My ‘Last Call’ at Bay Area Tiki Bars (For Now…) Part 1-East Bay (TIKI TOM’S, KONA CLUB, and FORBIDDEN ISLAND)

For years, my friend Eric (a big tiki fan, himself) in Costa Mesa has wanted to travel to the Bay Area to visit the tiki bars there. With time winding down before my move out of California and off to Washington, Eric’s window of opportunity has been rapidly closing. It has been getting down to the wire for me. I have so much crap to sort through, pack, or get rid of. I could no longer just arbitrarily take a few days to go tiki bar hopping. However, I had a medical appointment at Stanford coming up. It was then or never. Fortunately, Eric was able to make it. I’m glad he could finally do it. But because I was playing tiki tour guide for him, it also allowed me one last call at some of my favorite (old and new) Bay Area tiki haunts before moving. Yahoo!

Eric drove up to my house in Clovis (Someone has to live there…) and the next day I drove us the rest of the way to the Bay Area. We stayed at my friend Erich’s place in San Leandro Not long after arriving, the three of us embarked on our first night of tiki bar hopping. And o’ what tiki delights we had in store for us.

TIKI TOM’S (Walnut Creek):

Our first port o’ call that night was in Walnut Creek. Tiki Tom’s isn’t a new bar — but it had recently been redone by tiki icon Bamboo Ben (grandson of legendary tiki pioneer, Eli Hedley). I had long been aware of it–but up until this past late-summer, it had been a sports bar–tiki in name only. Now it was a full blown bamboo and coconuts cocktail paradise, or so I had heard. Eric wasn’t the only one getting to check out new tiki bars that night. Tiki Tom’s was new to all three of us.

And all three of us, I believe, were instantly amazed when we walked in the door.

Once we were seated, ordered drinks and a few puupuus (edamame, lumpia, and the coconut prawn lettuce wraps). I was up and off wandering around the place. I just had to have a look. It was too fab not to.

I realized I was being a bad host, leaving both Eric and Erich behind. Erich was used to my tiki nerdism, but what must Eric think? When I returned to the table, he was busy perusing the cocktail menu, planning his next order while enjoying his first drink, a Saturn.

“The Saturn at Tiki Tom’s was excellent,” Eric later said.

Erich and I each sipped on drinks called Blowfish Intoxica. It came with a plant bud that, when chewed, causes your tongue to go numb, causing an interesting drink experience.

After gulping down my drink while my tongue did its weird (but welcome) freak out, we were soon ordering our second round. While we waited, I wandered around some more…and soon found myself chatting with the owner, himself–Darrin DeRita!

Darrin was so gracious. He showed me around and answered all of my questions about the space and about working with Bamboo Ben. (You can read a more in-depth write up on the tiki-rrific Tiki Tom’s–including secrets only future V.I.P.s will be privy to– HERE.)

I was so in tiki-geek mode, fascinated by everything Darrin had to say and show me, before I finally realized I had been away from my group for far too long. Both Eric and Erich were essentially done with their cocktails and mine, an Ohana Punch–described as a secret family recipe– was sitting there waiting for me.

My drink looked half empty, the orchid garnish barely peeking out over the rim. Erich said he tasted the drink (and found it quite yummy. It WAS!), but he’d only had a sip. The mug had only been half filled.

While I sipped and savored my incredible Ohana Punch, Erich (with his empty Smokin’ Bamboo) and Eric (who was slurping up the remains of his second Saturn) began to discuss the value–or lack there of–of Tiki Tom’s. While I totally loved the place and am willing to cut it some slack (they are in the pricey Bay Area, they were closed for months during the pandemic, they just completed a costly build out, etc.), I had to admit my friends had a point. The drinks were far more expensive than any place else we could think of in the Bay Area (with the exception of Tonga Room in the swanky Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill) and yet they seemed to be skimping on the drinks. Even the nibbles we’d had had been on the pricier side for the amount we were served.

Still, despite it all, I want to give this place the benefit of the doubt. I don’t want it to fall victim to its own price gouging. It’s new and just re-opened. It is still finding its footing. I’m sure it will find a balance eventually and prices will drop to a more reasonable range.

“Tiki Tom’s should be around for years,” Eric said. “I could stay there a few myself. A lot of thought went into this. It was not overdone.”

We didn’t stay for a third drink. NOT because of the prices or anything like that. All three of us had thoroughly loved the bar. It’s just that we had more tiki to experience before the night was over—and friends were due to meet us at our next stop…which was miles away in Oakland.

KONA CLUB (Oakland):

We had hoped to visit the grave of Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron just up the street, but the cemetery was already closed for the night. Oh well, one of us would be sipping a Mai Tai, the drink Bergeron is alleged to have introduced to the world, soon enough as we had arrived at Kona Club.

It is no secret that the Kona Club is one of my favorites. Opened in 2005 with a magnificent build out by (of course) Bamboo Ben, Kona Club gets a lot of flack for being a dive bar. It is a dive bar. Locals go there and hang out. Popular music and a pool table spoil the atmosphere. All of that is true — which is why I avoid going when it is busy during the weekends. During the week, it’s usually quiet and you can bask in this escapist tropical haven.

As we entered, I saw that our favorite hip-swaying hula honey was all masked up to avoid getting COVID.

Our friends Ashley and Sai hadn’t arrived yet, and the bar was pretty quiet (thankfully). It gave Eric a chance to get a feel for the place and me to unwind a bit in one of my personal favorite paradises.

“Kona Club was the most laid back,” Eric said. “It appears like it was one of the originals from 50 years ago, comfortable and relaxing.”

I went with a Kilauea for my first drink. I didn’t pay attention to what anyone else was having.

Eventually Ashley and Sai showed up and we all sat together, imbibed and got to visit. I love those two dearly and although it didn’t really hit me at the time, that may have been the last time I would see them for quite a while. But in the moment, we just talked, and laughed, and had a good time. It was very comfortable for all of us there in Kona Club.

“They were playing awesome 1970’s music,” Eric said. “It wasn’t Tiki, but it fit right in. It was Soul-Tiki.”

We had time for one more quick drink — that Mai Tai in honor of Trader Vic — and then it was off to dinner across the street at a Cambodian (?) place.

FORBIDDEN ISLAND (Alameda):

After dinner, Erich had gone back to San Leandro with Ashley and Sai. This left Eric and I on our own to travel to Alameda and experience Forbidden Island. This was Eric’s lone East Bay pick before our trip began.

I’ve been to Forbidden Island several times, but I only seem to have mentioned it once in one of my random blogs. The bar is nicely done and all, but for some reason it has just never resonated with me. Erich isn’t a fan either (which is why he ducked out after dinner). None of this I mentioned to Eric. I wanted him to make his own impression of the place — and Forbidden Island is really well regarded and popular. I’d go more often if given the opportunity. It’s just not my favorite.

The doorman was friendly and checked our vax status. We didn’t have a reservation, but like everywhere else that Wednesday night, it was kind of slow. So, he happily seated us in one of the three hut-like booths opposite the bar.

After looking at the menu, Eric decided he wanted to order the bar’s signature drink, a Forbidden Island. The menu said that, for an extra fee, you could get it in a tiki mug to keep. Unfortunately, the bar was out of the mugs. We both ordered Forbidden Islands anyway. I also ordered us some coconut shrimp. Although we’d just come from a restaurant, everyone else seemed to love the food–but I had not found it all that appetizing and had hardly eaten anything.

While we waited for our food and drinks to arrive, I ran to the bathroom…and also took a look outside at the patio area they created for use during the pandemic. It was nice. I was glad to see that they were making use of their giant tiki statue with the peek-a-boo bar in the center.

When I returned from the bathroom, I discovered that our puupuu was on the table along with our cocktails.

The Forbidden Island was nice. I’d had one before several years earlier (and had gotten the mug at that time as well). I’d forgotten how tasty it was.

Eric seemed to be having a good time. I was glad. With only two days to hit all of the tiki spots we could, I didn’t want him to feel rushed. I think he was just thrilled to be able to take so much in at once. It may have been tiki overload–but he was digging it.

“It feels like an old neighborhood bar that happens to be tiki themed,” Eric said of Forbidden Island.

As we sat there sipping our drinks and eating our puupuu, we were looking around the place. Behind the bar, on the wall, on the far left side, there was a collection of tiki mugs.

The mugs were kind of hard to see from our booth. But there were two mugs we both homed in on. I tried to use my phone to get a better look…but it came out rather blurry and hard to see.

To me, it looked like a pair of tiki mugs fashioned to resemble the tree monster (Really!) from the movie FROM HELL IT CAME.

When the waiter/doorman came back to check on us and get our next drink order (I optioned for something called a Monkeypod…), we asked about the mugs. It turns out that they were not mugs based on FROM HELL IT CAME (although someone clearly needs to make one). Instead, they were of a tiki idol carrying off a wahine–Forbidden Island’s 15th anniversary mug that had been released a few months earlier. SOLD!

Our second round of cocktails arrived and we sipped them slowly, knowing that after this we’d be calling it a night.

As we reluctantly left, we knew that a whole new evening of tiki adventures awaited us the next evening. We couldn’t wait.

Cheers!

(Continue to Part 2 HERE.)