Post #297339 by Mai Tai on Fri, Apr 6, 2007 2:39 PM

Hey that looked like it was a cool party. And it was on my birthday no less! Funny that it was fall of 2002, yet hardly anyone had a digital camera yet. What is all this "getting my pics back from the developers" business?

Hey Martin, did you ever think back then, that in less than 5 years in the future that you'd be running your own bar?

I do think that the Bay Area is running a little thin on home tiki bars. We took a big hit when Mike and Alia closed the Kapili room and moved off to Sacramento. Also the same with the Ugh House, now that Mr. Smiley has moved to Las Vegas. Ruling out the Novato Grotto (because, hey, Martin now does the tiki bar thing on a daily basis for a living), I can only think of 2 or 3 remaining Bay Area home tiki bars where we have had events. A couple of these pretty much have parties by invitation only now. And there is a great one that has some major projects in the works. I do know of a couple of newer home tiki bars in the area, but I don't know how the owners of those would feel about opening them up to a bunch of strangers.

Maria and I have been working hard on Casa de Mai Tai, but it seems like I'm either short on time, or money, or both. Plus, every time we start on the bar, it seems like we have a major mis-hap with the house, like a leaking roof, or a burst pipe, etc. I guess that's what goes with owning an older house - it may be charming, but it's still old! But hey, I'll throw my hat into the ring, and say that when we finish the bar, we'd love to participate in a Bay Area home bar tour.