Last night, my wife and I finally made it to the Tiki Ti for a rare night out. As one of the oldest Tiki bars in Los Angeles, it has been on my “must-visit” list for a while. We arrived around 6PM and were fortunate enough to find a parking space at a meter ($1.00 per hour for up to two hours) right in front of the bar.
Since the Tiki Ti is quite small inside, just a dozen or so bar stools and a small number of tables, we arrived early and were able to walk right in. I understand that when the bar is busier, there is often a line for people to wait…one person leaves, a new person is allowed in…so, plan accordingly if your are going to arrive at prime time, which I assume would be after 7 or 8PM.
Walking into the bar, you are transported into a Polynesian haven. The back bar is filled with vintage Tiki mugs, statues and other memorabilia. There are bamboo lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a waterfall in the back corner. Be mindful of the sign at the door…CASH ONLY! So, bring your greenbacks since credit cards are not accepted. Also, this was one of the last remaining bars in Los Angeles that permitted smoking (due to the ownership and employee structure), but it is now Smoke-Free…which was a pleasant surprise.
We were fortunate that as we approached the bar, two seats opened up right in the middle. So, we sat down and perused the very large menu. There are lots of drinks on the official menu, but the more popular ones are in red.
We started with a Painkiller and a Zombie. Mr. Michael Buhen, the son of the the founder Ray Buhen, carefully created each drink with a mastery that made it clear that he can mix all the drinks on the menu from memory!
For the next round my wife had a Chi-Chi and I tried Ray’s Mistake (one of the Tiki Ti’s signature drinks). Both were excellent.
We will definitely have to arrange a sitter for the kids again so that we can visit the Tiki Ti in the future to try more drinks on the menu!.
Until next time….Mahalo!
