Tag Archives: San Diego

Freaky Boutiki – San Diego, CA

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

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Tiki stop #3 on our San Diego trip was a visit to Freaky Boutiki in Mission Beach. It’s located on a stretch near the shore, so finding free parking can be tricky, but we lucked out and found a spot right across the street.

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The store is connected to a smoke shop, so there’s a hybrid hippie/tiki theme going on, hence the Bob Marley.

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You might just catch the proprietor, Hodad Hank, out in front chipping away at a tiki.

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Freaky Boutiki has an impressive selection of tiki goods, aloha shirts, jewelry, carvings and more, not to mention tiki mugs. You can get a better idea of their wares and featured artists in this epic, nearly three-year-old Tiki Central thread.

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My favorite part of the store is this A-frame hut tucked up in the corner.

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Mugs, mugs and more mugs.

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I thought this Lucky-13 Mai-Tai Ruin purse was really cute, but I ended up taking home some glass fishing floats for my tiki bar instead.

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I also dug these colorful masks, which are doppelgangers for the cover of Night of the Tiki: The Art of Shag, Schmaltz and Selected Primitive Oceanic Carvings. Looking forward to coming back and dropping more cash!

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Freaky Boutiki/Freak Factory
3742 Mission Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92109
858-488-4924

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Bali Hai Restaurant – San Diego, CA

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

The Goof on top of Bali Hai Restaurant

After our quick stop at Trader Mort’s Liquor, we went to have dinner at Bali Hai on Shelter Island. The restaurant is more than fifty years old and seems to indirectly owe its origins to Clark Gable, a definite plus in my book. (That disembodied head on top of the roof is known as “The Goof.”)

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We still had some extra time, so we took a little stroll around the garden and grounds. I didn’t find the hidden tiki mentioned in their gallery, but we did find these dudes guarding the dock.

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Mr. Baseball poses in front of the sign. I think one of my favorite things about him has got to be his maturity…

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As you enter you’ll see Mr. Bali Hai, the very distinctive headhunter-esque mascot of the restaurant. He’s a face you won’t soon forget!

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Inside were lots of fun things to look at, as well as a gift shop that was closed during our visit.

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Our dinner coincided with a high school prom and SDSU’s graduation, so the dining room was filled with families and kids in unfashionable formalwear. There also seemed to be a family reunion going on on the lower level of the restaurant.

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Good for Bali Hai for still packing ’em in during a recession!

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I have to admit that when I first saw Mr. Bali Hai, I thought he was pretty ugly. Of course, as I grew in tiki knowledge I began to appreciate his history. The tart Mr. Bali Hai drink ($15.50 and ya keep the mug) was made with light rum, pineapple juice, blackberry, sour mix and Lemon Hart 151.

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I ordered the “Chicken of the Gods” ($17)—breaded chicken in orange cream sauce, which was just ok, but I was already full from eating our starters of clam chowder and salad. I actually liked both of those more than the mains. Our server had said that the house dressing was pretty tasty, and he was right.

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Mr. Baseball had the beef and pea pods ($17) that were “combined to create a mouth watering delicacy on thin noodles.” At work, I pretty much read menus all day, every day, and most places don’t really use that kind of hyperbolic language anymore, so I found it amusing. Especially since the dish was kind of bland…

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Bali Hai is certainly worth a visit. The view is quite lovely and now I’ll know next time to just go for the spiciest-sounding thing on the menu.

Bali Hai Restaurant
2230 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
619-222-1181

Note: Bali Hai underwent extensive renovations and re-opened in April 2010. Stay tuned for a revisit to check out their new look and menu!

Bali Hai on Urbanspoon

Trader Mort’s Liquor Store – San Diego, CA

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

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A couple weeks after Vegas, Mr. Baseball and I went down to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend, kicking off part two of the summer Baseball/Tiki Road Trip.

After a truly epic traffic jam, we finally checked in to the hotel and then headed in the direction of Shelter Island, which was blessedly not too far from the Gaslamp District. We were on our way to our dinner destination, Bali Hai, but we had a little extra time so we stopped to check out Trader Mort’s Liquor Store.

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Mr. Baseball stayed in the car and listened to the baseball game while I went to explore and take pics. You can’t really see in any of my photos, but surrounding the store were tiki torches that lit up at night.

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While I do dig the tiki design here, I also love the idea of giving personality to otherwise generic/utilitarian places (like a liquor store).

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The guy working here was super nice about me sneaking around the store, and even suggested I check out the upstairs. There wasn’t too much up there, but you could look down through the A-frame opening at the boat model in the previous shot.

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I liked the toucan and all the bamboo, and also this intense tiki outside. He’s iconic enough that Munktiki produced a mug with his likeness that catches a pretty penny on eBay.

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Trader Mort’s Liquor
2904 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
619-224-3771