Many years ago, I recall scouring through the Critiki website, looking for any and all places tiki I might be able to visit. Critiki is gone now, and the world of tiki has been growing exponentially since then, with new bars opening all of the time. However, there was one little place I’d found on the site that has stayed in the back of my mind all of these years. It’s a space within an antique mall in Las Vegas. On previous visits to Sin City, I’d not been able to go by for one reason or another. But on a recent trip, I did get the chance to check out Tiki Lee’s Tiki Shop once and for all.
Located inside of Peddlers Antique Mall in downtown Las Vegas’ “Antique Alley” (just around the corner and a block away from Stray Pirate and Nightmare Toys/Nightmare Café), the mall was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. But where was Tiki Lee’s section?
After walking into the store, there was a woman at the front desk, just to the left of the entrance. She directed me to continue walking down the aisle to the far corner. And there it was!
Having been around for years, I was sure I wouldn’t find any must-have items at bargain basement prices. Certainly others were clued in to Tiki Lee’s Tiki Shop and had stopped at the place often over the years. Be that as it may, there was still some cool stuff on display that was for sale. As it was an antique store (as opposed to a thrift store), prices were higher than I’d hoped—but not outrageous.
There was a surprising number of items up for grabs. Really, for such a specialized place, I’d have thought it would be pretty picked over. And while there were lots of new prints, new mugs, and new glass fishing floats, there was plenty of vintage and/or hard-to-find items. The 6th anniversary devil mug for Frankie’s Tiki Room I have been jonesing for for YEARS. There was one there. There was lots of other neat stuff, too. Vintage exotica lps, aloha wear, magazines, concert posters, hats, bric-a-brac, etc. were all there. I even spied a “My Favorite Martian” board game. Who knew one ever existed?
Yes, while a lot of the inventory wasn’t necessarily tiki, the stuff that was there didn’t feel that out of place. It was a nifty little corner and I was glad to have gotten to check it out.
One thing I kind of regret was not picking up a Tiki Lee’s Tiki Shop 20th anniversary tiki mug. They were only available in the shop, and apparently reduced to $99 (from the original price of $125). There were two colors available—one green, the other brown—and only 125 of each color had been created. I really thought about getting one, but I just couldn’t. I’m so broke and the trip was already costing me a pretty penny. Couple that with the problem of getting it home again (How many tiki mugs and other souvenirs had I already purchased while in Vegas? Too many!), and I just had to walk away. But they were nice.
(Sadly, I left the Frankie’s mug behind as well. I don’t remember the asking price, but remember feeling the jolting, electric sting in my wallet when I was told how much it was… Ouch!)
Beyond Tiki Lee’s space, I was delightfully surprised to see that the rest of the mall had cool stuff, too. There were traces of tiki throughout the store and other nifty, vintage items as well.
While certainly not the Las Vegas tiki mecca as many of the town’s great bars are, this oft’ overlooked spot was a nice surprise to find. There were tiki treasures throughout waiting to be found.
Tiki Lee’s Tiki Shop
Peddlers Antique Mall
1400 S. Main St.
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 476-1400
Monster A GoGo - The Tiki Tourist 
I need to go here on my next Vegas visit in May! Never heard of it and thanks for sharing the post. Very cool.
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Mr. Mike!!! Check it out, if you have the time. It’s a big place with lots of neat stuff. You never know. There might be something in Tiki Lee’s corner that strikes your fancy!
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