Back For More : A Quick Revisit Of Some Bay Area Tiki Spots

I guess I am officially what you’d call a “snowbird”… or, at least, a partial one. Although I toughed it out through the holidays, once the new year had dawned, I was on a plane heading to California and its relatively warmer winters to escape the Washington cold.

I was stationed in the Bay Area for several weeks. While I did visit some new places, I also had a chance to revisit some older ones. The Bay Area is such a tiki-rich region. Why not tiki it up while I had the chance?

DR. FUNK:

Early on in my trip, the friend I was staying with decided he wanted to test drive a car he’d seen online…all of the way down in San Jose (about an hour southwest of San Leandro). Our time at the dealership, including the test drive of the car, was less than 20 minutes or so. He didn’t buy the car. And we came all of that way for just that? We could, at least, have dinner somewhere…and then, perhaps, hit the tiki bar?

That’s what happened. During dinner we were discussing our previous visit and how we were seated in the weird void (We had dubbed it “The Funk Zone”.) in the middle of the bar. We did not want a repeat of that experience. So while we were having dinner just down the block, we hastily made reservations and requested a booth.

Fortunately when we visited that night, it was not crowded. It was early still and a week night. Still, when we walked in, we gave the host a moment of pause when we said we had reservations for a booth.

We were seated in a booth…a smallish booth built for two way at the back of the place, next to the bar. At least we didn’t end up in that awkward middle area where most of the patrons seemed to be sitting. “Funk Zone” or not, it was still nice to be back. It is a beautifully crafted bar and I loved just taking in the scenery.

We enjoyed our drinks. (I didn’t take specific notes, but I seem to recall us ordering a Puka Punch, a Missionary’s Downfall, a Three Dots & A Dash, and a Shipwreck that night.There may have been others…) We wanted the incredible ube drink we’d had previously, but it was no longer on the menu. Despite that, we actually had a really swell evening that night.

It was an unexpected and unplanned stop. But it was nice to see that Dr. Funk was keeping San Jose good and tiki-fied. My visit was just what the doctor ordered.

Dr. Funk
29 N San Pedro St.
San Jose, CA 95110
https://drfunksj.com/

KONA CLUB:

Despite being low on the list of tiki bars in the Bay Area for many tikiphiles, I have always loved Kona Club since the first time I wandered into it several years ago. Sure, it’s not a “pure” tiki experience. There is a pool table and the music is anything but exotica. That doesn’t bother me in the least. I have always found the place to be a comfortable, neighborhood bar.

On this recent trip back to the Bay Area, I was fortunate enough to be meeting a fellow mail artist in the area named Tara. I didn’t know much about her, other than her avatar on IUOMA (the International Union of Mail Artists) website and the few conversations we’d had there. When I told her I was coming to town and asked if she’d like to meet up somewhere, it was she who picked Kona Club. Hooray!

It was a dreary, rainy Saturday afternoon when I arrived. The place was deserted, except for the bartender and a lovely young woman seated at the bar-Tara! She was sipping on something called Carstairs, a blend of mezcal, bitters, pineapple and lime juices. I had a Kilauea… a deliciously creamy concoction of rum, pineapple juice, crème de coconut and strawberry purée. Oooo wow! No wonder the bar’s volcano erupted. The drink was explosively yummy.

It was great to meet Tara. She’d had an amazingly fascinating life story thus far. We only got to spend about two hours together as she was meeting friends for the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco later in the afternoon. I was ever so delighted, though that she had made time to meet with tired, old broken-down me—a complete stranger really. She was charming and sweet…and I look forward to future mail art correspondences with her in the weeks, months, and years to come.

After Tara had left, I was waiting for my friend Erich to arrive. He was supposed to have come while I was meeting with Tara, but had gotten held up. I thought I’d walk (hobble) down to to Trader Vic’s (Victor Bergeron) final resting place just up the street…but the cemetery was closed. Oh well, that left nothing else to do while I waited for Erich to arrive other than…going back to the bar!

The place was starting to pick up a bit, but my place at the bar was still there. This time I decided to try a Beachcomber’s Zombie, a not-so-deceptively potent potion if there ever was one. After slowly working that one through the straw and letting it hula down into my tummy, Erich still had not arrived. Looking through the menu, I spied an interesting drink option. It was the Dealer’s Choice, where the bartender (a nice young man named Adam) would whip up something for you that was not on the menu. He served up a Rum Swizzle. It was wonderfully (and surprisingly) tart and delicious.

A second bartender, Michael, had showed up by this time. Both fellows were friendly and handled their work like the pros that they are. I also noticed about this time that Kona Club’s silent but ever-vigil hostess, who had been quietly standing at the far end of the bar (as always) since my arrival earlier, had suddenly switched into hula mode and was doing her hip-swiveling thang. How fun—but Tara, who’d never seen her in action, had missed it.

Erich arrived not long after my Rum Swizzle was set down in front of me. He enjoyed a beverage of some sort (but I forget which one).

Soon it was time to say aloha to Kona Club once again. I’ll be back. I really love that place. The company (Tara and he gents behind the bar) had been enjoyable. The drinks had been tasty. (There may have been another drink or two each while Tara was there, but shhh! As she is a lady, I’m not at liberty to say anything.) (And what did I care? I wasn’t driving.) Dinner (across the street. Ha!) was calling.

For a wet and dreary Saturday in February, I had enjoyed my brief getaway to the cocktail-laden, faux tropical oasis that Kona Club always offers.

Kona Club
4401 Piedmont Ave.
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 607-7143
https://www.instagram.com/konacluboakland/?hl=en

THE KON-TIKI ROOM:

Right after the dinner that followed my Kona Club excursion, Erich was wanting to tiki. But this time, he wanted to go to a new place I had recently gotten to visit and that he wanted to check out for himself. So off we went to The Kon-Tiki Room.

It was a Saturday night. I was expecting it to be crowded. But the rain and cold on that February evening worked to our advantage. There were patrons there, yes… But there was still plenty of room for us as well.

It was just going to be a quick revisit anyway. Erich just wanted to check the place out and I, believe it or not, was kind of tiki-ed out after spending so many hours at Kona Club. But I was super up for the Kon-Tiki Room as I had enjoyed myself so much the first time I had been there a week or so earlier.

Jeni, the amazing bartender I had met that first night, was back behind the bar. She had looked at me when we first walked in. I wasn’t sure if she remembered me or not from my previous visit—but maybe I looked familiar? We looked at the menu. While there were many tempting beverage choices, what I really wanted was another C-Class Nebula, a drink I had tried (and that Jeni had created) on my first visit. The drink was specific to the bar’s Star Trek Night on Thursdays though. This was a Saturday. Jeni said we could still order it. Which we did.

As we were sipping, Jeni gave us both a shot glass with some clear liquid in it. It was from a batch of clarified zombies that they were making. Wow! How very cool to have gotten a taste of their experimental cocktail. Thank you!

When I had first visited, I had abstained from buying one of the bar’s signature mugs created by Woody Miller. This time I couldn’t hold back and bought one. Buying a mug came with a free cocktail. What would I like? Hmm. I asked if Jeni had finished any of the X-Files or Saturday morning cartoon-themed cocktails she had been working on for future theme nights at the bar. No, none of them were ready just yet. Perhaps I’d like to try a Stargazer, the cocktail that was created by Jeanie, the Kon-Tiki Room’s beverage director (who was also behind the bar that night, luckily), for the mug’s release party? Certainly!

Zowie! I don’t know what was in that potent brew, but it was tasty.

It had been a quick stop—-just the two drinks—but it had been a nice visit. I felt like the place, although quite far from where I was staying, had almost become my neighborhood bar.

When I got home, I was cleaning out my pockets and came across the receipt. I was about to throw it in the trash when something caught my eye. A section on the receipt listed “Bar Tab” and “Party Name.” Both places listed “Tiki Tourist.” Oh my stars! That’s me! Jeni did remember me after all. And, it occurred to me then that, although everyone coming into the bar was asked for a credit card to open a tab with, we were not.

It had only been a week or two since that initial visit, but it was nice to be remembered… I really did feel like a “regular.”

The Kon-Tiki Room
1900 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 817-4002
palmetto-oakland.com/the-kon-tiki-room

WILFRED’S LOUNGE:

I had only just went to Wilfred’s Lounge in Napa for the first time a few days earlier, but Erich’s friends Jesus and Maria invited us up to their home in the hills above Calistoga, just north of Napa. Another trip up there? Sure! Why not? Especially if that meant we could revisit Wilfred’s again!

This time, I alerted our new friend Gillian, whom we had recently met at the Kapu bar in Petaluma. Could she meet us there for lunch? Until we’d met her at Kapu, she had been unaware that Wilfred’s existed. Fortunately, she was game to meet us there. Yahoo!

When the three of us were seated at our table, chatting and looking at our menus, I was delighted to see that our waitress was Isabella once again. We had gotten on famously the first time and I was glad to see her again—and to let Gillian meet her as well.

We ordered our food, but when we ordered drinks, we encountered a delightful bonus surprise. Isabella informed us that since it was Wednesday and if we bought a mug, we would get the drink in it for free. If we got a second drink, that drink would be half priced. And, you could mix and match the available mugs. You didn’t have to get the mug that came with its normally assigned cocktail. Best yet, if you brought your mug back on a Wednesday, you’d get a drink for half price again on that visit. Wow!

With so many mugs to choose from, Gillian wanted to know if there was some way she could see them before making her decision. Isabella showed us what was available. The mugs were all so nice, but the most breathtaking one is the Manta-Ray. Gillian had to have that one and I wanted one, too. How could we not? Besides, the Manta-Ray cocktail came with one of my favorite ingredients that I am always a sucker for—fire!

Erich wasn’t keen on having a mug with his drink, Batten Down The Hatches. But, with this sort of special deal, he was getting one (for me. Ha!). I picked the Flora mug. Flora was Wilfred’s sister and the matriarch of the family after she moved to the Bay Area from Hawaii in 1929.

We found out another pleasant surprise as we watched Josh the bartender do his thing. Although we had missed it last time, when a Batten Down The Hatches is ordered, the placid beach scene through the bar’s “window” (i.e. cleverly disguised TV) changes into a raging storm with a ghost pirate battling the waves! Yikes!

As Josh worked his mixology magic, it gave me a chance to really check out the bar. Surprisingly, I really hadn’t investigated it much on my first visit. Although the bar area is rather narrow, it is incredible looking. There was so much detail to it.

Josh finished the drinks and back to our table we plodded. We sipped and chatted and marveled at our mugs. Then the food came. Mmm. Gillian and Erich both opted for the poke bowl that was listed as a special. I went with the pineapple rice with chicken again. It was gluten and dairy-free, which is what I needed.

As we ate, our drinks somehow evaporated. Strange. (Ahem.) We had to order a second round (that I stupidly didn’t get photos of). Gillian had a Maximum Aloha. Erich went back to the Pink Palace, which was the drink he’d enjoyed on our visit before. I tried a creamy Uma Ube. Finishing that quickly, I alone dared to have a third drink. From the seasonal menu, I tried a hot chocolate concoction called S’More To Love, which also included rum, whipped cream, and a toasted marshmallow–among other things. Yum!

As lunch wound down, Isabella had a moment and came over to chat with us a bit. As before, I don’t know quite how or why, but we just seemed to hit it off. I’m so glad she felt comfortable talking with us.

Once we finished at the table, we still weren’t done. We still needed to give Gillian a tour of the area upstairs. Gillian had really loved what she had seen on the ground floor and was eager to see what surprises were waiting overhead. But first, I needed to visit the yet-unexplored and uncharted territory known as the bathroom…

Gillian was impressed with the adventurous-looking stairway to the second level.

She also really liked the small ship’s hull-like upper room.

The upper outside terrace with its spectacular view of the Napa River, while not the most tiki thing ever, was also very nice.

We’d had a very nice luncheon, sipped some tasty cocktails, scored some mugs, and got to see Isabella once more. The best part of the afternoon though, was getting to see our new friend Gillian again–and introducing her to Wilfred’s. I can hardly wait for further tiki adventures with her this coming spring.

Wilfred’s Lounge
967 First Street
Napa CA 94559
(707) 690-9957
wilfredslounge.com

TRADER VIC’S (Emeryville):

On the day before I was to return home to Washington state, I had one last tiki hurrah! Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, which had been closed for “refurbishment” since my arrival, had recently re-opened. The pupus and Mai Tais were calling. And before you knew it, I had reservations for lunch in place.

Although not the original Trader Vic’s (That was in Oakland and long gone to tiki heaven/legend.), it is still the company’s flagship site. With the recent loss of the London location (which had been the oldest existent one in the chain) and the on-again/off-again proposals to turn the site of the Emeryville location into condominiums that have been popping up since last year, I wanted to get back to the place…just in case. Besides, it had been a long while since my last visit.

And then, there we were.

It was a gorgeous, clear and sunny day. It was the perfect day for a visit. I told the hostess I had a reservation. She asked if I were Shawn. Clearly they hadn’t gotten many (any?) other reservations for a 1 pm lunch that day–which was fine with me. I was hoping most hadn’t caught on that the restaurant had re-opened yet.

Thankfully–and surprisingly–we were seated at a table by a window in the bar area instead of the dining room. How had they psychically known I’d rather sit in there? (I later looked and the main dining room had a decent crowd of lunchers dining away. We could have been shoved in there–and I’d have been happy to be there–but the bar area I find much more interesting.)

When we were given our menus, I was a little taken aback to see that the drink menu was just some Xeroxed pages stapled together. The place just underwent a refurbishment. Perhaps the new drink menus weren’t ready quite yet? It didn’t really matter. There were several pages of drinks to chose from. Wow! What a huge selection.

I started off with a Bahia, which the menu described as “a snowy concoction of light rum with coconut and pineapple. Innocent looking but watch it!” Erich went with the (non-alcoholic. WHAT!?!) POG Punch, a mixture of passion orange and guava juices. A few minutes after our drinks arrived, Noe, our excellent server, came over holding another Bahia. It seems that the bartender had mistakenly made an extra one. Would I like it? A bonus Bahia? Yes, please! THANK YOU!

Before long, our food arrived. I went with the Island Fried Rice (one of the gluten-free options, of course). Erich had the Short Rib Bahn Mi sandwich.We split an order of fries.

After lunch, I was reluctant to leave. It had been so long since I had last been there. Could we have another cocktail before we left? Erich was amenable to that. He had a Mango Mai Tai while I tried something called Banana Dreams, with rum, banana, coconut, grapefruit, and fassionola. My drink arrived in a cool Trader Vic’s mug…so, of course, I bought it as well.

When we’d slurped up the last of our cocktails, it really was time to go. I wanted to take a nice look around the place before we left. Who knew when I’d get back again?

What a joy Trader Vic’s is. It truly is a classic and the Grand Dame of the East Bay tiki scene. From being seated in the bar area (awesome!) to the bonus Bahia and Noe’s excellent service (Not to mention the wonderful company in my friend, Erich.), it had been a great way to cap off my tiki travels to California. Maholo!

Trader Vic’s
9 Anchor Drive
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 653-3400
tradervicsemeryville.com