded too tempting to resist, and the chocolate bread pudding and affogato (vanilla ice cream topped with espresso) were both wonderfully indulgent.

I found it amusing that when I asked for the Mai Tai, the server felt she had to warn me that this wouldn’t be your popular orange/pineapple juice affair. I told her I definitely wanted the real deal. Black’s recipe featured Neisson Eleve Sous Bois, Appleton 12 year aged Jamaican rum, lime, orgeat and curaçao. After such a promising preview, I’m excited to go try these cocktails in their natural habitat.

My First Trip to the Tiki-Ti (and the Ludo Truck)

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

It’s shameful to say, because it shows just how much of a newbie I am, but Saturday night was my first visit to the Tiki-Ti. Mr. Hockey was surprised that I hadn’t already been, considering I have six years of drinking eligibility under my belt plus a year and a half of tiki fandom. My poor pseudo-excuse is that we’ve been visiting so many other tiki spots near and far that I didn’t want this experience to get lost in the shuffle.

I’ll go into the significance of this spot at a later date, for now I’ll just say that of the few drinks we tried that Ray’s Mistake was the clear favorite, followed by the Pearl Diver, with Rum, Gum & Lime bringing up the rear. (Hmm, kind of sounds like I’m calling a horse race.)

After Mr. Hockey’s fateful spin of the wheel landed on Stealth, an “ass-kicker” of a drink that masks the multitudes of liquor involved with a splash of Baileys, we decided that we should probably walk around for a bit before trying to head home.

Apparently, neither of us was hip enough to know that it just happened to be the weekend of the Sunset Junction Festival (so that’s why it took us half an hour to find a parking space…) And where there’s a fest, there’s food trucks! Mr. Hockey pointed out the LudoBites truck, the ever-elusive stand that inspired foodie fanatics to wait in line for hours upon hours during its debut.

I got the two-piece combo ($6) of the Provencal Pepitte “Chicken Balls”—they were perfectly crispy and juicy and dusted with herbes de Provence. And the lavender biscuit drizzled with honey was divine. Southern food infused with the South of France, and best of all, no line!

Hopefully, this was the kick-start for many more visits (and less logistically cumbersome ones) to the Tiki-Ti. Yet another sidenote: all those fried foods and rickety rides did get me looking forward to the L.A. County Fair…

Ludo Truck on Urbanspoon