Ninety Years of Classic San Diego Tiki, Second Edition

Celebrating San Diego’s Polynesian Pop Culture, Tiki Restaurants, Bars and Cuisine

By Martin S Lindsay

Full-color 8″x10″ hardcover edition, 288 pages. San Diego: Classic San Diego Books, September 2026.

ISBN: 978-1-7328164-0-4 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-7328164-2-8 (Adobe fixed layout ePUB/PDF)
ISBN: 978-1-7328164-1-1 (Kindle fluid layout ePUB)

Books will Ship in September, 2026. PRE-ORDER NOW

About this Project

The first edition of Ninety Years of Classic San Diego Tiki sold out quickly. By popular demand, a new edition is in the works. Expanded with new information, photos, and memorabilia from San Diego’s Tiki restaurants and bars — ones missed from the past and others opened since 2018 — this full-color, 288-page hardcover edition is coming your way September 1, 2026.

Ninety (PLUS) Years of Classic San Diego Tiki not only encompasses the history of these Polynesian Pop wonders but also includes biographies of the people who were instrumental in their success. You’ll find a fascinating collection of stories, ephemera, long-lost photos, urban archeological finds, and recipes!

 

 

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

  • NEW! (1915-1917) Hawaiian Village, Panama-California Exposition
  • (1928-2011) The Aloha Cafe, Tijuana
  • (1935-1946) The Tropic Cafe, (1946-1965) The Hula Hut, Sailor’s Row/Downtown
  • (1937-1977) South Seas Cafe, Midway/Five Points
  • (1937-1990s) George Joe’s Chinese Village, Sailor’s Row/Downtown
  • (1937-1943) The Island Cafe, Coronado
  • (1938-1970) Bradley’s Puka-Puka Rum Bar, Bradley’s 5 & 10, Horton Plaza
  • (1939-1974) Aloha Inn Cafe, Hillcrest
  • NEW! (1941-✔) Pacific Shores Cocktail Lounge
  • (1943-1967) Tahiti Cafe, National City
  • (1945-1960) The Hurricane, Hillcrest
  • (1945-1957) Johnnie Blackett’s Copacabaña, East Village
  • (1946-1951) South Seas Room, Chi-Chi Club, Downtown
  • NEW! (1946-1974) High Seas Cafe, Gaslamp Quarter
  • (1946-1960s) The Tropics Cafe, Tijuana
  • (1947-1965) Sheng Haw Low, Sailor’s Row/Downtown
  • (1949-1969) Luau Room, Hotel del Coronado
  • (1949-2013) Whaling Bar, La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla
  • (1950-1965) The Aloha Club, Sailor’s Row/Downtown
  • NEW! (1950-1968) The Hawaiian Village, Chula Vista
  • (1951-1965) The Java, Horton Plaza
  • (1936-1942) Vick’s Cafe, (1942-1950) Vick’s Tropics, (1950-1952) Vick’s Tropical Nut House, (1952-1970) The Tropics
  • (1952-1953) Lanai Room, Casa de Mañana Hotel, La Jolla

CLASSIC TIKI

  • (1952-c1962) Zanzibar Room, Topsy’s Drive-in, Midway
  • (1953-1998) Kon-Tiki Bar, Kona Kai Club
  • (1953) Christian’s Hut, (1953-1954) The Hut, (1954-✔) Bali Ha’i
  • (1954-1974) The Polynesian, La Jolla
  • (1954-✔) The Islands Restaurant and Dragon Room, Hanalei Hotel
  • NEW! (1957-1972) The Hilo Hut, Mission Beach
  • (1957-c1974) Skipper’s Twin Palms, La Jolla
  • (1958-✔) Catamaran Hotel, Mission Beach
  • (1958) Kon-Tiki Room, Catamaran Hotel, Mission Beach
  • (1958) Voyager Restaurant, Kona Inn, Shelter Island
  • (1958-1964) Menehune Max, Pacific Beach
  • (1959-1962) Pagan Room, Town House Hotel, La Jolla
  • (1959-1965) The Mai-Kai (never built), San Diego
  • (1960-1967) The Luau, La Jolla
  • (1960) Polynesian Room, Hotel Del Mar
  • (1960) Polynesian Room, Town & Country Hotel
  • (1960-1965) Ports O’ Call / Tahiti Restaurant, Half Moon Inn, Shelter Island
  • (1960-1970) Tahitian Room, U.S. Grant Hotel
  • (1960-1961) The Tiki, Chula Vista
  • NEW! (1961-1967) Polynesian Room, Oceanside
  • NEW! (1961-1971) Nuka Hiva, Hillcrest
  • (1961-1973) Club Bali, Rolando
  • (1961) The Tiki Room, Pacific Beach/La Jolla
  • (1964) Tahitian Lounge, Kona Kai Club, Shelter Island
  • NEW! (1964-1970) Polynesian Room, Escondido
  • (1965-✔) Trader Mort’s, Shelter Island
  • (1966) Tiki Hut, Town and Country Hotel, Mission Valley
  • (1966-✔) Wong’s Golden Palace, Rolando/La Mesa
  • (1968) Loma Luau, Point Loma
  • (1968) Luau To Go, El Cajon Blvd
  • (1970-c1974) Don the Beachcomber, Sheraton Inn, Harbor Island
  • (1970) Mai Tai Lounge, Hilton Inn (OceanHouse), Mission Bay
  • NEW! (1970) The Waikiki, North Park
  • (1971-c1985) The Tapa Room, North Park
  • (1972) Flores’ Tiki House, Chula Vista
  • (1974-✔) Mandarin House, La Jolla
  • (1976-1995) Tiki Room, Wendel Hom’s Teapot Inn
  • (1977) Polynesian Room, Catamaran Hotel, Mission Beach
  • (1980-1983) Don the Beachcomber, Vacation Village, Mission Bay
  • (1980-2019) Szechuan Mandarin, Grantville
  • (1980-1981) Tiki Hut Polynesian Fast Food, #1 National City, #2 Parkwest
  • (1980-2013) Mandarin House, Park West
  • (1984-c1998) Polynesian Princess, San Diego Princess Resort (Vacation Village), Mission Bay
  • (1988-2014) China Inn, Pacific Beach
  • (1996-1997) Mon-Tiki, Gaslamp Quarter
  • NEW! (1998-✔) Barefoot Bar & Grill*, Paradise Point (Vacation Village), Mission Bay

TIKI RESURGENCE

  • (2004-2010) Mister Tiki Mai Tai Lounge, Gaslamp Quarter
  • (2006-✔) High Dive Bar and Grill, Bay Park
  • (2007-✔) Bar Pink, North Park
  • (2013-2018) Cat Eye Club, Gaslamp Quarter
  • (2014-✔) Fairweather, East Village
  • (2016-✔) False Idol, Little Italy
  • (2016-✔) The Grass Skirt, Pacific Beach
  • NEW! (2018-✔) Raised By Wolves,* University City
  • NEW! (2018-✔) The Luau, La Mesa
  • NEW! (2018-✔) Realm of the 52 Remedies, Convoy
  • NEW! (2019-✔) Forbidden Cove, Kilowatt Brewing, Kearny Mesa
  • NEW! (2022-✔) Mothership, South Park
  • NEW! (2022-✔) Lime in the Coconut, Chula Vista
  • NEW! (2022-✔) Convoy Music Bar,* Convoy
  • NEW! (2023-✔) Captain’s Quarters, Pacific Beach
  • NEW! (2023-✔) Chief’s Da Tiki Bar, JJ’s Island Grind, Bonita
  • NEW! (2025-✔) The Lobby Tiki Bar & Grill, Brick Hotel, Oceanside

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Notes

Books will Ship in September, 2026. PRE-ORDER NOW