Post #630240 by porco on Tue, Mar 27, 2012 12:21 PM

On 2011-04-25 09:05, bigbrotiki wrote:

This stems from the fact that Tiki style is, as far as I can see, the only pop culture that was firmly based on restaurant decor. It was the restaurants who introduced Tiki images to the people on a larger scale. It was the restaurants who had the money to go all out in the style, and thus inspired people to build their own backyard or downstairs Polynesias, and it was the restaurants that made developers utilize concepts like waterfalls, Tiki torches, and Tiki support posts for apartment buildings and motels. Only when that happened did Tiki become a pop genre BEYOND restaurants - but it is they who were the inventors of the style's language.

And here-in lies the crux and the contradiction for 21st Century Tiki restaurants: We want them to have the old classic Tiki temple decor, but we don't want to eat that ol' Chinese MSG glob there anymore. They have to come up with a Pacific rim modern version of that cuisine that makes them special, because nowadays there is ten-fold competition from all the other exotic cuisines available to the customer, while back in the mid-century, Chinese food was the most exotic food you could find.

hello all, a long time lurkers first post here.

sorry to dredge up an old thread, but this topic came up in a search, and i found the above statements very interesting. specifically, i was wondering if there were, or are any tiki restaurants or lounges that didn't specifically specialize in asian/poly/hawaiian/island cuisine? could one?

meaning, if it had authentic tiki decor, a specific craft tiki cocktail menu, but a non-descript food menu (burgers, steaks, pub fare, etc...), would you patronize the place? my thought is that the culture seems born out of cocktails & decor, but the food seems to be ancillary to some degree.

in another thread, there was discussion about how a tiki themed place might not be sustainable in some areas, and that you would need something "more" to offer instead of being a one trick pony. could a hybrid establishment exists if say, it provided a 60's era lounge atmosphere, contemporary american menu, and a tiki themed room or satellite lounge? does this exist somewhere?

i can't help but think that 50's & 60's era restaurants & lounges tried to get on the tiki bandwagon to some degree, even if it was a small "jungle room" or whatever that may have been part of an otherwise italian restaurant for example.

thanks, and look forward to some schooling>